Day 9. Mikaelyan Family Farm

On Google and Yandex maps.

Traditional Sevan sunrise:

Moved to another place:

Waiting for food. Watching the view:

Once again, I realize how beautiful the views of Sevan are. They’re always different. The weather changes often. It’s a great place to just observe and be in the moment.

Food arrived. I had lamb with vegetables, Anton had fish with vegetables.

Anton evaluating his portion size (we didn’t expect it to be that big):

I was surprised Anton liked what was basically fish soup. I thought kids didn’t like fish dishes. But this was already the second one he enjoyed. Maybe Anton’s not a kid anymore 🤔

And the traditional mint-and-thyme tea — it hit just right throughout the trip:

Arrived at the Mikaelyan family farm — they make cheese here.

First, they take you into the cellar and tell you about the cheeses they make:

They make cheeses aged from 6 to about 24 months.

Some cheeses are aged in wine. Others are wrapped in grape leaves soaked in cognac. Some are rubbed with cognac. Others are coated in spices. And so on.

Anton listened with interest:

If a cognac-aged cheese matures for 6 months, they turn and rub it with cognac and cinnamon every day. If it’s aged for a year, they do it once a week.

They also make sauces that go perfectly with cheese:

Then we head to a pavilion (or whatever you’d call it) for a tasting.

There were 10 cheeses at the tasting — from light to more intense. They explained how each was made and what it pairs well with.

Anton at the tasting:

Again, I was surprised — Anton’s a real foodie! He tasted carefully, picked out flavors, and chose his favorites.

The farm has a full production cycle. Their own herd of cows (pasturing higher in the mountains this season). They make and sell all the cheese themselves.

The cheese tasted amazing! No wonder — cows grazing naturally in open air! In the video from the previous post, you can see the beautiful texture of aged cheese:

Forgot to ask if they use animal rennet. If they don’t — that’s a total win!

Bought a few cheeses to take with us:

Сыр не дешевый, но стоит того!

The cheese isn’t cheap — but totally worth it! Didn’t make it home as gifts. First, it was too hot, and it wouldn’t keep well. Second, it was too delicious (the real reason)! So you’ll just have to take my word for it, be happy for us — and forgive!

There’s also a horse, some chickens, and a cat on the farm. That doesn’t surprise us anymore — but a cat in a post is always a plus!

When we got back, it started hailing. Once again, I was amazed at how quickly the weather changes at Sevan.

Traditional coffee of the day:

25 August 2024