Making Cheese at a Sufi Community in the Catskills
I was all set to write an article about Mustafa, a young Sufi (32) who wrote to us from his farm in the Catskills with a few questions about making cheese. I thought it would be an interesting article, so I had asked him some questions and he sent me some answers and some beautiful pictures.
When I went to write the article, I realized I really didn’t know what a Sufi was. So, I looked up “Sufi Communities” and discovered that Mustafa’s community was recently the center of a controversy so intense that Steven Colbert made a remark about it on his show! (I don’t have TV and I guess I don’t read the right newspapers, so I had missed it.)
Before I tell you about that, let me say a few words about Sufism; First, according to Wikipedia, “Sufism is defined by its adherents as the inner, mystical dimension of Islam. Another name for a Sufi is Dervish. Mainstream scholars of Islam define sufism as simply the name for the inner or esoteric dimension of Islam. It is so different from the form of Islam we know most about that, in fact, “The government of Iran is considering an outright ban on Sufism, according to the 2009 Annual Report of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom.”
Unfortunately, most Americans don’t know much about the Islamic faith. Because of what many consider to be bigotry, Mustafa’s community was targeted and, some say, persecuted by local officials in Sidney Center, NY where the community lives (150 miles north of New York City). Amazingly, the citizens of that town rallied to the aid of the Sufi community and pressured the town supervisors to leave the community alone.
According to an AP article by Helen O’Neill published in the Seattle Times December 10th (http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2013650448_sufisnewyork12.html):
“They packed the civic center for a chaotic town meeting, where – as more than a dozen Sufis watched – about 150 locals yelled at their board. “Shame on you!” they cried. “Apologize!”
Mustafa, quietly continued to milk his cows and make his cheese while this tornado whirled around him. When I interviewed him, I had no knowledge of these political events and he never mentioned it …
Where do you live?
 |
| Seyh Efendi, founder of the community |
How did you end up making your own cheese?
When we first started milking sheep about 5 years ago, I started making sheep yoghurt and I really liked it. We have about 50 ewes in our flock and when it came time to wean the lambs, we thought- instead of letting the ewes dry up- why not get some milk?
 |
| (at left) Cemal holding PINAR (Spring), (at right) Mehmet Ali holding Sari KIZ (Blonde Girl) |
 |
| Mustafa’s Hellim (recipe posted next week) |
I wax some of the cheeses and I use a vacuum sealer. I sometimes also do natural rinds with my Dill Havarti and my Manchego.
 |
| Feta |
 |
| Mustafa’s first big Farmhouse Cheddar on a stand he made for the picture. |
Mustafa graciously wrote out his recipe for Hellim (also known as Halloumi) and took pictures of the entire process of making it. I will be posting it next week. Thank you very much, Mustafa.
