MINDFUL EATING (CHEESE INCLUDED) THE WAY FORWARD

MINDFUL EATING (CHEESE INCLUDED) THE WAY FORWARD

Coiled rolls of homemade spaghetti

 “Everything you see, I owe to spaghetti.”

Sofia Loren

Toxic diet culture has poisoned our minds.

The fight for skinny is over and none of us won; whatever shape your body is in, shame and guilt won’t be fixing it. Cheese has been villainised by some who believe there is just one way to live, and we don’t think that’s fair. (On us, or the cheese)

Luckily for all of us, society’s relationship with food is changing, it’s slowing down and moving towards mindful eating. Nowadays there is diversity when it comes to what is considered healthy.

Starvation and exclusion diets are out, mindful eating is in.

At Zandam we are all about the slow food movement and being in the present with what is on your plate. In any case, you can’t rush cheese – there’s no cheat code when it comes to the ageing process of a perfect Zandam Pecorino.

We have always appreciated our Italian cheese for its delicious taste and last year we spoke about why cheese is an important part of your meal, but now we want to take the shame out of that slice of pizza and bite of tiramisu. Once and for all!

It’s not fattening, it’s “nutrient-dense”.

There is no denying that cheese has more basic calories than cucumber, but remember – salads don’t win scrums, and simply enjoying something nutrient-dense isn’t automatically bad.

Take back the power on your plate.

Once we stop calling certain food groups “bad” we take away the shame of enjoying them, and they lose their forbidden pull. When we do this we break the toxic train of thought that has caused so much pain over the past decades.

Giving a certain food group so much power over you isn’t the way to go. Indulge in that piece of cheese, chew it, taste it, eat it, and move on.

Eat more cheese

We are not just saying this to sell more cheese. (Zandam Italian Cheese sells itself, thank you very much.) The science is out and we now know that repeated attempts at losing weight through starvation or exclusion dieting can lead to more weight gain in the long run. When you ignore your body’s natural hunger cues, you forget how to self-regulate and this can lead to binge eating and an unhealthy relationship with food for the rest of your life.

“You become more at risk of emotional eating, eating out of boredom, and are more vulnerable to environmental cues that tell you to eat more than your body wants,” says Dr Sandra Aamodt, PhD.

Eating is essential to survival. So it is stressful to diet. This means that you are creating higher levels of the stress hormone Cortisol, which then leads to the buildup of visceral fat (never great). So dieting is actually bad for your health

If we remove the shame and, instead, talk about responsibility and mindfulness, the conversation changes. According to the Centre for Mindful Eating, Mindful Eating is

  • Allowing yourself to become aware of the positive and nurturing opportunities that are available through food selection and preparation by respecting your inner wisdom.
  • Using all your senses in choosing to eat food that is both satisfying to you and nourishing to your body.
  • Acknowledging responses to food (likes, dislikes or neutral) without judgment.
  • Becoming aware of physical hunger and satiety cues to guide your decisions to begin and end eating.

Over the years, we have learnt so much from making our Authentic Italian Cheese. We understand the importance of sourcing the very best raw ingredients, treating them with respect, and creating a beautifully balanced final product. Just like we have to take all these factors into account to create the perfect, pleasingly plump Zandam Burrata, you have to find that balance between cucumber and cheese to create your own pleasingly plump bits…

Sources:

On the dangers of diet culture:

https://www.nbcnews.com/better/health/what-happens-your-brain-when-you-go-diet-ncna802626

On the practice of mindful eating:

https://www.thecenterformindfuleating.org/

Some recipes that showcase mindful eating and eating with all your senses:

https://www.zandamcheese.co.za/mozzarella-di-bufala-and-shrimp-pasta-sadies-bubble-of-yum/

https://www.zandamcheese.co.za/olive-swiss-chard-and-zandam-ricotta-tart/

OPENING HOURS:

Saturday & Sunday: Closed
Monday to Thursday: 08H00-16H30
Friday: 08H00-15H00

© 2020 Zandam Cheese  |  All Rights Reserved 
ADDRESS: R312 Lichtenburg Road, Durbanville, 7551
MAP: Click to view in Google Maps
TEL: +27 21 976 9794

FIVE REASONS WHY CHEESE

FIVE REASONS WHY CHEESE

If you’ve ever wondered, as a cheese lover or simply someone interested in food and nutrition, why you should eat cheese (and lots of it), we’re here to assist.

It sounds like a simple question, but the answer, apart from “because it is delicious”, is much more intricate than you think.

