3 Day Workshop Coming to Texas, March 11-13

Cheeses aging at Eagle Mountain Farm

There are a few openings, so here's your chance to see what it's all about!

Two years ago, Dave Eagle (Eagle Mountain Farm House Cheese) went to Three Shepherds Farm in Vermont to learn how to make cheese.  He went home, built his own business and now, March 11-13, he's hosting this same workshop at his own facility in Granbury, Texas.  There are still a few openings available.  

Eagle Mountain Goudas

You will find the complete description of this course at the Three Shepherds website.  Here's a brief summary:

Three Shepherds uses a hands-on approach to teach you to make 7 different cheeses.  These 7 cheeses represent the use of different techniques, so that by the end, you will be able to make your own quality cheeses.  A variety of milks are used-cow's both pasteurized and raw and goat's.

The class is limited to 10 students and the price is $550.  This includes the Three Shepherds Artisan Cheesemaking Manual, lunch each day (including extensive cheese and wine tasting), and all materials.  (If more than person is registering as a group, the price is reduced by $50 per person.)

Dave Eagle at the ACC Festival of Cheeses

To sign up, call 802-496-3998.

There are at least two good reasons why I think this workshop would be a good choice if you want to learn how to make cheese:

Reason #1
Eagle Mountain Farm

This is a new artisan cheese operation, run by Dave Eagle and his son, Matt.  I first met up with them at the American Cheese Society's Annual Conference in Seattle last summer.  They were uncommonly friendly and fun to talk with, so they made an impression.  Dave, in fact, stood up and made a remark I can't repeat at a community forum and I still laugh when I think about it.  So, I'm guessing the workshop will be as much fun as any you are likely to take.  You may call him at 817-579-0090.




  

Matt Eagle

Eagle Mountain cheeses are making a big impression in Texas, so I know we will be hearing more about this father-son team in the near future.  Dave told me they are planning to enter a few of their cheeses in the next ACS Competition (in Montreal this summer).  Watch for news about them at their website- www.eaglemountaincheese.com

Linda Faillace

Reason #2
Three Shepherds Farm in Warren, Vermont 

You may have heard about this farm-it has about as interesting a history as any in the United States.*

A family operation since 1993, the Faillace's raw milk cheeses are well known across the country.   They have been featured on TV shows ("Food Finds" on the Food Network and Martha Stewart) and in magazines (Gourmet, Cooking Light and Ski).  They make their cheese in small batches and they age it in their strawbale aging cellar.

The family is very experienced in teaching cheese making, having conducted workshops in countries all over the world.  From May to October, they teach at their own facility in Vermont, and in the winter they travel to other states.  They even provide other cheese makers with consulting services in facility development, product refinement, new product creation, etc.

* From their website:

Many will be familiar with the invasion of Three Shepherd's Farm by the United States Department of Agriculture in 2001. Forty armed federal agents and USDA officials stormed the farm in the middle of a blizzard on March 23, 2001 and seized the family's beloved flock of healthy sheep and killed them for a disease that doesn't exist to this day. 

The government's own laboratories proved the sheep to be healthy but the USDA has engaged in destroying evidence, hiding evidence from Federal court, ignoring the Freedom of Information Act, putting the Faillaces under months of surveillance, and using an outside laboratory which has been shut down for gross negligence. Linda Faillace has written a critically acclaimed account of the story in her book "Mad Sheep--The True Story behind the USDA's War on a Family Farm" which was published by Chelsea Green Publishing in 2006.  http://www.chelseagreen.com/2006/items/madsheep