EVAN BUHLER
Black Press
The folks at Happy Days Goat Dairy are living up to their name.
Recently, the Silver Creek dairy was awarded third place in the mixed cheese category at the 2016 World Championship Cheese Contest. The cheese-makers are over the moon abut their accomplishment.
“This was only our second time making this cheese, and we liked it so much we thought we would enter the contest,” said Sandra Proulx, a cheese maker at the dairy. “It turns out it was a great idea that we did.”
The winning mixed cheese used half goat milk and half cow milk.
Founder and owner of the dairy, Donat Koller says the award was a great team effort from the goats and cows to the cheese makers and quality assurance.
With most mixed cheeses the milk is blended together and made in one vat; this was not the case at Happy Days.
After selecting the highest quality milk and pasteurizing it, they made the cheese in separate vats before putting a layer of the cow cheese on top of the goat cheese, creating a double decker cheese.
“It’s like the cheeses get welded together,” said Koller.
Adding to the distinctive taste is the addition of white mould to the curd, causing a white bloom to grow on the surface.
Over the next few weeks while the cheese ripens from the outside, it is flipped every two days to cure evenly.
“The dominating factor of the cheese is the white mould,” said Koller. “Because of this it is relatable to brie.”
This week, Proulx will represent the Happy Days team in Milwaukee, Wisconsin at the 2016 International Cheese Technology Expo, and receive the award in person.
The dairy also entered an organic goat feta and a morel-flavoured goat cheese into the contest, both of which finished in the top half of their respective categories.
The double-decker cheese encompasses the tanginess of the goat with the creaminess of the cow for a unique flavour, says Proulx.
She recommends eating the cheese with a rustic bread or apple slices and pairing it with a dry red wine.