Thursday, December 09, 2010

Local Handmade Goat Cheese Available on Bonaire

Aletta’s Semper Kontentu goat cheese is one of Bonaire’s excellent local products. It is handmade fresh daily and available at supermarkets and on the menu of several Bonaire restaurants. On occasion, the cheese is also available for sale at the Wilhelmina Plein cruise ship market. Productivity varies seasonally.

The cheese production process takes five days to turn from milk to cheese. During that time it is drained and turned in a cooling room at a constant temperature of 20 degrees Celsius. After five days, the cheese is inspected and packed for sale.

The goats who produce the milk are raised and live on Aletta’s kunuku. She milks the goats and makes fresh cheese and milk on a daily basis. The goats are milked twice a day for five months after giving birth. They roam freely in the meadows during the day, eating natural greens to raise milk quality, and are supplemented with concentrated goat feed. There are two groups of goats in milk production, so they are rotated between pregnancy, milk production, and a recovery break. In keeping with eco-sustainability, the newborn goats are raised with their mothers and fed their milk.

Aletta learned about farming and goats in Costa Rica while visiting an eco-sustained community. She has always wanted to be self-supporting and work with farmland and animals. Semper Kontentu means “always content” in Papiamentu, and it is part of her philosophy and the reason why she chose this name for the cheese. Semper Kontentu currently has one volunteer from Holland and one from Germany working and living on the kunuku who share the vision of a simple and nature-friendly lifestyle.

Semper Kontentu goat cheese and milk can also be ordered directly for special occasions. (Source: Aletta’s Semper Kontentu Goat Farm)