![\"Fran\u00e7ois](\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Nepal_2.1.jpg\")
<\/a>Fran\u00e7ois Driard at the farmers’ market he founded at Le Sherpa in Kathmandu.<\/em><\/div>\nI\u2019ve been fascinated with Nepali cheesemaking since researching my book, Cheese for Dummies<\/a><\/cite> (co-written with culture<\/strong> founder Thalassa Skinner), mostly because little has been written about it. Last spring I traveled there to explore both rural cheesemaking traditions and how Kathmandu-area producers such as Driard are modernizing their craft for a feature in the Autumn 2015 issue of culture<\/strong>. But nature had other plans. Now it\u2019s also a story about how Nepal and its cheesemakers are moving on, one year after the country\u2019s deadliest natural disaster on record.<\/p>\n Nepal—with geography ranging from tropical and subtropical lowlands to the staggering heights of the Himalaya—lies between India and Tibet in a region that\u2019s been inhabited for at least 11,000 years. While dairy has been an important subsistence food on the Indian subcontinent (which includes Nepal) for centuries, acid-set paneer is the only cheese indigenous to the area, according to Paul Kindstedt\u2019s book, Cheese and Culture<\/a><\/cite>. The revered status of the cow in religious doctrine may have been a factor in discouraging the use of animal rennet and the development of aged cheeses, he continues. So the fact that Nepal\u2019s population is primarily Hindu and Buddhist, then, helps explain why European-style cheesemaking was slow to catch on there.<\/p>\n Yaks in the street in Lukla, Nepal<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n Previously a monarchy, Nepal became a democratic republic in 2008, and agriculture—mostly rice and wheat cultivation—still dominates the economy. Cow\u2019s milk is used for the ubiquitous chai masala (spiced tea). Nepalis also eat yogurt, made from the milk of cows or domesticated water buffalo (the latter is a delicacy known as juju dhau<\/i>). Air-dried cheese, known as chhurpi<\/i>, is traditionally made at higher elevations from the milk of yaks or cow-yak hybrids known as dzomos<\/i>. Native to Central Asia, yaks produce butterfat-rich milk that\u2019s sweeter, thicker, and higher in calcium, protein, and linoleic acid than cow\u2019s milk. Unsurprisingly, chhurpi is a diet staple during winter in the Himalaya.<\/p>\n Mitra Kala Khanal preparing a meal at her teahouse<\/em><\/p><\/div><\/div>\n In the Himalayan foothills, where the clanging of yak bells echo in the mist, Mitra Kala Khanal partly relies on income from selling chhurpi. Khanal owns and runs the Makalu Hotel & Lodge, a rustic teahouse in the village of Gufa Pokhari that her father founded 52 years ago. Located at 9,000 feet above sea level, the hamlet is dwarfed by Kangchenjunga, the world\u2019s third-highest peak. To the northeast, the summits of Makalu—the fifth-highest mountain—and Mount Everest are visible. Simply put, the locale is mind-blowing.<\/p>\n An anomaly among rural Nepali women, the energetic Khanal is an entrepreneur who owns a herd of 35 yaks and a flock of sheep. She also buys local cow\u2019s milk for chai and yogurt and raises a few goats for meat. Sitting before the red clay oven she built herself, Khanal tells me she began making cheese when she was unable to sell enough yak milk at market. She learned from a nearby cheesemaker and eventually the endeavor took off. As Khanal cut slices from square loaves of chhurpi, she explains that while the curds are ready to eat in two days, they\u2019re best when aged at least two weeks. The cheese brings in money when the teahouse is closed during the winter.<\/p>\n Chhurpi in its most primitive form is a shock to the Western palate. It\u2019s grainy, dry, faintly smoky, and gamy, yet \u201cvery important\u201d to daily Nepali life, Khanal says. More than just a subsistence food, it\u2019s part of the social fabric and livelihood for many rural people. \u201cMaking chhurpi makes me feel good,\u201d she explains, stirring a pot of curds.