Danilo and Helen Dozio - Swiss precision and Irish daring - Dozio’s Cheese
Happy cheesemakers producing outstanding artisan cheese in the North West of Ireland
As the saying goes “Blessed are the cheesemakers” (taken from The Life of Brian), but Danilo and Helen – as we found out at our recent visit - are also happy cheesemakers: Settled in their recipes, calm and assured in their daily rituals and confident about the quality of their products: superb artisan cheeses.
When we visited on a crisp and sunny morning on Wednesday March 4th 2020 as part of our research about local producers for our Sligo Food Tours we didn’t know that we had picked a very special day, the production of their 200th batch of cheese. So it was a privilege to witness Danilo and Helen going about their business in a state of the art cheese dairy. Besides acidifying and renneting the latest batch of milk, Danilo was taking 5kg rounds of their Barr Rua cheeses of the press, out of the mould and into the salt brine while Helen explained the procedure of making their soft cheeses Zing and Danny Boy. Then we were allowed into the cheese ripening room, which they call “cellar” and saw Barr Rua and Ella in various stages of maturity.
Helen and Danilo produce four types of cheeses and control procedures from collecting the milk at Derek & Mary Richardson’s dairy farm to delivering the final product to shops and chefs in the region. Like many dedicated artisan cheese makers theirs is a small enough operation with one to two productions per week utilising 650 liters of milk per production from the small herd of 50 Friesan cows from the Richardson farm. Using freeze dried cultures (1), traditional animal rennet (2) and sea salt (3) they gently coax the pasteurised milk (4) through various stages transforming it into delicious cheeses.
Four basic ingredients, a recipe, skill and patience is all there is. Using modern equipment Danilo will nevertheless rely on his senses and test the readiness of the curd with his finger. Artisan cheese making is very physical, lifting the curds out of the vat to fill the moulds, turning the new cheese and brining the Barr Rua and Ella. Helen cares for the cheeses in the cellar, where they mature and develop flavour, turning the cheeses and curing the rind by wiping the surface with a cloth.
Asked about what defines their cheeses, they point out the traditional recipes from Danilo’s home country Switzerland. “Dozio Cheese is where the South of Switzerland meets the West of Ireland” they say. As many food entrepreneurs from other countries do when they arrive in Ireland, they bring their traditions and recipes with them. When we arrived in 1985 we brought our German recipes for Tilsiter and quark and to this day we often make traditional quark just for ourselves, because what we can buy is not the same. Living in Ireland Danilo and Helen missed the Swiss cheeses, in particular the delicious regional cheese from Ticino, where Danilo grew up. So it became their dream to set up a dairy and make Furmagella and Zincarlin, 2 types of cheese from that area. They were very confident that traditional Swiss recipes and high quality grass based Irish milk would be an excellent combination and would make a unique product.
We guess Swiss precision and Irish daring proved a fruitful combination and led to 4 years of research, building, sourcing equipment and funding, doing business, hygiene and cheese courses and experience on Swiss cheese farms until finally they set up their dairy in Helen's home village of Carracastle, 5 km from Charlestown, on the Mayo/Sligo/Roscommon border and on a frosty morning at the end of November 2016 they began making cheeses.
Dozio cheese features on Sligo Food Tours
Lyons Cafe, Osta Cafe, Knox, Bridgefoothouse restaurant use Dozio’s cheeses.
They produce now:
Barr Rua Alpine Style Cheese, matured for at least 3 months - in wheels of about 5kg (Gold Medal at the 2019 Irish Cheese Awards for "Best New Cheese in last Two Years")
Ella - Irish Furmagella Semi-Hard Cheese. Wheels or Squares from 1.25 to 2kg (Bronze - Irish Cheese Awards 2019 for semi-hard to hard cheese aged under 6 months)
Zing Soft Cheese, slowly drip-drained over three days resulting in a naturally creamy and soft texture - Available in 3 flavours: Natural - Black Pepper & Garlic - Apricot & Almond (Gold Medal at the 2019 Irish Cheese Awards (Best Soft Cheese with flavour added))
Danny Boy - Fresh Soft Cheese, similar to Mozzarella
When we sat down in the kitchen of their house for a tasting session, we were not only treated to their standard products, but to slight variations. The Barr Rua we tasted was not three months old but 5 months and it showed with even more flavour. We also tried fresh Zing and a new not yet named product - mature Zing, with olive oil and black pepper and it was outstanding.
Dozio Cheese is on the menu in cafés and restaurants in counties Mayo, Sligo, Leitrim and Galway, it is available for sale direct from the dairy, in Sheridans cheese mongers and Tesco and at the time of writing in Rua Castlebar, Savoir Fare Westport, Tía Louisburgh, Sheridans Galway, McCambridges Galway, Mortons Galway
doziocheese@gmail.com
