The adventure of herbaceous cheese, one of Van’s geographically indicated products, begins with the herbs collected from high-altitude plateaus in spring and summer. Women continue this adventure from the first stage to the last stage. Gurbet Atik, who lives in Dövecik Village of Gevaş District of Van, is one of these women and she tells us both her own story and the stages of making herbaceous cheese.
The village where Gurbet Atik is located is located on the slopes of Artos, one of the highest mountains in the region, and consists of approximately 40-50 households. The majority of the activities carried out in the village are carried out in the same way as in the past. As soon as you enter the village, the air of a highland can hit your face. There is a production in every corner of the village. Those who bake bread, take care of their bees, feed the chickens, gather grass, boil them in a cauldron so that the grass can be stored in winter, take care of the sheep and cows, leaven yogurt… Does it end with these? It doesn’t end; Those who strain the cottage cheese, those who wait for the butter to form in the churn, and those who try to give the herbed cheese its final form are the elements in this production photo.
One of the producer women: Gurbet Atik
All of these works require some mastery, some strength and some patience. We visit these producers in turn and watch their work. We take our last breath next to Atik. She is chopping grass over a black cauldron and waiting for his cheese to ferment. She herself came to Dövecik Village from the neighboring village 43 years ago as a bride. The family earn their living by farming.
Atik, a mother of 8 children, has 150 small cattle. He takes care of these animals with his son, daughter and daughter-in-law. Atik continues to chop grass while telling us these things. He dries some of the herbs he chops and uses them in dishes such as Kurdish Meatballs, Tirşîk, Herb Roasted, Ayran Vaccine. Other herbs are preserved by souring for use in cheese.
Fever working early in the morning
It doesn’t do the souring process with the water-salt-lemon trilogy we know. The herbs first go through a process called yellowing with whey in big cauldrons in the tandoor. Then they salt it and put it in big drums.
While talking about her daughter and daughter-in-law, Atik says that she wakes up at 5 am and milks the animals. Milking 150 animals is also a big issue, it takes 2 hours no matter how you look at it. In other words, that product that we taste in a few minutes is actually the result of a long and feverish work.
While we listen to Atik, the cheese is also fermented. She brings together cheese and herbs in cloth bags he makes. Solitary herbs are also expertly classified according to their aroma. I wonder where they mostly collect the grasses, but not all of these grasses grow in their own highlands. They buy the grass they cannot collect from the grass market established in Van in April-May.
‘Our habits have changed over time’
It is not possible to ask the age of women without breaking a neighborhood custom, of course, we do not ask based on this. However, when we look at her face and the subtle nuances in what she told us, Atik, who we think is 60-65 years old, says that after completing cheese making, the most important detail in cheese is yeast after grass. Of course, the form of yeast also changes over time. It is also known as Şirden yeast, which they call natural yeast. But this yeast is no longer made. Instead, liquid rennet is sold in small bottles.
Atik says that cheese made with natural yeast is more delicious. When I ask why they stopped using it, She says that the cheese fermentation is late and their habits have changed over time. They experienced the same transformation in baker’s yeast. In the past, everyone who produced their own yeast started to buy packet yeast. While describing this, Atik said, “Bread has no smell anymore. In the past, the smell of the bread we made could be heard from the entrance of the village, but now there is no such smell,” she says.
The economic crisis also affected the herbed cheese
On the other hand, they, like everyone else, say that the last year has been a difficult period for livestock. Stating that looking after animals has turned into a very costly job, Atik said, “It is a heavy job, we are physically challenged, and we bought grass and hay for around 50 thousand TL this year. It didn’t cost that much in the past,” She says. She adds that most people living in the village do not have a salary and most of them earn their living from animals and dairy products.
In Dövecik Village, which is one of the places preferred by those who buy cheese, the kilo of cheese is sold for around 80-85 TL this year. However, although the price of cheese increases, it is unfortunately not enough to cover the expenses of any producer.
Our conversation with Atik ends with her removing the cheeses hidden in the soil. Cheese is stored in the soil for at least one year. However, in cheese making periods, the old cube cheese comes to light and leaves its place to the new one. Although the exact date of the emergence of this ceremony is not certain, we would not be exaggerating if we associate it with the existence of humans.
Translator : Akif Coşkun
