What do you get when sheep, camel, goat and Jersey milk farmers join forces after flood devastation? A “collaboration cheese” so complex to make, “it’s like the truffle of the cheese world,” says Dallas Davidson of Towri Sheep Cheeses.
The farm, in south-east Queensland’s Scenic Rim region, was among many impacted by 2022’s repeated flooding events. Unable to milk their cherished herd of Awassi sheep, Dallas and her mother, Carolyn Davidson, were down to the milk supply stored in their freezer – not enough to mature their award-winning hard cheeses in time to fulfil orders.
“We thought, OK, we need to think of a way to innovate,” says Dallas. During the drought that preceded the floods, they had united with another Queensland farm, Tommerup’s Dairy, to create a Moo and Ewe blended range. This sparked the idea to take it further by harnessing more local producers.
Kay Tommerup was happy to come on board again. “What we do really well in the Scenic Rim is rather than compete, we try to complement each other and look after each other,” she says.
Through connections forged at the region’s annual Eat Local event, Davidson also collected milk from Summer Land Camels and goat milk producers Naughty Little Kids. Then the head cheesemaker, Carolyn, got to work creating what the producers believe is the first four milk blend cheese in the country.
“My mum has over 17 years’ experience and it tested her,” says Dallas. “We can definitely see why it hasn’t been done before.”
Every milk has a different profile, she explains, with different types of fats, proteins and sweetness. “So it’s a matter of trying to find the right combination that they all respond well to. If one milk doesn’t respond, then it all basically falls apart.”
Just making camel cheese is a labour of love, according to Paul Martin from Summer Land Camels. Sought after for its nutritional profile, camel milk is free from casein, making it suitable for some people with allergies to cow’s milk. However, Martin explains, it’s the casein that helps set a curd when it reacts with rennet to make cheese – which can cause difficulty.
“It wasn’t till I actually got into the cheese game that I realised why people had such trouble making camel cheese,” he says. This gives some appreciation for the Davidsons’ daunting venture, and that’s before factoring in taste and texture. Goat’s cheese, for instance, can be divisive, while too much cow milk would make the cheese too soft.
After “a lot of trial and error” they eventually came up with a cooked, natural rind cheese they named Ewe+3.
Chef Simon Furley from The Paddock restaurant in Beechmont says you can taste a bit of everything in Ewe+3, describing it as a sharp cheddar with just a hint of goat in the background. He says it would be a great addition to a cheese board, grated over salad or melted.
An avid supporter of local producers (“if it’s not from here, it’s not on here”), he is planning gourmet toasties to showcase the cheese. It has also been picked up by several other restaurants, including high end Brisbane spots Elska and Essa.
The intrepid Towri cheese makers will sell the cheese to the public for the first time on 18 September, at Towri’s annual spring farmer’s market. But there won’t be any free samples.
“I wish we could do tastings,” says Dallas. “But it just takes way too long to make.”
