Highland Organics

Products

In May 2004, Highland Organics produced its first cheeses, a fresh Pecorino and a fresh Tomme.  In 2005 we won a silver medal for our Fresco Pecorino at the Sydney Royal Easter Show and in 2006 we won silver medals for our Fresco Tomme, our Fetta, Pepper Cheese and St Laurent Tasty.   All in all a great result and hopefully next year there will be a few more. 

Our cheeses are made using 100% organic milk and non-animal rennet.  Andre employs traditional hand made methods and all the pieces are hand cut and packed.  Consequently, each piece is slightly different from the next and does not have that mass-produced look.  We would like to expand our range of organic cheeses but unfortunately we would need to purchase additional equipment or in the case of blue cheeses another maturation room.  So for the moment we will stick with what is proving to be extremely popular.  As we grow we hopefully will be able to increase our range.

Pecorino is a mild, fresh tasting cheese and is fantastic used in sauces and on pizzas.  It is also great grilled on toast with salami and sun-dried tomatoes.  Italians love their fresh Pecorino on a mezza plate as well. We recently won a Gold medal at the 2008 Royal Easter Show which is our first for our cheese.  A great acheivement from a very small producer.


  Our Fetta has a smooth, creamy taste with a bit of a bite.  A silver medal winner at the 2006 and 2008 Sydney Royal Shows, it is great used in salads, on pizzas, in hors-d'oeuvres, pastries, dolmades and in rich tomato based lamb or beef casseroles.  It can also be used on a casual cheeseboard with olives and cherry tomatoes.  It goes well with grapes, figs, peaches, apricots and mangoes.


  Winner of a Silver medal at the 2007 Sydney Royal Easter Show, Fromage Blanc is a traditional cream cheese.  We use only milk and culture and set the cheese overnight.  There is no added salt and it is not brined.  We then skim the cream off the top and use it in our Fromage Frais.  The cheese is then cut into blocks.  It is great used as a spread on crackers or in cooking where you would traditionally use a farm or cream cheese. 


  Winner of a Silver medal at the 2007 Sydney Royal Easter Show, Fromage Frais is our Fromage Blanc whipped with added organic cream.  We then package this product into tubs.  This cheese is smooth and creamy and delicious as the base ingredient for dips.  It is also wonderful on baked potatoes and spread on crackers with fresh herbs and tomatoes.

Our 2006 and 2007 silver medal winning Pepper Cheese is our Fromage Blanc cut into rounds and rolled in freshly ground organic pepper.  Truly delicious and fabulous with a beer. 

  Another silver medal cheese, this time in the cheese maker's speciality category.  Andre used to make this cheese in France and is a secret recipe that he guards closely.  It is our biggest seller and is a mild tasting cheese thas has great versatility  It can be used as a table cheese, grated for cooking, melted on toast or any other number of uses.  Children especially love the mild flavour. 

Our Cheese Makers 

Our cheese makers, Andre and Annie Poirot hail from St Laurent in France where they are part of a long line of cheese makers.  Andre has developed a number of personal varieties of cheese that we are yet to tap into. He has been making cheese all his life (well nearly) and has received a number of awards to which he can add two silvers from this year's Royal Easter Show. Andre is ably assisted by his wife Annie.  They have been working together as a cheese making team now for over 25 years and their experience and expertise in this field just blows us away.  We love being Andre's taste testers because even the cheeses he throws away are great.  With many new varieties to come over the next few years the future looks bright for Country Valley cheese.