I love cheese. I have always loved cheese. Making my own, however, had never seriously crossed my mind — until a birthday trip to Las Alpujarras changed that.

A group of friends decided to make the two-hour journey from Jaén province to Granada province, and as it was my birthday, I treated myself and joined them. The destination was Las Chimeneas Open Garden at Órgiva, where Sue Halfyard runs cheese making workshops in the Andalucían countryside. Las Chimeneas itself is an experience — plants, vegetables, chickens, ducks and peacocks; a garden that feels like it belongs to a different, slower world. We had lunch there too, with local wine, in a garden that was every bit as good as the cheese making that followed.

Cheese making in Las Alpujarras with Sue Halfyard — birthday workshop at Órgiva.

Sue's workshop is two hours of hands-on cheese making using goat's milk — fifteen litres of it, which produces approximately five or six rounds of cheese at around 500g each. It is not rocket science, but it does involve a considerable amount of muscle-engaging pressing. The results are lovely rounds of fresh cheese that you take home to eat immediately or age in the fridge. The remaining curds become ricotta – surprisingly straightforward and completely worth doing.

My walking buddy Fran gave me a horseradish plant as a birthday gift, knowing I had been unable to source fresh horseradish anywhere in rural Andalucía. I now had no excuse not to make beetroot and horseradish cured salmon. My ricotta went into the freezer. My round of cheese was earmarked for cookery school clients, timed to coincide with when it had aged sufficiently.

Now where is Paco the goat man when you need him?

If cheese is your thing, the Cheese Recipes — The Flexible Chef's Complete Collection has everything from cooking with cheese to proper cheese-led dishes.

Footnote: Find more recipes and food adventures here. Wonky photos, proper food, genuine adventures – The Flexible Chef