I want the funk uncut.
February 27, 2007 – 2:00 am 
All at once, I’m giving a new format and a new feature a spin today. Such daredevilry is most often the jurisdiction of heros, emperors and utter fools, and I am, without question, no emperor or hero. Older articles with larger images will probably look wonky until I get around to re-formatting them - if I ever do - but I have every reason to predict we’ll otherwise navigate the transition together swimmingly. Bit’ će dobro sve, mala… Bez briga. It’s a work in progress, just like everything else.
One of my own newly acquired heroes is Marijan Ladišić, who operates the Tilka Koze goat farm and cheesery with his family in Jastrebarsko, just outside of Zagreb. The photos in the nifty cyber-gadget above are from my visit to the Ladišić’s rustic, yet spankingly maintained farmhouse on a pristine plot of Croatian meadowland. Two words: ‘Wow!’ and ‘Yes!’ The Ladišić Family produces numerous varieties of exemplary organic goat cheese. If you click the image of the assortment below, you’ll be whisked off to one like it embedded with wee notes on the varieties we tasted with Marijan’s strong, homemade Reisling in the midsummer swelter of the Prigorske hill country.
Let me just say that those were the happiest goats I’ve ever encountered in my life. It was like a party in that barn; the atmosphere was full of contagious, frolicking-good goat cheer (I spoke Croatian with a slight, gradated yammer for the rest of the day). I suppose, though, that if my existence was fueled solely by a steady diet of meadow grass, organic whole grains and a whole lotta love, I’d be bouncing around with a sparkle in my eye and a half-grin on my bearded mug too. Near certain am I that from now on, the funky aroma of goat life will remind me of those idyllic few hours spent at Tilka Koze. I’m looking forward to my next visit, and to buying up a few wheels of the good, dry-aged stuff. Thank you, Marijan and family.
If you’re in Zagreb and looking for a day trip in the countryside, you could do far worse than call Tilka Koze at +385 01 629 4129 and arrange a visit.
4 Responses to “I want the funk uncut.”
nice format, well done John! And as about goat cheese… well this is one of the prerequisites of simple rural happiness. I am afraid that poor cows lose the competition
By gagatka on Feb 27, 2007
You know, all of the cheese was outstanding when measured against any standard, but it was the goats who made the most indelible impression on me, and probably on my appraisal of the cheese as well. I’ve been around goats in children’s zoos plenty (I don’t hang out in bars so much anymore), but these billies, nannies and kids were different. They had such personality, inquisitiveness and life about them. I almost expected them to begin speaking to me. It truly was like being the guest at a goat family gathering, with different social activities and conversations taking place in different parts of the barn. I just couldn’t help smiling the whole time I was around them.
Maybe I just need some sleep, but that’s one thing about ‘knowing where your food comes from’ that is, unfortunately, lost on so many people. To hear happy goats in the distance while savoring fresh cheese and wine with the jolly herder who made them on his family’s land? It can’t be compared to anything. That kind of knowledge and experience gives food real context and meaning, imbuing it with the sort of soul-nourishing properties that simply can’t be bought. This is why I think and talk so often of taking on a more agricultural existence. There’s true value and wisdom to be gotten from close cooperation with nature, and some things can only be understood fully by living them. It’s kind of an all-or-nothing thing; life is full of sweet rewards that most of us are afraid to taste.
I just hope and pray that Europe doesn’t squash the old ways completely. One America is enough for the world.
By John J. Goddard on Feb 27, 2007
Goats are crazy fun! I’ve met a few.
I can totally relate to your experience. It’s amazing how food takes on a new complexity or meaning when, right there and then, you are able to connect it to its source. Your enthusiasm is great…infectious.
By Linda K on Mar 1, 2007
Fala ti, mala. Preslatka si ti.
By John J. Goddard on Mar 1, 2007