<\/p>\n The livelihood of Nepalis was also on Swiss cheesemaker Werner Schulthess\u2019s mind when he traveled there in the early 1950s as a United Nations volunteer. Tasked with setting up a creamery as a way to use surplus cow\u2019s milk, Schulthess taught locals how to make Alpine-style cheeses and assisted with their marketing and distribution in Kathmandu (the timing coinciding with the rise of the country\u2019s mountaineering industry). Schulthess went on to produce yak\u2019s milk cheese similar to the styles of his homeland and establish other factories throughout Nepal. Today, the commercial industry he helped initiate is thriving and produces cheese, yogurt, and ice cream with cow\u2019s milk purchased from dairy co-ops.<\/p>\n Unlike Schulthess, Driard didn\u2019t set out to become a cheesemaker. Like many before him, he was enchanted by Nepal when he first visited at age 18. After studying business journalism in France, he moved to Nepal, attracted by the low cost of living as well as by the \u201ccaptivating people and culture, and mountains,\u201d he says. The lack of non-industrial, domestic European-style cheeses prompted him to start a company. \u201cI figured if cheesemakers had been doing it for centuries in France, I should be able to learn how to make cheese using a copper pot and little investment,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n After a crash course in cheesemaking and affinage in the French Alps, Driard and a Nepali friend founded Himalayan French Cheese in early 2008 with $2,000 USD. \u201cIn France, they\u2019d be hung up on the terroir, cattle breed, European Union regulations,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s hard to start a business there because of the associated costs and restrictions. Here, I have more freedom to act and create. The permits and regulations come after.\u201d This is his polite way of saying that there\u2019s considerable red tape for foreign entrepreneurs; Driard hired a fixer to obtain necessary licensing.<\/p>\n Juju dhau<\/strong><\/i>—\u201cking yogurt\u201d—is made throughout Nepal, but the most famous version comes from Bhaktapur, a city nine miles from Kathmandu. Traditionally made from local water buffalo\u2019s milk (cow\u2019s milk is sometimes substituted today), juju dhau is a custardy, honey- sweetened delicacy, often flavored with cardamom. To make the yogurt, milk is boiled over an open fire and acidified with cultures from previous batches. Then it\u2019s poured into unglazed red clay pots called maato ko kataaro<\/i> (which are thought to impart a sweet flavor). The clay\u2019s porous nature allows whey to evaporate while the juju dhau ages atop rice hulls for up to six hours; the yogurt is sold in the same pots in which it\u2019s fermented. Bhaktapur—a UNESCO World Heritage site that was Nepal\u2019s best-preserved historic city before the 2015 earthquake—has dozens of juju dhau shops and vendors.<\/p>\n In recent years, juju dhau makers—most of them multigenerational—have seen their industry threatened by milk shortages and reluctance from Bhaktapuri potters to use the increasingly scarce, famed native clay. The current fuel blockade has also impacted the availability of milk, cooking gas, and firewood. Yogurt is a crucial part of Nepali religious ceremonies and rituals, and in the Kathmandu Valley, juju dhau is an integral part of the culture.<\/p>\n While Bhaktapur suffered severe damage and many fatalities as a result of the earthquake, it\u2019s open to the public again ($15 USD entry fee, bhaktapur.com<\/a>). This stunning brick-and-wood city is a must-visit if you\u2019re in Kathmandu. For a taste of authentic buffalo\u2019s milk juju dhau, try Bhaktapur\u2019s Cafe\u0301 Nyatapola (Taumadhi Tole, 977 1-6610346). The restaurant is unapologetically touristy, but the location, inside a historic pagoda in the middle of the famed Durbar Square, can\u2019t be beat.