Willunga Farmers Market Producer Profile with recipe: Buff Love

For the love of

buffalo mozzarella

Story and recipe by Andrea Ball. Photography by Jason Porter.

Page left: Spring matar halloumi with lime pickle raita. Above: Eric Oxenham with water buffalo cow, Autumn and newborn, Clarkie.

‘I’d been living in the UK, and buffalo mozzarella was just a staple in my weekly shopping basket. When I got back to Australia, it was like “Oh my gosh, how am I going to live without it?’’’ Emma Rooke tells me, sitting in her Myponga kitchen. The view through the kitchen window overlooks rolling hills and a herd of water buffalo wallowing nearby.

It turns out she couldn’t live without buffalo mozzarella. And she was willing to take matters into her own hands.

Emma and her partner Eric Oxenham moved to their 14-hectare property in Myponga in 2015. The couple knew they wanted to create a value-added product in livestock agriculture, and Myponga already had a great reputation for dairying. With the relatively small size of the property, they needed to focus on a niche business for it to be worthwhile. All these factors dovetailed with Emma’s penchant for fresh buffalo mozzarella, and their future course was set.

Their plans were cemented after meeting Michael Wohlstadt of The Dairyman in the Barossa Valley at a Future Foods conference. Michael has a traditional small-scale mixed farm that produces premium butter, cream and pork products – where the animals are pasture-raised and treated with respect. This type of business model made perfect sense to Emma and Eric.

After detailed research, and with an initial stock of purebred Italian Mediterranean water buffalo purchased from the Northern Territory government in 2018, Emma and Eric established Myponga Water Buffalo, the home of Buff Love yoghurt and cheese.

In 2019, the couple went to Italy to study buffalo management. The second part of this course, in mozzarella making, was due to take place in 2020, but was postponed due to COVID. ‘Mozzarella is not a beginner’s cheese,’ explains Emma, so their initial focus turned to producing grass-fed buffalo yoghurt, followed by their feta and halloumi, which now appear weekly at the Willunga Farmers Market from spring to autumn. The generosity of knowledge and skill-sharing from local dairies, buffalo dairies, cheesemakers and producer networks has spurred the small business’ success. ‘We’re very lucky,’ says Emma. ‘From people right here in Myponga, through to the TAFE Artisan Cheese Making Course, the Fleurieu Food network, and small cheesemakers like Second Valley Cheese, Section 28 and Lilyarra Artisan Cheeses – they’ve all been amazing.’

In fact, it was Jane Arnold from the Second Valley Cheese Company who taught Emma to make halloumi. Jane was retiring and wanted to know that there would be a local cheesemaker who could continue to supply her customers with halloumi. Emma wasn’t convinced about her first efforts with the cheese, but when Jane tasted it, she went ‘absolutely nuts and asked if I was going to put it in for the Delicious Awards,’ recalls Emma.

So, what is it that makes the yoghurt and cheese so special? It turns out that buffalo milk is richer in protein, vitamins, minerals and fat than other dairy products. The lower water and higher fat content gives the milk a thicker texture, making it especially luxurious for cheesemaking.

The dairy’s ethical, animal welfare and land management practices clearly contribute to the quality of the end products. ‘The biggest part of this is keeping our calves with their mums for the first three months until they are weaned,’ says Emma. ‘It’s what we call “animal-focused production” and our customers are really confident in our practices.’

The couple also do a lot of behavioural training and low-stress stock management to keep the buffalo relaxed, because, as Emma laughs and says, ‘You can’t tell a buffalo anything, you need to negotiate with them!’ Getting to know their individual personalities, likes and dislikes, Eric has earned himself the nickname of ‘buffalo whisperer’.

This care for their animals is expressed in the dairy’s artisan products. ‘You can really taste the milk,’ says Eric of their yoghurt, halloumi and feta. And it’s clear that customers agree, with demand increasing and products frequently selling out at the farmers’ market. Local restaurants and wineries have also started approaching the dairy, keen to have Buff Love products on their menus.

But what about the burning question on everyone’s lips: will we see your mozzarella this year? ‘Yes,’ say Emma and Eric in unison. ‘2022 will finally be the year of mozzarella.’ >

To celebrate Buff Love’s new season halloumi and to welcome spring, here’s a fresh, zippy take on the classic northern Indian matar paneer – pea and paneer curry.

