Where it all began
The history of Montagu Cheese probably goes back further than we’ll ever know. The plaaskaas recipes we proudly use today originate from an old Dutch recipe book that likely arrived in South Africa over a hundred years ago. When we purchased Montagu Cheese in 2012, the owner had perfected the recipes over a number of years, eventually resulting in the beautiful artisanal cheeses we still make today, we proudly continue this tradition.
Denham – A sheep and game farmer &
Louise – animal behaviourist and dog trainer
We are a husband & wife team that have come a long way since 2012, with the many ups and downs of running both a business and a family. After moving premises several times we have happily settled in Montagu, in what we hope will be our long term home. Covid was a difficult time that taught us many things, but we have come out the other side more resilient, with new private customers who have carried us through the last two years and we have had the opportunity to adapt with new products and new friendships along the way. We continue to see how blessed we have been in this time and look forward to the future of Montagu cheese.
Details of our cheeses
Montagu Cheese is a high-quality artisan cheese made in the traditional Dutch style by Denham, who has made it since 2011 and was taught by the original Montagu cheese maker. It is made slowly and by hand and is pressed in antique cheese presses. Our cheese has no artificial additives, preservatives, flavourants or maturation agents and is suitable for vegetarians.
Our cheese is matured for various amounts of time on wooden shelves where the rounds are monitored and turned to ensure the best maturation conditions.
Our cheese is made from free range, jersey cow’s milk, non-animal rennet and specific dairy cultures.
Semi hard Cheese
Our plaaskaas is washed, has no salt added but is placed in a brine bath for several days. Our in-house flavours are infused with organic, non iodated herbs or spices. Our plaaskaas, komijnkaas (cumin seeds) and spotted black (crushed and whole black pepper) are made in the boerenkaas style but our plaaskaas recipe has been tweaked so although a ‘boerenkaas’ there is a slight difference and therefore you will find no other cheese like it in South Africa. Our old boerenkaas is called ‘Montagu Mature’ and is Parmesan like in flavour and texture.
Cheddar
We started making cheddar due to client demand, and because we did not follow a standard recipe for our boerenkaas (plaaskaas), we thought why follow a standard cheddar recipe. So, we tweaked it and therefore we have a cheddar, but it isn’t typical – it is better! We make both a young and old cheddar, the tang and flavour intensifies with age and the preference depends entirely on one’s pallet. Look out for our up and coming new products, smoked cheddars and mini whole cheddars.
Our milk is from cows that are pasture fed and are fed no grains or other hormone enriched feeds. All pastures, if not natural grass, are sown and watered and the cows can graze freely on the land. Pasture is harvested to utilise in times of drought, or if a little more feed is required during colder weather. Our cream content is a lot higher in winter due to the winter rainfall we get. One can also note the subtle flavour changes in our milk, cream and cheese depending on the season and what the cows are eating. We do not take any cream off our milk before making cheese so when we decided to make butter, we bought cream in from a neighbouring farmer.
Butter
We decided to try our hand at butter by starting in our own kitchen – it was a family hands on process. We then decided to start advertising it slowly but had no butter churn! We used a “Denham designed whisk” that he made and attached to a drill. The first couple of hundred blocks took us some time but we were able to see where to make some changes and try a few different things. We now have a churn but still hand knead, salt and block. So yes, our blocks of butter are not the neatest, but they taste great!
The by-product of our butter making is proper buttermilk. One can use this in baking, can drink it, can sour it and can apparently heat apples in it which is delicious (a Belgium recipe we believe). We include butter and cream in our product offering now, specifically to offer a full basket to restaurants and guesthouses/hotels.
Our whey (by-product of the cheese) can be ordered on request and the rest goes to a regenerative farmer to feed his free ranging pigs.