Let’s delve into seven reasons why we believe you should believe in the value of cheese:

Reason number 1: Historically, cheese has always been treasured

The art of making cheese is ancient. The first evidence of humanity discovering the magic of curdled dairy dates back more than 3,000 years. Proof of cheesemaking was found in Egyptian tombs alongside the gold and other treasures…

Reason number 2: It’s not just nutritious, it is also a comfort food

It’s no secret that cheese is a fantastic source of calcium, protein and B vitamins, but there is another, hidden benefit that makes cheese an important part of any diet:

Cheese is comforting.

Ask anyone what their favourite comfort food is, and we’ll bet you cheese is involved. Pizza? Grilled Cheese Sarmie? Mac & Cheese? Lasagna?

Cheese, cheese, cheese, cheese!

The pleasing act of eating something delicious and satisfying light’s up your brain’s reward centre. It is something we are hard wired to remember and then seek out again. And again. And again.

The human brain has evolved to react to certain types of comforting calories. Craving cheese makes sense from a caveman’s perspective, just like we can’t get enough of other high-fat, high-sugar foods. These energy-dense foods were perfect sustenance for hunting and gathering.

Add to this the fact that we humans are pack animals, and we have a match made in cheesy heaven. Along with the positive physiological reaction to comfort foods like cheese, the benefits of sharing a meal and eating with your loved ones on a regular basis are well documented. Sharing food improves your emotional connection, fosters healthy eating habits, and helps maintain good communication between all members of the tribe.

What better way to celebrate this, than with cheese? Hearty meals like pasta, or easy-to-share food like pizza and fully loaded cheese platters are ideal for sharing the love!

Reason number 3: You believe in being authentic, and healthy

If you know anything about Zandam, you know we take our True Cheese promise seriously. Our uncompromising quality starts from the ground up – because we only use locally sourced milk from jersey cows that have been exclusively grassfed, our cheese contains Omega 3 Fatty acids, as well as vitamin K and a whole host of other vitamins that are essential for optimal health.

Reason number 4: Cheese can drive the food revolution

Eating ethically and sustainably is not just another greenwashing fad. If we don’t commit to changing the way we consume food, our future becomes rather bleak. The terrible impact on the environment of large-scale cattle feedlots and mass-produced meat and meat products is a well-known fact.

We’ll be the first to admit that the dairy industry also has some work to do, but we will also gladly defend our way of cheese making to even the greenest of eco-warriors.

The scale and methods used to make cheese significantly influence its ecological footprint.

We know this, and we chose early on to produce our cheese sustainably and ethically. Not only is Zandam Cheese locally made, from local milk, produced by happy, local animals, but we have even invested in various renewable energy sources to augment our fossil fuel energy dependence.

Reason number 5: Zandam makes meat-free meals delicious (and guilt-free)

One of the ways in which we can all lower our carbon food-print, is by going (occasionally) meat-free.

Making cheese the hero ingredient of your meal can be a way to gently slip away from the meat-heavy fare we are used to and into a more sustainable, but equally comforting way of eating. A mushroom burger with thick slices of smoky scamorza (Yum!), or a Neapolitan pasta with salty pecorino (Zelicious!) will feed your cravings just as much as a meal loaded with meat.

The moral of the story is: 

Cheese is good for you, body AND soul, ethically produced cheese is best for the environment, and you can enjoy your Zandam without that side order of guilt.

If you are a cheese lover, you might have heard the chatter around dinner tables and supermarket aisles about “cheese”, “processed cheese” and even so-called “cheese replacements”.

OPENING HOURS:

Saturday & Sunday: Closed
Monday to Thursday: 08H00-16H30
Friday: 08H00-15H00

© 2020 Zandam Cheese  |  All Rights Reserved 
ADDRESS: R312 Lichtenburg Road, Durbanville, 7551
MAP: Click to view in Google Maps
TEL: +27 21 976 9794

OUR PROMISE OF UNCOMPROMISING QUALITY

OUR PROMISE OF UNCOMPROMISING QUALITY

At Zandam what do we mean when we say: Uncompromising Quality?

The debate about what we put in our bodies and how those choices affect the world around us has become more heated (and confusing) than ever.

The fact that many food producers are unscrupulous when it comes to the descriptions they use for their products, doesn’t make your job as a consumer any easier. You’ll have to understand the lingo to make the best cheese choices.

Because we believe in our promise of pure, true cheese we thought it was high time to explain our Uncompromising Quality promise in more detail.

What does TRUE CHEESE mean?

If you are a cheese lover, you might have heard the chatter around dinner tables and supermarket aisles about “cheese”, “processed cheese” and even so-called “cheese replacements”.

Let’s cut through the babble

Cheese, that is to say, true dairy cheese, is a pure and unadulterated product, made from real milk, and processed in such a way that the end product is still 100% dairy based. True cheese does not try to hide or lie about what it is. It speaks for itself. The process of making cheese has been refined over centuries and authentic cheese is incomparable in its flavour, texture and taste.

