L’Usine du la Fromage
Posted on May 29, 2008
Filed Under From the road |
Posted by Sierra
The Darigold cheese factory in Sunnyside, Washington, gives visitors an interesting view of cheese. It has a short, self-guided tour of part of the factory. Above the processsing room is a catwalk-level exhibit in two corridors explaining the process of making cheese, as well as facts about cheese.
The tour starts off in a regular, hotel-like elevator with a humorous sign outside it- “It may not be to the moon, but it will get you to the second floor. You slowly rise up to … the second floor. As the doors open, you are greeted by a large window into the factory. At your left is a life-sized model of a blue-eyed cow with eyelashes. Above the window is a fact-filled board, and to your right the corridor continues on.
Most of the wall space on one side is taken up by windows, but in the wide spaces between the windows are facts. For example, the first cheese was said to have been made by a shepherd who walked across a desert. He carried milk in a sheepskin pouch. The heat of the desert combined with the rennet from the pouch separated the milk into curds and whey. The curds were cheese.
On the other sides of the corridors, murals cover most of the wall space. But there are two video screens, which both show a video explaining the process of making cheese.
Cheese starts with grass. When cows eat the grass, they chew it up really small. It becomes milk. The milk is then sent to factories, where it is analyzed and cleaned. It is then pasteurized, to remove any bad bacteria.
The milk then goes to the mostly “Otto”-matic heater, or “Otto” for short. There color, enzymes, and starter culture are mixed in, which combine with good bacteria to make curds and whey. The whey is then removed, and the curds go through several more machines, where even more whey is removed. The curds are then stretched and compressed to make cheese!
At the end of the tour, you can exit by the elevator or by the the stairs. You can then visit the gift shop, where you can buy cheese, milk, ice cream, and the usual touristy items.
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Nice blog.
Thanks