David Asher
David Asher is a Natural Cheesemaker, and a leading advocate for raw milk cheesemaking. A former farmer and goatherd from the west coast of Canada, David now travels widely, sharing a very old but also very new approach to cheese.
Through teaching about the use of in-house starter cultures and natural rennet, David helps cheesemakers around the world reclaim their traditional cheeses. He also explores the relations of all food fermentations, and the important role of small scale and traditional cheese production in our modern world. David is the author of 'The Art of Natural Cheesemaking' and the upcoming 'Raw Milk Cheesemaker'.
5 day Natural Cheesemaking Class
Course Description
From culture propagation to rennet coagulation and on to affinage, this comprehensive and
hands on course covers many aspects of a natural farmhouse cheesemaking. Students can expect
to learn how simple traditional methods can lead to a safe, effective, and delicious raw (or
pasteurized) milk cheesemaking; how the philosophies of fermentation of natural wine, beer,
sourdough and dairy are all inter-related. There will also be discussions of the implications of
raw milk cheesemaking for human health, and the complicated ethics of animal agriculture.
On the first day we learn to create and care for the cultures of our cheese. We begin with a
session on dairy fermentation, covering Clabber, Kefir, Amasi (an African milk beer) and a
traditional cream-top yogurt.
On the second day we use our cultures and rennet to make fresh lactic cheeses such as Cream
Cheese, Chevre and Faisselle as well as Geotrichum-candidum ripened, French lactic goat
cheeses such as Crottin, Valençay and Saint Marcellin.
On the third day we look at rennet cheeses, preparing, in the morning, the basic curd that can
become many different styles of cheese. By the afternoon, the curd’s acidity will have developed,
and we’ll be able to stretch the cheese into Mozzarella, Queso Oaxaca and Burrata. We also
explore the rind ecologies that can transform the fresh cheese into a ripe Camembert.
On the fourth day we make a French Blue Cheese, Bleu d’Auvergne, and explore the cultivation
of blue fungus that gives this cheese its beautiful blue eyes. On this day, we will also prepare
rennet the traditional way.
And on the fifth and final day we make an Alpine cheese, and see how this one method can evolve
in many different directions including Tomme and Raclette. We explore the concepts of rind
washing and how it influences the hard cheese’s evolution. And with its leftover whey we prepare
a batch of traditional Ricotta.
Five days of learning allows students to see many styles of cheese through the many stages of
their evolution, and provides insight into how all cheeses can evolve from the very same milk,
with the same cultures and the same rennet. The course will focus on natural methods and a full
circle, small-scale cheesemaking: no freeze-dried cultures or synthetic enzymes will be used in
any of our makes.
The cost of the 5-day class is NZ$1000.
The course fee includes mid-day meals, snacks, coffee, tea, cheese tastings, and dinner on Wednesday night.
At this stage there are three 5-day workshops confirmed for the Natural Cheesemaking New Zealand tour:
Motueka 29th February - 4th March 2024 - Level 1
Taranaki 22nd - 26th April & 29th April - 3rd May 2024 (Level 1 & Level 2)
1 day Natural Cheesemaking Class
Course Description
This one-day class is designed to give a basic understanding of the philosophy of natural
cheesemaking. Students will learn about raw milk’s microbiology, and how to cultivate an effective
starter culture from it; how to curdle their milk with natural rennet; how to make a basic rennet cheese;
how to ferment that cheese and stretch it into a fresh mozzarella.
The cost of the 1-day class is NZ$ 250.
The course fee includes lunch, coffee and teas.
Two 1-day workshops:
Dunedin 3rd February
Golden Bay 9th March
See more information below!
