Pecora Dairy Yarrawa
Origin: Robertson, NSW
Milk: Raw Sheeps Milk
Type: Semi-Hard
Flavour: Buttery, Nutty, Grass
Texture: Supple
We are excited to share this benchmark Australian Cheese – Yarrawa, Australia’s first non-cooked Raw Milk Cheese. Produced by Pecora Dairy in Robertson, NSW.
Pecora Dairy is an artisan sheep milk dairy and cheesery founded in 2011 by Michael and Cressida McNamara. The 200 acre farm is located in the Green Heart of the Southern Highlands, within 100 miles of Sydney. The lush green pastures & crystal clear running creeks are home to their flock of East Friesian Ewes who have been raised on the farm. They are allowed to graze freely and produce high quality rich, creamy milk perfect for the production of seasonal sheep’s milk cheeses.
Michael & Cressida’s overarching philosophy is a gentleness on the land, towards the ewes, and in the production of their wonderful cheese. This light handed approach intertwines throughout all aspects of farming and cheesemaking and results in wonderful quality ewe's milk cheeses with provenance of a single time and place, an expression of the farms entire ecosystem.
Yarrawa is unmistakably reminiscent of Pyrenean/Basque sheep milk cheeses. Macro factors like soil, pasture and season give the cheese it's provenance along with the prevailing seasonal micro-flora, which is encouraged to grow within the cheese and upon it's natural rind, over a minimum of three months. Only very simple starter cultures are used in order to give these indigenous yeasts and moulds space to express themselves in the cheese.
The cheese has a supple paste that hints of butter, cashews, caramel and grass.