Spilling the milk and spreading the cheese this World Milk Day
This year’s theme is all about sustainability, and farmers are encouraged to adopt more sustainable practices in their farms and companies.
WE have all heard about the goodness of dairy and may have even been lectured as a child on the benefits of consuming dairy.
June 1, World Milk Day, lends itself to several campaigns, creating awareness on the goodness of milk and its products, as well as paying tribute to the industry’s workers.
Cheese is one of the products made from milk, and if you’re looking for delicious artisanal cheese, then Sid Oertel is your guy. You can find him every Wednesday at the Umhlanga Farmer’s Market behind a table of some of the finest cheese.
“I’m the fourth generation of dairy farmers in my family and was one of the biggest suppliers to the Tweespruit Dairies,” he said.
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Shortly after retiring as an engineer at Anglo in 2014, Sid wanted to explore the cheesemaking world again and returned to Tweespruit, which has a rich tradition of cheesemaking.
Equipped with all his knowledge in the field and the relationships he had built over the years, the Tweespruit Country Dairy was born.
Three years later, he had to close down the business and moved to Durban to be closer to his children.
“I then started to source and sell artisanal cheese that’s not easily found in stores, and that’s how the business, The Big Cheese, grew. You can find me at most markets around Durban,” he said.
He stocks mature cheddar, gouda, parmesan, gorgonzola, pecorino, emmental, maasdam and white mold cheese, to name a few.
His favourite, he says, is Gorgonzola cheese made from full cream, which has a velvety texture.
“It is a versatile cheese which can be incorporated into salads, pasta and pizza, melted over vegetables and added into a sauce for burgers and steak,” he said.
Follow The Big Cheese on Facebook for regular updates and find out which markets Oertel features at.
About World Milk Day
The day was established by the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations in 2001 to acknowledge the importance of milk as a global food and all the wonderful benefits it has to offer as a food source. The day is also held to celebrate the dairy sector.
This year’s theme is all about sustainability, and farmers are encouraged to adopt more sustainable practices in their farms and companies.
Share your videos of these practices on social media using the hashtags #WorldMilkDay and #EnjoyDairy.
