Saying cheese puts a smile on Catherine Smith's face as she tours Waikato.
Sometimes we just don't realise how lucky we are. This is what the husband-cook and I remarked to each other as we pulled out of picture-perfect Cambridge one sunny Saturday and headed into the lush, gently rolling countryside towards Putaruru.
We'd just spent a greedy hour or so at the Farmers' Market, filling our stomachs and our carrybags with gorgeous local produce, and were heading out for a day chasing down artisan cheeses around the Waikato.
After more than a century of tiny butter and cheese factories all around the district churning out bulk blocks of cheese-shaped-objects called "cheddar", it is only fitting that our richest dairy country is now home to prize-winning artisan cheesemakers. With the Specialty Cheesemakers Association's championships coming up next month, it was time to meet some of these artisans.
I downloaded the NZ Cheesetrail from the association's website, plotted an itinerary and hit the road.
First stop, Pirongia, where Cathy and Peter Lang sell their Cloudy Mountain cheese through farmers' markets and their local supermarket. Cathy's microbiology background gave her the grounding she needed in the precision art that is cheesemaking, pulling off a medal at the hobby section in the awards in 2007. Their stall at the markets has a changing selection of cheeses - including that week's experiments - but we settled on their tomme and a beaut Danish cream, splendid in its red wax coating. After coffee and a meltingly good brioche from Mavis & Co's bakery and a cornish pasty, finished off with some ginger parkin from Celtic Cuisine, we had the strength to stock up for the week. Transplanted Aucklanders at Locavore supplied seedlings to start our winter vege garden and just-dug jersey bennes, while elsewhere we got apples, buckets of tomatoes and giant aubergines and the sweetest lamb from local farmer Wholly Cow.
The Over the Moon Dairy at Putaruru is small and welcoming, with a generous cheese-tasting room and marble-countered delicatessen. Sue Arthur's buffalo and goat tomme and cumin sheep pecorino won best of class at last year's World Champion of Cheeses in Wisconsin and their Galactic Gold washed rind won gold in the New Zealand awards. During the week you can watch cheeses being made for both Over the Moon and a handful of smaller dairies. Finding a spot for lunch was easy: the renovated dairy factory at Waharoa on the outskirts of Matamata, home of Kaimai cheese. With a Kiwi-Dutch background and years working with cheeses in Europe, Lissane Baukema knows her product. The menu showcases their cheeses - and the feta and chorizo salad also featured sausages made by manager Sheryn Cook's German husband. We crossed to Matatoki Cheeses on the edge of Kopu. Owned by Turangi-based Maori Land Trust Waituhi Kuratau, the farm supplies sheep milk to cheesemakers on both sides of the Tasman. The company has its own line of icecreams (we opted for the Matatoki blue and pear) and the sweet butter is a revelation.
Last stop, Mercer Cheese, where we picked up their oldest gouda. Bags of salty Dutch liquorice and a quick nip around the corner for some Pokeno bacon were a bonus before we hit the motorway back to Auckland.
Monteith's Cheese Fest, Langham Hotel, Auckland, Wednesday, March 2, 5pm-9pm. Tickets $30 through eventfinder.co.nz or $35 at the door.
Where to indulge
* Cloudy Mountain, Catherine & Peter Lang, 1481 McClure St, RD6 Te Awamutu, Pirongia 3802. Ph 021 914 564 of (07) 871 9216. At Cambridge, Hamilton and Te Awamutu farmers markets
* Over the Moon Dairy, 33 Tirau St, Putaruru 3411 Ph (07) 883 8238 Mon - Fri 10am-5pm, Sat 10am-1pm, Sun 1pm-4pm
* Kaimai Cheese Company, corner Hawes St and SH27, Waharoa. Ph (07) 888 8490 Cafe and cheese tastings, open seven days 8am-4pm
* Matatoki Farm Cheese, Waituhi Kuratau. Thames-Paeroa Highway, about 5km south of Kopu, cnr SH26 and Wainui Rd, Matatoki. Ph (07) 868 1284 Cafe and cheese tastings, open seven days, 10am-4pm.
* Mercer Cheese, SH1, Mercer (behind Pokeno Bacon and restaurants) Ph (09) 232 8474. Mon-Sat 10am-5pm
* Also try: Pukeatua Peak Cheese, Fiona & Jeff Graham, 135 Maru Rd RD1, Pukeatua 3880. Ph/fax (07) 872 4668. Email groundln@reap.org.nz. By appointment only.
