Cheese Making on Paros

When visiting the cheese-making factory, the head manager of the plant located on Paros greeted us as the strong scent of cheese – a hallmark of quality cheese - poured out the front door of the small plant.  All employees were covered in white clothing with rubber boots, gloves, and aprons that seemed easy to clean and spot any contaminants on. The  3 employees fill a table-like container with cheese curds from an adjacent container. The table strained out the cheese milk and the men packed the strained cheese curds into these cylinders that were wrapped with a cloth to help release the formed cheese that would later be 6kg cheese wheels. The excess cheese milk was piped outside where it would eventually help form fertilizer. The wheels were then put into a hydraulic press with a form around each wheel and the remaining cheese milk  pressed out. We then got to see a series of refrigerators that the cheese ages in over a period of four months. Annual cheese output of this plant is roughly 700 tons of milk and 70 tons of cheese per year that is produced from cow milk. This factory produces multiple types of cheese as well as wine and olive oil. The olive press is only available to use by those in the industry and cannot be accessed by the public. The plant is owned by the Agricultural Association of Paros, an organization that also sets guidelines for wine production in addition to dairy products. Dr. Hasaki was kind enough to buy enough cheese to fill all wildcats beyond full, and we enjoyed every bit of the experience.