Today we chat to our first international guests on the podcast; Gabrielle Kervella and Alan Cockman from Kervella cheese who are one of the three producers in New Zealand making Raw Milk cheese.

With both sharing impressive cheese making resumes in Australia, France, South Africa and now New Zealand, these veterans have a great story to tell with an incredible 80 years of combined experience.

We discuss Kervella's journey from a small goat farm in Western Australia, to learning how to make goat cheese in France on family holidays … trying to apply European techniques to Australian conditions, before finally returning to Gabriella’s home in New Zealand to what they thought would be their retirement. Not. So.

We get curd nerdy with Alan as he tells us about the evolution of starter cultures and the difference between how cheese is made today on a mass scale compared to what he is trying to achieve and how raw milk plays into this.
We also touch on the regulations in New Zealand in regard to Raw milk production, what their customers think and what it means to be a true artisan producer.

You can tell that Alan and Gabriella have a true and enduring passion for their craft and it is such a pleasure to share their story.

So let’s get into it.

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Follow Kervella at @KervellaCheese

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