July 11, 2017 – The Monterey Bay area’s most revered and reclusive artisanal cheese maker Charlie Cascio is joining Carmel Valley Ranch and moved in six of his Swiss Saanen dairy goats on Monday.
“This all started when there was the fire last year up at Charlie’s property in Palo Colorado that destroyed his house,” says CVR executive chef Tim Wood. He offered to board Charlie’s goats at the ranch and helped organize a fundraising dinner for him and fellow chef Matt Millea, who was also burned out of his home.
Charlie boarded his goats elsewhere and has now returned to his property, but the seed of the idea grew.
Over the last few months, Carmel Valley Ranch built a beautifully-furnished shed to house a little herd—five pregnant goats, one who has just given birth and an eight-day-old kid—near the garden and salt house on the lower part of the ranch.
Before the kids are born and weaned, the ranch plans to add a milking parlor and certified creamery. They’ve hired Cascio to be one of their onsite food artisans, making cheese and offering talks for guests called Goat Gab.
“It’s pretty cute to learn about all these things,” says Wood, who thinks the guests are going to love it. “All the goats were raised among people, so they are very child friendly.”
“Charlie is very protective of the goats and makes sure they eat only organic greens and wild vegetation,” adds Wood. “We’re going to put them out to clean up some areas of poison oak and try to keep them out of the garden.”
Cascio’s cheeses are highly prized by local chefs and by winter will begin showing up more frequently on the menus at Carmel Valley Ranch in many forms.
“I want to pasteurize the milk and make a very high protein breakfast yogurt and simple cheese dishes, like panna cotta drizzled with ranch honey,” he says.
Other cheeses will be left for Cascio to craft. “We will probably be the only restaurant or hotel with its own resident cheese maker,” says Wood.
Once the creamery is up and running, plans call for Cascio to offer classes for guests and members of the community on cheese-making and goat keeping.
The new Carmel Vally Ranch artisan is the founder of Sweetwater Farm and a trained chef. From 1998 to 2004 he was the head chef and kitchen manager at Esalen Institute.
Other members of CVR’s artisan team include bee-keeper and lavender expert John Russo, gardener Mark Marino, fisherman Jerry Wetle, and Bob Kirkland—the Salt Guy.
About the author
Deborah Luhrman is publisher and editor of Edible Monterey Bay. A lifelong journalist, she has reported from around the globe, but now prefers covering our flourishing local food scene and growing her own vegetables in the Santa Cruz Mountains.