<\/div>\n Driard\u2019s original (cow) creamery was located just outside Kathmandu. He created enough demand to move the operation to pastoral Dhulikhel, also in the Kathmandu Valley. Here, Driard and his four Nepali employees produce everything from cream cheese flavored with foraged herbs to aged cheeses such as pasteurized Reblochon, brie, camembert, and Belkot, a young, buttery variety with a natural rind. At the time of our rooftop tasting, Driard was gearing up to launch his yak\u2019s milk creamery in Ramechhap. It\u2019s a nod to Nepali culture and the local economy, of course, but also a venture that caters to what Driard sees as the increasingly cosmopolitan tastes in Kathmandu. Located 10,000 feet above sea level, the yak cheese factory employs six locals who oversee production of pasteurized tomme and Serding—an original recipe made using yak and dzomo milk to produce cheese redolent of the lush indigenous grasses and wildflowers.<\/p>\n Himalayan French Cheese wheels resting on shelves<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n Driard\u2019s not the only immigrant making cheese in Nepal; Italian artisan Sandro Serafini of Kathmandu Valley\u2019s Himal Farm<\/a> has been in business since 2007. He sources local cow\u2019s milk for a variety of fresh, soft, and aged cheeses, including mozzarella, caciotta, scamorza, and signature Himal Blue. Joining these foreign-born entrepreneurs are next-gen Nepali cheesemakers like Ashok Thakuri, who owns Nepal Goat Cheese (goats are not traditional dairy animals for the Nepali). Thakuri, who apprenticed in France and launched his company in 2003, started his own herd by selectively breeding animals on his dairy in the high-altitude village of Chitlang, a day\u2019s trek from Kathmandu. Binuka Joshi of Theki Dairy, meanwhile, makes yogurt and paneer from local cow\u2019s milk around the capital.<\/p>\n Most of these cheesemakers sell at two farmers\u2019 markets Driard founded: one at Le Sherpa<\/a>, a French-Nepali restaurant in Lazimpat, and another in the neighboring city of Patan. Vendors hawk their vegetables and meats alongside makers of jam, pastries, and other prepared foods, and locals and tourists crowd the stalls of the dairy producers in residence. \u201cCompetition from foreign and Nepali cheesemakers is good,\u201d Driard says. \u201cIt pushes all of us to be better.\u201d<\/p>\n Two days before the temblor, I\u2019m sitting shotgun on a delivery for Himalayan French Cheese, and the roads aren\u2019t for the faint of heart. After unloading 300 pounds of cheese in Kathmandu, I stop for the night at Driard\u2019s original creamery, which has been converted to a farm stay. My final morning in Nepal is serene—just 24 hours later, however, the inn and much of the surrounding village will be leveled.<\/p>\n The cheesemakers I interviewed on my trip were largely spared. Near the quake\u2019s epicenter, Himalayan French Cheese closed briefly. \u201cWe shut down the cow creamery for a week, while the employees checked on their homes,\u201d Driard recalls. \u201cThe building cracked at the yak creamery.\u201d Himal Farm\u2019s production halted, too. \u201cLuckily, all of the people directly connected to our company were safe and even our factory resisted such fury. We just lost some hundreds of liters of milk,\u201d Serafini says. \u201cWe realized we had no way to manage the storage and aging of the cheeses [because of the devastation and road and business closures in Kathmandu]. After 10 days of producing without selling, our cave was full and we decided to take a break.\u201d Himal Farm resumed production on May 2, 2015. Nepal Goat Cheese and Theki Dairy are also back in business.<\/p>\n Still, all of the cheesemakers continue to navigate the effects that last year\u2019s disaster has had on distribution, infrastructure, and the economy. Since September, an unofficial trade blockade from India has prevented fuel, cooking gas, and medical and relief supplies from reaching isolated villages, including Gufa Pokhari, where Khanal makes chhurpi. However, like natural disasters—common in parts of Nepal, due to topography and the monsoon climate—limited resources are a fact of life. Khanal and others like her carry on as they have for generations. \u201cCheese is life,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n My journey began with a simple mission: to write about traditional and contemporary cheesemaking in Nepal. Although the earthquake added a dark subtext, it also revealed the resilience of the nation\u2019s magnanimous people. \u201cThe animals don\u2019t stop giving milk,\u201d Driard says, \u201cso the cheesemaking goes on.