A bubble where to imagine new stories, to write new rules

Dear readers,

The sessions we had on December 17 and 19 had as a central theme something that we do not see but that is crucial for the production of different types of dairy products in A Ulloa: ferments. The week before Christmas was very intense. We arrived tired from all the organization involved in the deployment of the Ulla River in the demonstration against Altri's macrocellulose on Sunday, December 15. That is why we designed some light and soft sessions and we blurred a bit the differences we usually make between our more collected sessions (Storytelling aloud) and the more active ones (Doing aloud).

For the first session we stayed at Arqueixal, the farm of Xose Luis Carrera Valín, one of our group's clients. Arqueixal, which produces cheese, yogurt and milk in an artisanal and extensive way, is one of the pioneering initiatives in organic production in Galicia. In addition to using ferments to produce their products, Xose Luis is very interested in nutrition, so we suggested doing some kind of fermentation with the group in their space. He proposes to make curdled milk, an acidified milk that was drunk a long time ago. For our experiment we decided to milk the cows ourselves, which, we have to admit, is more difficult than it sounds. The recipe is very simple: leave the milk next to a heat source for 2 days. The milk will ferment with its own microorganisms (the ones we normally kill with pasteurization).

While we do it, first in the stable and then in the parladoiro, a multipurpose space they have in Arqueixal, we talk about ferments: what they are, what they are not, where they are found, what foods are fermented, what they are used for.... We also share an article about an archaeological study that has confirmed that in our stomachs, many years ago, there was a huge extinction of microorganisms. We talk about industrial diets and how they are changing the way we eat. We talked about the importance of eating fermented foods but how little time we have to make them. “But they make themselves!” says Xose Luis. Little by little we try the different curdled milks that he had already made. In the last part of the session we meditate while we think about Sunday's demonstration and listen to Mercedes Villalba's fervent Manifesto:

(...) It is at times like these that joy becomes a political issue (...) it becomes a matter of care to maintain and nurture that joy whenever it is found. (...) It is key to defend our joy and for that we may be forced to make bubbles.

Pockets of air and spaces of exception.Hiding places where to go to nourish and rest.Let these spaces abound, even if they are temporary.May they harbor the strangest and most creative of exceptions.Bubbles where to imagine new stories, write new rules.In times like these we are fighting for our right to the future.

The trick is to make these bubbles ferment, rising in fervor.

This is how we want the space that generates Os contos do leite to be.

For the second session, we go to Senande, where Dajosefa cheeses are made. There, Miguel Vázquez and Josefa Vázquez show us the meadows where the cows graze daily. We got to know the stable, the cheese dairy and Josefa's kitchen. We discover that Dajosefa cheese uses local ferments, not the Dutch yeasts that are usually added to Arzúa-Ulloa cheese. Miguel tells us about the paradox that the D.O. (Denomination of Origin), which was created to protect the typicality of the cheese of the area, today would not accept Dajosefa cheese even though it is the only cheese in the area that uses the natural ferment of the territory. Miguel also tells us about the bacteriological library that is being created in collaboration with the University of Vigo.

Once at her home, Josefa tells us, while she fills our plates with sponge cake, the story of how she started working with Miguel. She also explains details of her work, such as how to know by touch when it is time to cut the cheese or how the way it is made changes depending on the season of the year. We talk about the miraculous refrigerator from which they were able to recover the ferment when a fungus killed the one they had. Zeltia then recalls her grandmother's refrigerator in which the cheeses always came out delicious. “Well, don't throw it away!” the rest of us shouted.

Before leaving we split the curdled milk we had from the day before and stayed to comment on Sunday's manifestation and talk about how to continue. It is already night and the sky is full of stars.