JOURNAL / JAPAN etc.（English）

DAIRY PRODUCTS

JAPAN ［Hyogo］
Japanese Ingredients for the World’s Top Kitchens ＃29

Yuge Farm—A Model for Urban Dairy Farming

2023.06.05

photographs by Daisuke Nakajima / English text by Susan Rogers Chikuba

Though the times are always changing, there are certain timeless ingredients from Japan that will never go out of style. Yukio Hattori, president of Hattori Nutrition College in Tokyo, introduces unique labors of love—items grown and produced with care and integrity by hardworking suppliers across the country.

Just 20 minutes from the center of Kobe, cows graze freely on land maintained by Tadao Yuge, proprietor of dairy operations that were launched by his father in 1943. The business expanded from milk production to include cheese in 1984. “At the time there was no information in Japanese on cheese-making at all,” he says. “I borrowed a book written in English and it was all trial-and-error from there.”　

“We made even the tools ourselves. It took us a year to release our first Camembert. Along the way our fromage frais was picked up by a grocery store and in 1987 we opened Cheese House Yargoi, where people can learn about different ways to serve cheese and enjoy stews and other items made from whey.” At the farm, manure is recycled as fertilizer and to provide renewable biogas that both heats and powers operations.

搾乳が自由になり、さらにストレスフリーに。搾乳ロボットの導入で、好きな時間に搾乳してもらえるようになった牛は、牛舎と放牧場を自由に行き来することが可能になった。山を切り拓いてできた放牧地は斜面が多いが、牛は意外に健脚で、急な斜面もどんどん登って行くそうだ。

弓削牧場の乳製品は低温殺菌乳がベース。チーズ製造の責任者、長男の太郎さんがカマンベールの仕込み中。

At Yuge Farm, dairy products are pasteurized at low temperature. Here, Tadao’s son Taro prepares a batch of Camembert.

（写真左）ホエーの一部はチーズハウスで出すシチューやドリンクの他、石鹸や化粧水などに加工される。（写真右）看板商品「フロマージュ・フレ」。フロマージュブランほどゆるくなく、ヨーグルトほど酸味が強くなくて食べやすいと、30年以上続くロングセラーに。パッケージの３人の子供の絵は、弓削夫妻の子供たちがモデル。

(photo left) Protein-rich whey is used in stews and beverages at the restaurant, as well as soaps and other amenities on offer at the gift shop.
(photo right)Soft and creamy fromage frais, the signature product, is firmer than fromage blanc and sweeter than yogurt.

The savory stew.

（写真左）搾乳ロボットのある牛舎。放牧された牛は、いつでもここへ自由に出入りできる。（写真右）チーズハウスの目の前は手入れされた庭が広がり、ゲストの憩いの場に。

(photo left)Automatic milking machines in the barn enable the cows to come and go as they please.
(photo righte)The garden outside Cheese House Yargoi is a popular spot where customers often relax.