The Quest for Venezuelan Beaver Cheese
Jan. 28th, 2014 02:44 pmAdelaide zoological gardens,
To whom it may concern,
I have learned that you have recently acquired some capybaras. May I ask if any of these are, or are likely to be, milk-producing?
This request may seem unusual, so I shall provide some explanation. Some colleagues and I are working our way through the cheese of the famous Monty Python cheese shop sketch which engages in a hypothetical conversation between a consumer in a cheese shop that doesn't actually have any cheese. After asking for some two score different cheeses the consumer, in frustration, asks for "Venezuelan Beaver Cheese", which typically generates some amusement.
Venezuela does not have any beavers of course, but both the beaver and the capybara are both of the order rodentia, which is certainly close enough for our purposes. If we were to acquire even a small volume of milk from the capybara, it would be our intent to subject it (the milk, not the capybara) to HTST pasteurization, and then produce a simple cheese through heating, separation of the curds and whey, and adding a touch of lemon and salt, according to taste.
Naturally enough the zoological gardens would be recompensated for any cost incurred in the milking of the capybara.
Yours most sincerely,
Lev Lafayette, BA (Hons), GradCertTerAdEd (Murdoch), GradCertPM, MBA (Tech Mngmnt) (Chifley)
mobile: 0432 255 208
January 28, 2014
To whom it may concern,
I have learned that you have recently acquired some capybaras. May I ask if any of these are, or are likely to be, milk-producing?
This request may seem unusual, so I shall provide some explanation. Some colleagues and I are working our way through the cheese of the famous Monty Python cheese shop sketch which engages in a hypothetical conversation between a consumer in a cheese shop that doesn't actually have any cheese. After asking for some two score different cheeses the consumer, in frustration, asks for "Venezuelan Beaver Cheese", which typically generates some amusement.
Venezuela does not have any beavers of course, but both the beaver and the capybara are both of the order rodentia, which is certainly close enough for our purposes. If we were to acquire even a small volume of milk from the capybara, it would be our intent to subject it (the milk, not the capybara) to HTST pasteurization, and then produce a simple cheese through heating, separation of the curds and whey, and adding a touch of lemon and salt, according to taste.
Naturally enough the zoological gardens would be recompensated for any cost incurred in the milking of the capybara.
Yours most sincerely,
Lev Lafayette, BA (Hons), GradCertTerAdEd (Murdoch), GradCertPM, MBA (Tech Mngmnt) (Chifley)
mobile: 0432 255 208
January 28, 2014