October is cheese month.
For Diana Hawkins, who with husband Alan, owns Karikaas Natural Dairy Products Ltd at Loburn, in North Canterbury, it is the time to celebrate some of the "fantastic” cheeses New Zealanders make for other New Zealanders.
”Karikaas has some kiwi cheeses, traditional Dutch style cheeses and a fantastic Greek style feta that is not wet and crumbly.
“Come out to Loburn to have a taste – try something new,” Diana says, as she encourages people to support the industry and her little business.
She also encourages people buying cheese from a town store to try a cheese they have never tasted before, or go to a tasting to try a new cheese.
Karikaas, a boutique manufacturer of award-winning cheese, has released a new cheese to its stable — Makerikeri — an orangey-red earthy cheese flavoured with annatto seed, which melts beautifully.
It takes its name from the local stream which meanders nearby, and its colour from being grown in the heart of what was once a rich apple growing region.
The cheese has been 12 months in the making, and has been on the market just two months.
Diana says the baby wheels are striking at any event, and Makerikeri makes a fantastic splash of colour on a cheese board. It is divine with a cracker, and is beautiful as a raclette (heated and melted), on crushed potatoes, when the aroma of annatto is “truly” released.
She says it has a creamy texture, with an array of fine holes and an umami aroma.
When making cheese, Karikaas aims for it to have a dual purpose and there is a story behind every style.
Its Greek feta was born from a query from a local Greek who couldn’t find “proper feta”. He had wanted a goat / sheep milk blend, but it wasn’t possible at that time, so cows milk feta was born — firm, holding its shape, lightly salted and great for pizza, dropped into tomato soup, in a sandwich or dropped into a fresh garden salad.
Karikaas is located in rural Loburn, 8km northwest of Rangiora, and has an ethos of working to ensure caring for the environment and minimising waste is built into every aspect of their business.
With a single, local milk supplier, Julie Mehrtens, and a focus on producing products free from preservatives, stabilisers, emulsifiers and colouring, Karikaas consistently strives to maintain the lowest possible ecological footprint and the highest production standards.