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/center><\/p>\n April marks one year since the 2015 earthquake in Nepal—and many people remain homeless and need food and medical assistance. Get involved via the following organizations.<\/p>\n GLOBAL GIVING:<\/a> This crowdfunding community for nonprofits puts your donation toward partner organizations that are rebuilding homes, providing job-skills training, and addressing food security and education in Nepal.<\/p>\n HEIFER INTERNATIONAL:<\/a> This humanitarian organization, dedicated to ending hunger and poverty, gives live animals to people in impoverished areas to help improve breeding stock and provide meat and dairy production opportunities. Heifer also offers agricultural training, bees, trees, and seeds in 30 countries, including Nepal.<\/p>\n Chhurpi hung out to dry<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n The national dish of Nepal is dal bhat<\/i>: rice, spiced lentils, and vegetable curry, accompanied by chutney and pickles. In Kathmandu, cuisine from the Newar people indigenous to the region abounds—try dishes showcasing water buffalo and goat (from spiced ground liver and steamed blood to fried tongue and curry) and snacks such as wo<\/i> (fried lentil cakes), chata-nmari<\/i> (rice flour crepes), and musya<\/i> (roasted, curried soybeans). A range of international cuisines may be found in Nepal\u2019s capital—particularly in Thamel, the backpacker district.<\/p>\n MALTA NEWARI KITCHEN<\/strong> PUMPERNICKEL BAKERY<\/strong> LE SHERPA<\/em><\/strong> LE SHERPA SATURDAY FARMERS\u2019 MARKET<\/strong> UNESCO HERITAGE SITES<\/strong> 3 ROOMS BY THE PAULINES<\/strong>DAIRY AND DAILY LIFE<\/h3>\n
![\"Yaks](\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Nepal_1.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"Mitra](\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Nepal_4.jpg\")
<\/a>OVER THE HILLS AND FAR AWAY<\/h3>\n
CHEESE CULTURE COMES TO KATHMANDU<\/h3>\n
![\"RoyalCurds_sidebar2\"](\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/RoyalCurds_sidebar2.jpg\")
<\/a><\/div>\n![\"Himalayan](\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Nepal_7.jpg\")
<\/a>\u201cCHEESE IS LIFE\u201d<\/h3>\n
![\"Nepal_8\"](\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Nepal_8.jpg\")
<\/a><\/div>\n
\nHOW TO HELP<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
![\"Chhurpi](\"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/Nepal_3.jpg\")
<\/a>EAT<\/h2>\n
\nInexpensive Nepali eats and beer with lively, friendly ambience.
\nShree Marga, Lazimpat, Kathmandu
\n+977 1-984 122 98 68<\/em><\/p>\n
\nThis popular cafe\u0301 turns out delicious pastries, yak cheese sandwiches, and salads made with Ashok Thakuri\u2019s goat cheese—all in a peaceful garden setting.
\nParyatan Marg, Thamel, Kathmandu
\n+977 1-4259 185<\/em><\/p>\n
\nThis fine-dining French-Nepali restaurant serves Himalayan French Cheese alongside house-made jam, locally baked bread and croissants, and regional products including honey. Dine in the garden, weather-permitting.
\nRamalaya, Panipokhari Hill, Kathmandu
\n+977 1-4006 589
\nlesherpa.com.np<\/a><\/em><\/p>\nSEE<\/h2>\n
\nFounded by Franc\u0327ois Driard and held from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., this market offers produce, cheese, prepared foods, handicrafts, jewelry, and other souvenirs.
\nRamalaya, Panipokhari Hill, Kathmandu
\n+977 1-4006 589
\nlesherpa.com.np<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n
\nThe seven sites in Kathmandu Valley—including temples, palaces, and historic districts—are open to the public again, despite earthquake rubble and damage.
\nvisitnepal.com<\/a><\/p>\nSTAY<\/h2>\n
\nFranc\u0327ois Driard\u2019s sister, Pauline Driard, and her partner, Pauline Bryard, are proprietors and designers of this stunning boutique hotel in Baber Mahal—a historic palace and garden complex in Kathmandu. Rooms from $70 USD.
\n+977 1-4221 537, +977 1-980 391 95 75
\nthepaulines.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n