十年奶酪匠人，用法式手工奶酪征服中国胃 | Artisanal Cheesemaker

刘洋第一次吃到手工奶酪的时候，已经在法国生活了数年。当时，他在科西嘉岛学习工商管理，但找的房子比较远，住在农村。

It took Liu Yang several years of living in France before he finally had his first bite of artisanal cheese. At the time, he was studying Business Administration in Corsica, living in a remote rural area of the island.

“我的邻居是个牧羊人，他做奶酪。我就跟着他，没事的时候去帮帮忙，搅搅牛奶，翻翻模子，慢慢就接触到了手工奶酪的制作。”

Liu's neighbor was a shepherd who made artisanal cheese. Sometimes he would help him out by stirring the milk or turning over the mold. That was how he got to know about the making of it, he recalled. 

在此之前，刘洋只吃过大众化的工业奶酪。正是在邻居家，他才知道，奶酪原来可以这么好吃。

For Liu, who had only ever tasted industrial cheese before, the taste of homemade cheese was a revelation that opened a whole new world for him.

“那个丰富的味道和悠长的回味，真的让我觉得非常惊艳。”

"I was amazed by the rich flavor and the lingering aftertaste," he said.

“其实做奶酪是个体力活。比如搅牛奶，不间断地搅半个小时也是很累的。但我觉得这种体力活能让人专注，然后就忘了疲劳。我觉得这个工作状态还挺舒服的，就喜欢上了做奶酪。”

Cheese-making requires much physical strength –stirring the milk continuously for half an hour can be exhausting. But Liu had to focus, which made him forget about his tired hands. He became more and more comfortable with the process, he recalled. "I became fond of cheese making."

于是，刘洋去当地的的奶酪学校学了一年，之后带着做奶酪的简单工具和一些霉菌回国，在兼职工作之余自己在家做奶酪。

Liu then went to study in a local cheese school for a year and came back to China with a handful of tools and molds. He found a part-time job and began to make cheese at home.

“做奶酪确实是要讲风土，它会受到气候条件、温度湿度、奶酪工匠对奶酪的理解这些因素的影响。北京的条件肯定跟欧洲不一样，比较干燥一些。所以我们的奶酪制作空间也要做一些调整。”

But he soon found that making cheese in Beijing was trickier than he thought. "The Beijing climate is drier than Europe. So we had to make adjustments in the workshop."

而且，法国的奶酪大多由绵羊奶制成，但国内很少能找到绵羊奶。于是，刘洋开始用现有的奶源进行各种实验。“刚开始做奶酪失败是很正常的事儿，特别是在家里做。而且这种奶酪，我以前没学过，就是在摸索。书上写的是一回事，但在真正实验的时候，不同的条件下，应该有所调整，所以我就是在试错，没有这个试错的过程，是没有办法找到正确的那种途径的。”

Also, the cheese he was making in Corsica was goat cheese. In Beijing, sheep milk was almost impossible to find. Liu had to start testing with the milk he could find. "To fail at first was acceptable, especially when I did it at home. Knowing so little about other kinds of cheese, I had to explore by myself. The textbook says one thing, but you have to improvise according to the different conditions. It's all about trial and error, otherwise, you can't find the right way eventually."

最终，在家里的红酒柜里，刘洋做出了第一款原创奶酪：北京灰。

In his wine cabinet, Liu finally made his first original brand of artisanal cheese: Beijing Grey. He then let some of his French friends try it.

邀请几位法国朋友品尝后，他们纷纷表示吃出了自己家乡的味道，并且鼓励他以后专门做奶酪，他们一定会成为他的客户。

"They told me that it was the flavor of their hometown," he said, adding "They encouraged me to start my cheese business and promised to be my local customers."

于是，2009年，刘洋开了第一家手工奶酪店，推出了四款自己的原创手工奶酪。

In 2009, Liu opened his first shop with four kinds of original artisanal cheese.

最开始，店里的中国客人特别少。刘洋主要的消费者都是在北京生活的外国人。“很多中国人不太接受，经常吃一口会吐掉。那个时候，奶酪有一个名字，叫外国的臭豆腐。”

At first, Liu sold most of his cheese to foreigners who lived in Beijing. "Few Chinese people could stand the taste of it and dared to take a second bite. Cheese used to be called the foreign version of Chinese stinky tofu."

但随着中国人购买力越来越强，对外国的求知欲和好奇心也越来越强，奶酪的消费也逐渐被带了起来。刘洋时常参加本地手工业者和小农户举办的市集，宣传自己的产品，同时举办介绍奶酪品鉴和奶酪文化的活动。

However, as their purchasing power increased, Chinese became open for more exotic products and so cheese became more popular. Liu often goes to the market for local artisans and farmers to promote his products. He also holds tastings and cultural events for cheese.

“奶酪这个东西是一个有生命的食物，它是自然发酵的一个食物里边营养最全的。”刘洋说，“它发酵的过程，就像一个生命变得成熟。每个发酵阶段都有自己独特的味道。”

"Cheese is a kind of living food. It's the most nutritious among various naturally fermented food," says Liu. "Its fermentation is like how a life matures, with a unique flavor at every stage of the process."

2015年，他带着自己的奶酪参加世界奶酪大赛。在27个国家的700多款奶酪中，刘洋的北京蓝和耗牛多姆奶酪获得了55枚金牌其中的2枚。“牦牛多姆奶酪是和一位藏民合作的。这可能是大会上第一次出现牦牛酪。”

Liu brought his cheese to the annual International Cheese Awards in 2015. Out of over 700 kinds of cheese from 27 countries, his Beijing Blue and yak tomme won two of the 55 gold medals. "The yak tomme was a collaboration with a Tibetan maker. It was probably the first time that yak cheese was competing."

同行的认可让刘洋更有信心。同时，他对中国客户对奶酪的接受度抱有很大希望。现在，他在北京已经拥有四家分店，奶酪种类也增加到三十多种。“我觉得中国的消费者最大的一个优点就是开放度，特别对于食物，我觉得这是中国人的一个优点，世界上任何一个地方的好吃的，我们都想尝一尝。”

The acknowledgment of international peers gave Liu more confidence, while he is optimistic that Chinese will grow to appreciate cheese, too. "Chinese are eager to try the best food this world has to offer," he said.

在新店里，他专门开辟了一个玻璃房子，从外面可以清楚地看到各种各样的奶酪的发酵过程。“希望更多中国客户能够通过我们的产品，喜欢上奶酪。”刘洋说。

Liu now owns four shops in Beijing that sell more than 30 kinds of cheese. The newest shop comes with glass walls, so that people can see the cheese fermenting from outside. "I wish more and more Chinese can fall in love with cheese through my products," Liu said.

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