BENGALURU : When we go a store to buy cheese for that fancy dinner party we’re hosting, we rarely think about all the effort and time that goes into fermenting milk to get that perfect gouda, cheddar or parmesan. One man changing how we look at cheese is Aditya Raghavan, whose fascination for the dairy product has taken him on journeys of discovery, exploration and lots of cows!A former physicist, Aditya says that he has always had a love for food and cooking. Experimenting with making cheese, bread, beer and curing meat at home as hobbies, Aditya, who was a postdoctoral fellow in Canada, quit this and worked on cheese farms. “I lost interest in research and teaching, which is when I decided to do something in food.
Working on two different cheese farms in Canada helped hone my skills. I learnt so much about farming and about raising animals at these cheese farms, skills that are rare to acquire in India,” he says.
What drew him towards cheese was the process of making it. He says that he was ‘fascinated’ by how milk could be kept away for months, after which it gives you something so different and unique. Talking about favourite cheeses to make and eat, Aditya chooses two French cheeses — Époisses to eat and Tomme to make. “Tomme is a French cheese that has simple, creamy flavours. And the natural flavour of the milk really comes out in it,” he says.
Having journeyed to many places on cheese quest. Aditya says that one experience on a cheese farm in California will always be a fond one. “A Portugese family settled on the outskirts of San Francisco will always be one of my fondest cheese memories. I remember driving up to the rustic farm with the strong smell of manure everywhere. The cheese cellar there was filled with all these amazing aromas. Now, each time I visit California, I make it a point to go there.”
While he says that cheese made in Himalayas is good, he says that India is not suited for making the Western style of cheeses. “Making cheese requires a cool environment for fermentation to happen. The ideal temperature inside a cheese cellar is 10-12 degrees. While the cheese you get in Kodaikanal, which is quite popular, isn’t bad, there is nothing cutting edge about it. One can still find some good cheese being used in the northeast, as yak milk imparts a nice flavour to the product.”
Aditya says that he has no plans on starting his own cheese farm, and wants to continue being a cheese consultant. Talking about what this entails, he says, “As a consultant, I go to farms that are engaged in selling dairy products such as milk and ghee, and are looking to add value to their products. I take them through the entire process of cheese making — from how to set up a cheese cellar, how fermentation and aging work to the actual business part of it where they have to sell their products.”
In India, Aditya says, consumers are not very knowledgeable about cheese yet, but this is changing. “The most popular kinds of cheeses here remain gouda and cheddar, and fresh cheese such as mozzarella and feta. However, people are slowly starting to open up to various other kinds of cheeses now.”
Aditya will be at Foodhall, 1MG Mall, on Sunday from 12 noon to 2pm, to take guests through platters of various cheeses and how best to pair them and with what.