From farm to table

the ecological goat farm in the heart of the Galilee...

It was in November 2022 at the Guild of Fine Food World Cheese Awards in the ICC, Newport, South Wales that I first met Ezy Mitrani, an artisanal goats cheese maker from the heart of Northern Israel.

I was working on reception welcoming the producers, judges and trade visitors to the prestigious awards, when to my surprise, I heard the dulcet tones of Hebrew in the foyer, in amongst the familiar sounds of English and Welsh. I greeted Ezy and his family with a friendly “Shalom” and a brief conversation ensued about his dairy farm and cheeses in rural Galilee and my connection to food and the region, before wishing him the very best of luck in the awards.

Nearly a year later our paths were to cross again. I was visiting a goat dairy farm and ecological hub of culinary excellence and social consciousness, for a farm to table vegetarian lunch, overlooking the olive groves and hilly landscape of Kammon. Unbeknown to me, it was here that Ezy produced all his cheeses that he enthused about in Wales.

Havat Rom, meaning Rom’s Farm was the dream of Amit Rom growing up on a kibbutz surrounded by the arid landscape of the Negev dessert, and longing for the greenery of the rural north. Following his army service, he climbed Mount Kammon with a herd of ‘happy’ goats, and established his home in amongst nature and the breathtaking views of the countryside. Almost 40 years later, the lush pasture is home to over one hundred goats who very happily graze upon the nutrients of the land, producing a mere 160 litres of milk per day.

It is from the word ‘ez’ meaning goat in Hebrew that Ezy got his name. Named Ezer at birth, he was from a family of dairy farmers in Bulgaria who made their way to Turkey and onto Israel after the Second World War. He trained as a photographer before studying the craft of cheese making in Ein Camonim, one of Israel’s first boutique dairies producing goats cheese directly from the farm. It was here that his first semi hard washed rind cheese was awarded a super gold medal. In 2015, Ezy became a member of La Guilde Internationale des Fromagers before joining Havat Rom in 2021 to make a variety of cheese and dairy products purely from goats milk.

Rom farm has two main species of goats, the Alpine and Shami also known as the Damascus goat, and well known for their milking ability. The milk is used for making soft, blue, semi hard and washed rind lactic cheeses and yoghurt, which include labane, an 8 month matured Gruyere, a soft cheese rolled in an ash of chestnuts, a gouda and a brie.

Goats milk has recently become known as a superfood, easily digestible and full of essential minerals, nutrients and oligosaccharides needed for development and growth of a healthy body and mind. Packed with antioxidants and medium fatty acid chains, goats milk is high in Omega 3 and 6 producing energy that is not stored as fat.

It is the ecological and sustainable ethos of farm to table that provides the ingredients and culture of Havat Rom’s bistro headed up by chef Nadav Korefend. Each plate of food contains only the freshest of seasonal ingredients, picked from the nurtured vegetable and herb gardens and fruit orchard, tended to by Jewish and Arab sufferers of metal illness and post traumatic stress disorder, attending the vocational rehabilitation centre that partners the farm with the local community and allowing nature to heal and comfort the mind and soul.

The menus are devised by Nadav and Ezy at the beginning of the summer and winter seasons, creating savoury and sweet dishes from the glut of homegrown seasonal vegetables and herbs paired with the ripe and mature cheeses, cleverly matched together for simplicity and maximum flavour. Every diner is served a bowl of hand made crackers and pickled fruits on arrival, which in the hot months, includes cubes of watermelon and slices of peaches lightly coated in a fresh pickling liquor to give the palate a burst of freshness with a fruity tang. In the winter season, seasonal fruits will be picked from the orchard and served with the crackers.

The current summer menu showcases the assortment of red cherry, yellow sungold and large beefy tomatoes in a panzanella style salad with goat’s feta cheese crumbled across the top. A goats cheese taleggio brulee caramelised with soft brown sugar is on the menu, served with warm focaccia, confit garlic cloves and olives. A whole camembert, wrapped in the summery mangold leaf, baked in the oven until the cheese is soft, warm and oozing from the centre upon opening, is truly delicious. It is served with charred beetroot and pumpkin wedges from the many variety of coloured and shaped pumpkins, together with homemade crusty wholemeal bread to mop up the cheese.

However comfortingly full you are from the savoury courses, make sure you leave room for dessert where cheese cake, ice cream and malabi, the traditional Middle Eastern milk pudding are all made from the farm’s goats milk, giving each dessert a natural sweetness and creaminess, complementing the additional flavours of vanilla, salted caramel and rosewater.

As well as making cheese, Ezy runs cheese making workshops both for the home maker and the professional, as well as teaching the process of fermentation that predates refrigeration, with a workshop on how to make labane and pickles to accompany a cheese board. Cheese and wine pairings with local wineries are next on the workshop agenda, and I will be giving you the run down of which wine to pair with which cheese in the coming months…

Havat Rom is a pure culinary delight in the midst of an idyllic landscape charmed with natural beauty and inclusivity of a community at one with the concept of farm to table.

Enjoy…