Spring matar halloumi

Serves 4 as a main course

This version adds extra spring veggies and replaces the traditional Indian cheese, paneer, with halloumi. It’s a switch that makes good sense, both because paneer is traditionally made from buffalo milk, and halloumi is much more readily available in South Australia. It’s what I call a ‘genuinely inauthentic’ recipe, because it takes inspiration from a classic without being wedded to it, while using the best of local, seasonal ingredients that are true to the area and easy to source.

A quick cumin and lime pickle-spiked raita served on the side brings the whole dish together – and you can have everything on the table in under 30 minutes.

You can substitute any spring greens you like in place of the suggestions here – broccolini, snow peas and green beans are all good. Leftovers reheat well too.

What you’ll need

1½ packs (300g) Buff Love Squeaky Cheese Buffalo Milk Halloumi, cut into 1cm thick, 4x4cm squares

Olive oil 1 medium red onion, halved and sliced into thin half-moons 2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped 3cm piece fresh ginger, grated 1 large fresh green chilli, halved – seeds removed if you prefer 1 punnet (250g) cherry tomatoes, halved 1 teaspoon ground coriander seeds 1 teaspoon ground cumin ½ teaspoon Kashmiri chilli powder ½ teaspoon ground turmeric 1 teaspoon sea or pink lake salt, to taste 1 cup (250ml) water

1 bunch gai lang (Chinese broccoli), thick stems cut in half lengthways, stems and leaves separated 1 bunch asparagus, trimmed, sliced in thirds on a slight diagonal, stems and tips separated 1 cup (150g) baby peas, fresh or frozen ½ teaspoon garam masala Freshly ground black pepper Large handful fresh mint leaves, roughly shredded Extra mint leaves, fresh sliced chilli and lime wedges, to serve

What to do

Start by cooking the halloumi: Dab both sides of the halloumi squares with paper towel to dry. Heat a large nonstick or cast-iron frying pan over mediumhigh heat. Add the halloumi to the dry pan in a single layer and cook for a few minutes on each side until they form a golden crust. Remove onto a clean plate. (You don’t need to add any oil to the pan when cooking the halloumi, as long as it’s a good nonstick or cast-iron pan. If needed, add just a tiny splash of olive oil.)

To make the curry sauce: Add a generous glug of olive oil to the same frying pan. Slide in the onion with a good pinch of salt. Cook over medium heat, stirring, for 3-5 minutes, until the onion is golden around the edges. Add the garlic, ginger and fresh chilli, cook for another minute until fragrant. Tumble in the tomatoes, stir and cook for about 3 minutes, until they are just starting to break down, adding a splash of water if the mixture looks a little dry. Add the ground coriander, cumin, chilli powder, turmeric and salt to taste. Stir for another minute, until the spices smell delicious, then add the water, increase the heat, and cook for another couple of minutes until you have a nice jammy sauce. While the sauce is cooking, quickly blanch your green veggies: Bring a medium saucepan of salted water to the boil. Add the gai lang stems and cook for 1 minute. Add the asparagus stems and cook for 1 more minute. Lastly, pop in the gai lang leaves, asparagus tips and peas, and cook for a final minute. To finish: Put the frying pan with the curry sauce back over a medium heat. Quickly drain your blanched veggies and add them straight to the curry sauce (it’s fine if a little water splashes in). Stir to mix, then add the cooked halloumi back to the pan. Sprinkle in the garam masala, black pepper and shredded mint leaves. Stir gently and cover the pan, allowing the flavours to mingle and heating everything through for couple of minutes. Remove from the heat, top with some more shredded mint and extra sliced chilli if you like, and serve straight from the pan with fluffy basmati rice or naan, lime wedges, and raita on the side.

Quick cumin & lime pickle raita ½ cup (125g) Buff Love Buffalo Yoghurt 1 teaspoon cumin seeds, lightly toasted in a dry frying pan 2 teaspoons lime pickle, finely chopped if needed (we used Port Willunga Fine Foods Lime Pickle which doesn’t need to be chopped) Squeeze fresh lime juice Simply stir all ingredients together in a small bowl. Taste and add more lime pickle and lime juice to taste if needed. The salt in the lime pickle means you don’t need to add any extra seasoning. Any leftover raita is fabulous dolloped on baked potatoes or grilled fish.