Modified Cheese on the other hand is enriched with flavour-building enzymes and used to give an artificially intense cheese flavour to processed foods boasting a “cheese” flavour. The natural ripening process and subtle art of cheesemaking are bypassed mostly by the addition of artificial flavours and emulsifying salts.

Analogue “cheese” is not cheese at all.

It’s a food product that uses plant oils, modified starch, casein, water, artificial flavouring and colouring to imitate the texture, colour and flavour of cheese and is usually made by cooking up a mixture of water, vegetable oil, modified starch, casein and other ingredients listed below. It is a flavoured paste that is allowed to coagulate, cool down and then cut into the desired shapes to give it a familiar appearance for uninformed customers. (Read more here.)

The typical composition will include the following:

  • 50% moisture (water)
  • 25% vegetable oils (fat)
  • 20% modified starch (potatoes)
  • 4% Casein (milk protein)
  • 1% Artificial flavouring, colouring and salts

No milk is used and no ripening process or natural ageing is involved.  

It is not cheese, but product producers will regularly (fraudulently) use Dairy terms and cheese names like mozzarella or cheddar to mislead the consumer.

Why is the dairy industry important in South Africa?

The influence of analogue cheese on the South African agri-processing industry is devastating. The South African Dairy industry has always been a major player in our country’s economy. The South African Dairy Cow industry alone is one of the largest agricultural industries in the country, employing more than 40 000 people.

At a conference on dairy farming, hosted in Pietermaritzburg in 2022, the importance of the sector was once again confirmed: “Dairy is the fourth largest agricultural industry in South Africa, there are currently about 1200 dairy farms and 1.2 million dairy cows in the country producing around 26,000 jobs.”

The process of making analogue cheese completely bypasses dairy producers, and employs only a very small number of factory workers, as analogue cheese production is completely mechanised. Because of this, analogue cheese can be produced at a much lower cost and in greater quantities than true cheese, which means the market is flooded by a product that often fools consumers.

This puts extra pressure on the dairy industry and poses a very real risk to everyone who makes a living from real cheese and dairy products.

If it’s not Kaas, we’ll pass.

There are several local dairy producers and cheesemakers who are fighting back. The True Cheese movement is focused on educating the public about the different products and celebrating real, 100% dairy cheese.

At Zandam we do not compromise. We do Cheese, and we do it well. Our recipes and processes have been passed down generations of Delle Donne’s and even though our processes have been refined, our promise has remained the same.

To further promote the importance of South African Dairy, Agri Expo has hosted the South African Dairy Championships since 1834.

For the past 190 years, these championships have celebrated excellence in South African dairy products.

Around 900 dairy products are judged by approximately 60 experts who evaluate the appearance, texture and flavour of products in ten categories.

Over the years, Zandam has entered the SA Dairy Championships numerous times and won various awards, with many of our cheeses being recognised as South African Champions in their respective categories. This year the winners will be announced at an awards dinner on Thursday, 25th of May.

Only the very best natural ingredients go into our cheese, and it is easy to taste the difference!

A final word from Mauro: “We have been doing this for more than 60 years at Zandam. Cheese is not just our heritage, but also our passion. We will not compromise.”

OPENING HOURS:

Saturday & Sunday: Closed
Monday to Thursday: 08H00-16H30
Friday: 08H00-15H00

© 2020 Zandam Cheese  |  All Rights Reserved 
ADDRESS: R312 Lichtenburg Road, Durbanville, 7551
MAP: Click to view in Google Maps
TEL: +27 21 976 9794

ZANDAM OUTGROWS ITS ONLINE STORE

ZANDAM OUTGROWS ITS ONLINE STORE

July 2022, Durbanville, South Africa – While we loved offering you the option of ordering our cheese online, we have now extended our retail footprint throughout the country to such an extent that it no longer makes sense to run an online store for Zandam Italian Cheese sales.

Our partnerships with major food retailers like Checkers, Food Lover’s Market and SPAR, as well as various smaller independent supermarkets across South Africa, mean that we now have the opportunity to provide you with the cheese you want when you want it.

Online shopping has its perks, but who wants to wait for their cheese, when your neighbourhood grocer offers you instant gratification?

Our authentic Italian cheese is now widely available at SPAR, KWIK SPAR and SUPER SPAR stores, as well as various Food Lover’s Markets. Our partnership with Checkers also means that our award-winning Fior Di Latte Mozzarella and Bocconcini, Ricotta and Mascarpone are now available as part of the Forage and Feast range.

Fully stepping into the South African food retail world has been a strategic decision we have wanted to see come true for some time. We trust that you will support our decision to take off the training wheels and become the cheese producer we want to be.

