THE WHEY OF CHEESE

Across Southeast Asia there is a mushrooming community of artisans – crafters who have been quietly designing and perfecting products that originally had a niche market of consumers but are now finding widespread acceptance and increasing demand. Of all the things one would imagine I am referring to; cheese is probably the unlikeliest answer. Although processed and milder styles like cream cheese have already gained acceptance with Asian palates, appreciation for the funkier stuff is still slow to catch on in Southeast Asian countries.

In a serendipitous twist of events, a VICE.com article dropped a shining nugget into my lap one fine day. A Chinese cheesemaker, trained in Corsica and handcrafting award-winning artisanal cheeses from local dairy sources? My brain mentally imploded, then reemerged with curiosity and the rationale that if Liu Yang of Beijing-based Fromager de Pekin was able to achieve such success in a craft quite alien to his culture then surely there must be others. This ultimately led me to a cornucopia of regional artisanal cheesemakers who are not only revolutionizing the way their communities consume cheese, but are creating new varieties that are putting their countries on the map.

In the sprawling city scape of Chennai’s rapid development, lies an oasis of green where buffaloes, cows and various animals graze peacefully and unhurried by the concrete jungle that had been steadily growing towards and now, past their patch of green. Currently run by Shalini Phillips and her husband,

@thefarmchennai

Arul Futnani, ‘The Farm’ is in essence, really more than that – a working farm with an onsite restaurant, organic vegetable garden, and astonishingly, a line of artisanal cheese that is truly ‘farm to table’.

While the local dairy industry enjoys a strong foothold on the market, industrial cheese (which is 80% added fat, mixed with stabilisers and emulsifiers) is still consumed the most in the country. Originally run as a dairy farm when it opened in 1974, the business made some milk by-products such as paneer, butter, cream and ghee. The couple pondered on the future of the farm when they took over