The Art of Natural Cheesemaking with David Asher

Discover the secrets of traditional cheesemaking practices with organic farmer, farmstead cheesemaker, and author of The Art of Natural Cheesemaking, David Asher. Take part in this rare opportunity to learn with David, who is visiting from the west coast of Canada.

David practices true farmstead cheesemaking free from unnatural additives and laboratory-raised cultures. Instead, he utilizes natural ingredients, keeps his own starters, grows his own fungi, and works with the indigenous microorganisms of raw milk to help his cheeses evolve their best possible flavor.

You’ll start your two-day journey with dairy fermentation, focusing on the making of kefir, creme fraiche, yogurt, and cultured butter. You’ll then delve into fresh cheeses (like Fromage Frais and Chevre) and continue on to make soft-aged French cheeses (Saint Marcellin, Crottin, and Saint Valencay) from the very same batch.

By day two, you’ll be ready to explore rennet cheeses, make fresh cheese curd, and investigate all the  directions a basic cheese can take once the process begins to evolve (such as Camembert, Limburger, Feta and Mozzarella). Finish off your cheese education with alpine cheeses and blues, make a Tomme, and a wheel of Gorgonzola… all without packaged starters.

You’ll leave with a deeper understanding of cheese diversity, how the different types are related, and their evolution from milk with a full-circle, organically inspired cheesemaking philosophy. You’ll taste local cheeses, make your own starters and finished products to bring home, and leave with a few helpful tools to keep the cheesemaking spirit alive in your own kitchen.

David Asher

David Asher is an organic farmer, farmstead cheesemaker, and cheese educator based on the Gulf Islands of British Columbia, Canada. As a “guerrilla cheesemaker,” David doesn’t prescribe to standard industrial philosophies; he explores traditionally cultured, non-corporate, DIY methods well suited to the home kitchen or artisanal production. David offers cheese outreach to communities near and far with the Black Sheep School of Cheesemaking.  Through workshops in partnership with food-sovereignty-minded organizations, he shares his distinct cheesemaking style with the world.

Scholarships available: Please contact Director of Community Programs Tre McCarney at tmccarney@shelburnefarms.org with any questions. This program is created and offered in partnership with Chelsea Green Publishing and NOFA-VT.