I met Octavia and her husband by chance, so to speak. I had the pleasure of tasting one of their award-winning products in a tavern at the end of the summer, and I knew right then that I would seek them out, because even as a fanatic, I rarely get access to cheese this good. Learn more about the history of Etyek Cheese Manufactory.
Just 10 years ago, Oktávia was working as a lawyer, her husband as a trader, and the idea of the Etyek Cheese Factory was not even a fleeting thought. As they both had very demanding intellectual jobs, they wanted to spend their free time creating something tangible and passing on to their children the beauty of animal husbandry and rural life. In the light of the space, location and free time available, they finally saw goat farming as the solution. Initially, it was John who milked the animals morning and evening, while Octavia, who was on maternity leave at the time, started in their home kitchen experiment with milk. He had no business purpose at all, making cheese for his own pleasure and that of his friends and family. But as time went on, they became seriously interested in the profession. John enrolled in a one-and-a-half-year training course, and Octavia perfected the cheeses under his instruction. Since then, they have attended training courses in Italy, Germany and, of course, Switzerland. „It is a profession where there is always something to learn. There is no such thing as not being better!” - says János.
From hobby to passion, from passion to business
They arrived at the crossing in 2018, when they already had 25 goats. According to Octavia, it was either quit and go back to work as a lawyer or give it their all and go full steam ahead. Luckily for us, they chose the latter and bought a farm not far from home. It now has 240 goats, nearly 50 hens and geese, 8 cattle and two dogs enjoying the fresh air. In the meantime, the family has been blessed with 3 beautiful children, so that the day-to-day tasks are now taken care of by a caring couple. Octavia, John and the children work on the farm at weekends and on holidays. „For us, Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve are also about milking goats,” they say with a laugh.
After the morning milking, the milk arrives at the plant, where Oktávia and her assistant Janó start processing it. To minimise losses, orders can be placed with them at the beginning of the week. This helps them to avoid backlogs and to avoid not having enough for all their partners. They currently have 5 to 6 permanent products in their range, but they also produce cheeses to individual requirements. The head chef of Spago, a restaurant that opened last year and which bears the name of Wolfgang Puck, asked them to make a cheese for him, which they use for one of their main courses. Their cheeses have been seen on pasta, in salad, as a sauce, stuffing, breakfast or even as a dessert. Its uses are really only limited by the imagination.
Etyek Cheese Manufactory in first place
Because they are both perfectionists and feedback is important to them. So, after their first successful year, in 2019, they entered their cheese ’Etyek Snow White’, a soft, camembert-like cheese aged with a noble mould, into a competition at János' insistence. Not just any cheese, but the annual World Cheese Awards in Italy. The competition attracted 3,804 cheeses from 42 countries, and 260 international judges selected the best cheeses in a blind competition. Initially, they didn't even think they could be podium winners, but to their surprise, they took the absolute gold medal - the Super Gold award. The same cheese also won the award for the best cheese from Central and Eastern Europe, so they exceeded all expectations. The success story has not stopped since then, they have been awarded prestigious prizes at several prestigious events in recent years and their partners speak for themselves. They now supply top restaurants such as Rumour and Borkonyha, a Costes, the aforementioned Spago, but in several parts of the country online shop and a well-known delicatessen.
100% goat's milk and nothing else
The Jánoss have two important guidelines for cheese making. One is that it must be made only and exclusively from goat's milk, and the other is that it must not be smelly. Goat's cheese is disliked by many people because it often has a very distinctive, shall we say, stable smell. However, they believe that with the right (closed) technology, this can be completely eliminated. By the way, their milking parlour is so clean you could eat off the floor. But this is true of every corner of the workshop and kitchen, which surprised me, because let's face it, it's not the most sterile job in the world. Whatever their secret is, their products really do miss that unwanted smell, the taste in return is unparalleled. Unfortunately, there are also many manufacturers who do not make cheeses exclusively from goat's milk, but only using goat's milk and then saying goat's cheese. This is unethical in many ways, but especially for those who have some kind of sensitivity and who need to know exactly what they are ingesting with each food. All the cheeses from Etyek are guaranteed. So if you want to buy from a reliable source, a product made from genuine 100% goat's milk, knock on their door!
If you're ready to order right now and expand your restaurant's offerings or add some excitement to one of your dishes, head to their website!
Address: 2091, Etyek Felsőhegy u. 26.
