I’ve been sitting here all week trying to figure out how to tell you about Quillisascut, the farm where I spent five days last week. I always have this problem when I try to write about things that matter to me. On top of it, Quillisascut is a hard thing to describe. It’s a farm, but it’s more than that. Quillisascut is a home, it’s also a school, a community, and a cheese company. They all deserve mention, but for today, to break my writer’s block, I will just start with the cheese.
To talk about the cheese, however, I have to start with the people. Lora Lee and Rick Misterly are the heart and the muscle behind Quillisascut. They moved to this plot of land in the hills of northeastern Washington in 1981, along with four goats. Lora Lee had grown up outside of Leavenworth Washington, where her mother made farm-style cheese with the milk from the family’s cows. Lora Lee continued the tradition and expanded on it, milking the goats and making cheese from their yield.
Over time, this family tradition became a business and Lora Lee became a pioneer of artisanal cheese making in the Pacific Northwest. Her cheeses are sold in restaurants and stores throughout the area and can be ordered through their Cheese CSA. Each cheese is still made by hand—not just by hand, by Lora Lee’s hand. She is the only one allowed in the cheese making room (they say this is because of risk of contamination, but I think it might be to keep the magic private). This is as personal and handmade as it gets.
This past week at Quillisascut, we got to make cheese with Lora Lee. Not in the official cheese-making room, in another room, where we could all crowd around and watch the magic of milk being made portable, of liquid being turned solid. It was really amazing to watch, so I thought I’d bring you along.
First, you start with a couple of gallons of milk. Ideally goat milk still warm from the milking. That’s what they use at Quillisascut. It doesn’t get much fresher than this.
I’m not going to get into the technical part of making cheese, because I’m a newbie and just learning, but suffice it to say that the first step is to set the curds. This is generally done through adding a culture and rennet, which separates the curds from the whey.
Here, Lora Lee is testing the curd.
We made three kinds of cheese that morning. The first was a farmer’s cheese, sort of like a feta. For this we had to cut the curds into small cubes. It reminded me of freshly made tofu or a soft custard.
Next we drained the curds and over time they set up solid. It was like magic.
The next cheese we made was a ricotta, which is made through at different process. Ricotta means “reboiled,” so there is heat involved, and also vinegar. See how different the curds look.
The final cheese we made was mozzarella. I had made this before, when I took a cheesemaking class last year, but in that class our cheese turned out tough. In Lora Lee’s hands, however, it was soft and supple. And I was fascinated to see yet another type of cheese curds, these a bit gooey.
The whole time I kept thinking about the experience contained in Lora Lee’s hands—years of making cheese, all by hand, 5,000 pounds a year. It felt a privilege to be there, to watch an artisan do her work. To learn and be amazed by the transformation of liquid into solid.
At the end of it all, the whey that was poured off from the curds was set aside to be fed to the pigs (see below). The mozzarella was used for dinner that night, and we got to take the farmer’s cheese and the ricotta home with us. I can’t tell you how much I am treasuring it.
The word “artisanal” gets used a lot these days, but when you see the real thing you know it. I will always be moved beyond measure to watch a person practice their craft, their passion. This is the sort of work I want to support.
More about Quillisascut cheese and their CSA program
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so now I want to go on a cheese-making course
preferably in France which is, according to De Gaulle, totally ungovernable due to the vast range of cheeses they produce
I love that quote too. And you should definitely take advantage of all that French cheese wisdom. It is so much fun!
Cheese making is like magic!
I love reading about people like this. Next time I’m in Spokane (my hometown) I might have to take a little field trip.
Are you really from Spokane? The area around Quillisascut is really beautiful. I didn’t want to come home!
What an amazing experience! I hope that whole plate of cheese up at the top was just your portion.
YUM!
Ha! I wish it had been as well
What an awesome opportunity! I am quite interested in cheese-making, but haven’t gotten to try anything yet! Lovely photographs; thanks for sharing!!
Thanks, Eliz. I hope you give it a try. It’s really fun!
Hey Tea – FYI, you misspelled Leavenworth…just in case you hadn’t caught that or someone else reminded you. I’m assuming you don’t want to post this comment but FYI. I can post another telling you how interesting this is and I’m looking forward to hearing more about it!
Thanks so much, Jill, for the proofreading help (this is what I get from posting at midnight). Much appreciated!
I make cheese every week here. From cows milk. In fact there is shot of one of my parmesan cheeses in my blog today. But drifting through your photos of making cheese on this wonderful farm introduces a raft of new ideas for me. Thank you. And thank you for the joy you bring to your writing. c
Thanks so much, Cecelia. Can’t wait to see your cheese. How very cool that you make it weekly. I’m impressed!
What a wonderful experience! Do you think you will continue to make cheese at home?
Going to the cheesemaking supply store today to buy rennet!
What a delicious experience. I’m intrigued by the variety of workshops the farm offers; did you attend one of them?
Yes. I attended the workshop on food journalism. But I’d go back for anything, really. Such a great experience!
Wonderful. A friend recently mentioned that I needed to start making two things: sausages and cheese. I think the idea was to supply him and others. I recently tried my first fresh ricotta, as opposed to the colorful plastic tub kind. Holy cow’s milk! What a difference.
Oh wow. In my mind I have a fantasy of one day owning acreage where I could raise goats and lavender and make cheese. Your pictures and descriptions are amazing – now I am itching to run to get cheese making supplies (at 10:30 pm) – with my very first batch of homemade pickles cooling on the counter….
Magical post! Such a lovely and serene setting for learning about making cheese. Thank you for sharing!
What a great experience Tea. I would love to make cheese. That moment when the milk turns to curds find fascinating. In my next life I’m coming back as a cheese maker.
Please read Blessed are the Cheesemakers by Sarah-Kate Lynch if you haven’t already. You would love it I’m sure. Thank you for your most delightful daily writings. (((hug)))
I think starting with cheese whenever writiers block strikes is a wise thing, indeed. This will now be my new motto
Looks like quite a day, T~ Wow, wow, wow.
Tea,
Thanks for sharing your experience! Just got back from my week there, I was moved beyond words.
So delighted to see you made a post of Quillisascut after you visit. They mentioned you attending earlier this summer. Read ‘The B & V’ during the evenings there. Had to finish it before I left.
Cheers!
How wonderful that you got to spend time on the farm! Isn’t it an amazing place? I so want to go back. Thanks for the comment, fun to hear from other people who have been there.