Say Cheese! Close up on Carmelis
One of the first times I went to Carmelis Goat Cheese Artisan (a few years ago with some visiting media) I came face to face with a bone chilling fear of mine: blue cheese. In fact, I’d never had blue cheese before, and I thought that I was philosophically opposed to it. We’d done the tour of the goat cheese farm: saw the immaculately gleaming dairy, ventured down into the cellar stocked with shelves and shelves of cheese, and came back up for a howdi-do with the goats. After all that, it was time for the tasting in the cheese shop; and there it was, the Goatgonzola.
Photo by José Antonio Lopez
Somehow though, after seeing how Ofer makes the Goatgonzola, and hearing Ofri speak about the process with so much authority and pride, I was ready to try my first blue cheese. To my surprise it was subtle, mild, flavourful, and indescribably delicious! So were the 20 or so other cheeses we tried – from fresh chevre to soft aged cheeses (reminiscent of Brie or Camembert, for example) to hard aged cheeses (similar to Asiago or Gruyere). And so, too, were the 24 flavours of goat milk gelato that Ofri makes.
Ofri Barmor lifts a round of artisan cheese from a shelf in Carmelis' cellar.
No wonder so many restaurants in the Okanagan source their cheeses from Carmelis! The farm is a veritable artist studio of cheese. This recent story in the Cloverdale Reporter offers some more insightful background on this Kelowna gem.
Photo by José Antonio Lopez.
On a recent visit to Carmelis with Kelowna.com videographer Gary Moore, I interviewed Ofri about the farm. Have a look for yourself at this adventure in goat cheese, and most importantly, make sure you head over to the farm to experience it yourself. Just a 5 minute drive south along Lakeshore Dr. from CedarCreek Estate Winery (follow the signs for goat cheese), I’m sure you’ll find the stop a delicious diversion! Get there before November 15 – or you’ll be waiting until March 1, 2010 as they close briefly for the winter season.
