Artisan cheese making in Anemi guesthouse, Zagori, Greece

Artisan cheese making in Anemi guesthouse, Zagori, Greece

Paulos from Anemi guesthouse in Zagori, Greece stirs the warm milk. The first step in cheese makingOn Sunday April 5th, the Agrotouristic Guesthouse Anemi in Kato Pedina Zagori, organized an artisan cheese making happening in their restaurant – jazz café. The cheese making techniques were presented by the skilled chef and amateur cheese maker Basilis Paparounas with a long tradition in livestock farming, using the traditional craftsmanship of the Zagori.

50kg of local sheep milk (from nearby village Ano Pedina) were used to produce about 15 different types of traditional Greek cheeses from the region of Zagorohoria and the rest of Greece as well.
Most of the cheeses, except those that were left to age and ripen after they were produced, were served on the spot and were enjoyed by the guests and friends of this friendly and inspiring guesthouse.

Following are some of the cheeses produced at the Dairy School of Kato Pedina… “Only Milk and Love”:

 Greek name  English description
 Χλωρό τυρί  Fresh, cultured sheep’s milk cheese
 Μοτσαρελίνια πρόβεια ζαγορίσια  Small mozzarella alike cheese balls
 Χαλούμι  Halloumi cheese
 Μυζήθρα  Mizithra or Myzithra soft cheese
 Ανθότυρο φρέσκο  Fresh cream cheese
 Μανούρι φρέσκο  Manouri semi-soft fresh cheese
 Κρέμα γάλακτος  Heavy cream or crème fraîche épaisse
 Φέτα  Feta cheese
 Γιαούρτι  Yog(h)urt
 Γραβιέρα  Gruyere
 Κεφαλοτύρι  Kefalotyri or kefalotiri hard/semi-hard cheese, akin to Parmigiano
 Μυζήθρα ξερή  Dry Mizithra or Myzithra
 Κεφίρ  Kéfir, fermented milk drink made with kefir “grains” (a yeast/bacterial fermentation starter)
 Αριάνι – ξυνόγαλα  Ayran – sour milk
 Γκίζα  Unknown equivalent in English
 Παγούδα  Unknown equivalent in English

The fresh cheese curd is drained by hand at the artisan cheese making seminar in ZagoriGreek dancing in anticipation of the cheese at the seminar in K. Pedina

During the cheese making sessions musicians from the nearby village of Parakalamos arrived at the guesthouse and turned the seminar into a cheese-music happening the Greek way!!!

During the cheese making sessions musicians from the nearby village of Parakalamos arrived at the and turned the seminars into a cheese-music happeninghappy end at the artisan cheese making seminar ...