Horse-cart ride - Watching a live cheese production!
Horse-cart ride:
Leaving time: 11:00 a.m., from the Varsag. Itinerary: After visiting the museum and a brief presentation of the village, we start our journey towards the kraal. We take our first stop at the Csurgoko waterfall. After arriving to the kraal, we spend our time watching a live cheese production, and tasting different kind of cheese made by traditional methods. After the tasting, we can quench our thirst from the spring water of the well of Jesus. From the nearby lookout tower we can enjoy the surrounding landscape. We end our program with a lunch prepared in a cauldron.
Arrival: between 15:00-16:00 p.m., at Varsag
Price:
Horse-cart ride with lunch:
Groups between 10-15 persons: 180 Ron/person
Groups between 15-30 persons: 160 Ron/person
(Can be organized for a minimum of 10 people)
Horse-cart ride without lunch(for minimum 5 persons):
60 Ron/person
Contact: Tamas Erno 004-0744 795768, tamaserno@yahoo.com
The meeting point on GOOGLE maps
The GPS coordinate of the meeting place:
46°31'29.8"N 25°20'06.7"E or 46.524954, 25.335194
The kraal:
The kraal is the summer shed of flocks. Every springtime the flocks of sheep and goat are out to feed and they are sheltered in these kraals up in the mountains. Shepherds look after them. They are helped by shepherd dogs. Where the flock is usually there can be the wolf and the bear. Advice: Usually dogs are quite nervous at the sight of a stranger but in a short time they become friendly. You mustn’t run away because they are faster than you. You need to stand still in one place and talk to them calmly. Shepherds are very simple but nice people, they help you if you get lost. Life at the kraal isn’t easy. Townspeople cannot imagine how life is possible out there. They work from morning till night outdoors no matter what’s the weather like. They milk the animals twice (early morning and evening) and they make a very delicious cheese, cottage cheese and sweet cheese.
Cheese production:
They put the animals in separate places for milking. One by one they milk them. They collect the milk in a special milk bucket. They filter the milk and they pour it into a tub where they put an enzyme into it which is provided from 6-10 week animals. The milk clots in an hour. They crush the clotted milk with a cheese crusher then after a short resting time they put it into a canvas so that the extra whey can come out.
Sweet cheese production:
After the cheese the remained cheese milk from the tub is put into a brass kettle and they put above a slow fire for heating. At 60-70 C0 the grease from the milk comes out. This is filtered and it is put in a gauze for drying.
The sweet cheese is almost like the cottage cheese but it’s sweet and delicious. The pancake with sweet cheese and dill is absolutely breathtaking. Everyone should try it out.
Cottage cheese production:
The ready prepared dry cheese is ground they put salt in it and mix.
Have a nice cart ride!
Yours sincerely,
Arpad Nagy
