Llet Crua and tomato bread
A week exploring the cheeses of Catalonia, and meeting makers
A week ago I flew from Tbilisi to Barcelona, and met up my photographer friend, Al Pomper, to begin the next phase of Milk Trekking. We headed straight into the mountains to attend a cheese festival called the Sant Ermengol Fair, where we connected with makers and got a sense of the Catalon cheese scene. It is marked by the prevalence of raw milk, a wide range of styles being made, and a welcoming, tight knit community of makers and mongers. There are many lactic and washed rind cheeses, perhaps reflecting the proximity to Southern France. In the days after the festival we have visited three makers who opened their doors for us to come observe makes and tour their facilities. Yet again, the welcoming hospitality of folks I’ve never met is astounding. Most of these photos are by Al, you can check out his work here: ALEXANDER POMPER.
MAS D’EROLES - Salvador Maura is a name you frequently hear when talking to Catalan cheesemakers. He has taught and inspired many in the community in the 20+ years he has operated this company in a old farmhouse known as a Masia, or Mas. Salvador makes a wide range of cheeses from raw milk, called Llet Crua in Catalan. From aged natural and washed rinds, blues and bloomies, to pasta filata. He ages cheese in an ancient wine cellar with rustic stone walls, high vaulted ceilings, wood shelves, and a well that adds humidity to the space. I prefer aging spaces that look like haunted houses, with cobwebs and fungal life creeping in every corner.
“I am not a cheese maker, I am a shepherd of microbes. The beekeeper doesn’t make honey. He takes care of bees.” It is words like these that tell me I am in the presence of someone worth listening to. There is something about spending years working with microbial allies, learning to craft delicious, real food with their cooperation, that inspires this kind of humility and philosophical reflection in humans. You don’t command microbes to do your bidding. Life is not something that can be controlled. The shepherd is a part of the flock.
L’ABADESSA - Judit Carreira operates a creamery in a multistory building in the town of La Seu D’Urgell, where she makes beautiful raw milk cheeses. The facility also features a picturesque cellar where various styles are aged. We sat on the balcony of the top story and tasted a range of cheeses, all clean tasting and well executed.
While spending two nights with Judit, we visited a small mountain village called Mùsser. Stone houses line narrow streets, and cows graze on surrounding communal land. We visited a house connected to an old barn with a hayloft above the space where cows were formerly tied for milking. Walking in the terraced hillsides, we ran into a herd of goats, who we walked back to town with. We were treated to a dinner of local charcuterie, beer, cheese, and a Catalan specialty. Pan amb tomàquet is bread lightly rubbed with the juice of a squeezed tomato, olive oil, and salt.
MOLÍ DE GER - Pere Claveria runs this creamery in a valley that was once home to many dairies. His brother runs the farm from which he buys the milk, and the milking cows eat locally grown dry hay, never silage. He slowly ferments this raw cheese milk overnight with a small dose of starter, and makes cheese in an elevated vat from which curd can be gravity fed to a draining table. The day we visited he made a blue that will be aged in a dedicated room before spending months in a cold space where fats breakdown into the unctuous flavors associated with the style.
Like the other 2 creameries, Moli features an underground cheese cellar that would cause curd nerds the world over to be overcome with jealously. Pere built this space and buried it, now there is grass growing over this bunker of lactic delights. The roof is rough stone and concrete, and the middle section has no floor, bare dirt exudes moisture and lends a natural ambiance.
Catalonia……Two weeks will not be nearly enough time for me to get to know you. After every meal you share, I wait impatiently, to be hungry again, so I may explore more of your rich, down to earth offerings. Your cuisine is marked by regional variation, the celebration of seasonality, and a rare openess to innovation and influence, while remaining proud of tradition. Your cheeses reflect this openness, with a lot of experimentation done by a community of talented makers.
Hello Trevor, what's the best email to reach you on? Would love to run an idea past you. Hugh
So pleased to meet you Trevor. I'm the one in your pic at La Abadessa stand in St Ermengol fair.