This does not mean that we will ever sacrifice the personal touch – it just means the family is growing.

If you have any questions or need extra information, feel free to slide into our DM’s on Facebook or Instagram, and one of us will reach out to you as soon as possible.

OPENING HOURS:

Saturday & Sunday: Closed
Monday to Thursday: 08H00-16H30
Friday: 08H00-15H00

© 2020 Zandam Cheese  |  All Rights Reserved 
ADDRESS: R312 Lichtenburg Road, Durbanville, 7551
MAP: Click to view in Google Maps
TEL: +27 21 976 9794

GOOD NEWS! GREAT CHEESE IS COMING YOUR WAY GAUTENG

GOOD NEWS! GREAT CHEESE IS COMING YOUR WAY GAUTENG

August 2021. Durbanville, South Africa – Zandam Italian Cheese is excited to announce our partnership with select SPAR, SUPER SPAR and KWIK SPAR stores in Gauteng and the Western Cape.

Let’s start with the Zandam supporters in Gauteng who have been patiently waiting. You can now get your Zandam Zeliciousness at Willow Way SUPERSPAR in Pretoria.
Ask the manager if you can’t find your favourite on the shelves. Our cheese will be coming from their distribution centre on a regular basis, so you wont have to wait to long to make Zandam Italian Cheese part of your daily luxuries.
In the Western Cape you can find us here:
Aurora SUPERSPAR in Durbanville
Van Riebeeckshof SPAR in Bellville
Die Boord SUPERSPAR in Stellenbosch
Parklands SUPERSPAR in Parklands, Cape Town
Edgemead SUPERSPAR in Edgemead, Cape Town
Royal Ascot SUPERSPAR in Milnerton
KWIKSPAR Somerset at Lion’s Square
You can also check our full stockist lists here:

 

 

The Zandam story

The Delle Donne family has been crafting Italian cheese since 1962 in the heart of the Cape Winelands.

Famous for their poultry originally, the family has always made their own cheese, guided by nonna Giovanna, as was traditional for Italian subsistence farmers. Later on, Matteo (current managing director Mauro’s father), would go to Cape Town to deliver fresh eggs to the local Italian, Greek and Portuguese immigrant communities. It soon became evident that there was a great demand for cheese. No one else in South Africa was making authentic Italian cheese and the Delle Donne products gave these communities a welcome taste of home. Word soon spread and Zandam Italian Cheese’s customer base grew. In fact, the cheese became so sought after, that the family decided to focus exclusively on the cheesery from the late 1970s onwards.

Mauro Delle Donne, the current owner of Zandam Italian Cheese, is a cheesemaker at heart. Having spent many years in the cheesery, learning from his mother Iolanda, Mauro still regularly travels to Italy to ensure that Zandam cheese remains authentically Italian in every sense. Zandam Italian cheese is also proudly South African. A strong South African influence inspired the family cheesemaking through the loving and skilful mentorship of family friend Ken Borchards, a pioneer in the cheese industry.

OPENING HOURS:

Saturday & Sunday: Closed
Monday to Thursday: 08H00-16H30
Friday: 08H00-15H00

© 2020 Zandam Cheese  |  All Rights Reserved 
ADDRESS: R312 Lichtenburg Road, Durbanville, 7551
MAP: Click to view in Google Maps
TEL: +27 21 976 9794

NEW HOUSING FOR HERD OF MEDITERRANEAN WATER BUFFALO

NEW HOUSING FOR HERD OF MEDITERRANEAN WATER BUFFALO

August 2021. Durbanville, South Africa – Zandam Italian Cheese is busy with a building project our herd of Mediterranean Water Buffalo with new housing for when they are not out and about, grazing on the farm.  

The cheesery has been producing Mozzarella di Bufala since last year. We are incredibly proud that the product achieved a first place in the SA Dairy Championship  in its very first year of competing.

The buffaloes were acquired from Buffalo Ridge who imported the first, and at the time only, 24 water buffalo into South Africa.  

The Zandam story

The Delle Donne family has been crafting Italian cheese since 1962 in the heart of the Cape Winelands.

Famous for their poultry originally, the family has always made their own cheese, guided by nonna Giovanna, as was traditional for Italian subsistence farmers. Later on, Matteo (current managing director Mauro’s father), would go to Cape Town to deliver fresh eggs to the local Italian, Greek and Portuguese immigrant communities. It soon became evident that there was a great demand for cheese. No one else in South Africa was making authentic Italian cheese and the Delle Donne products gave these communities a welcome taste of home. Word soon spread and Zandam Italian Cheese’s customer base grew. In fact, the cheese became so sought after, that the family decided to focus exclusively on the cheesery from the late 1970s onwards.

Mauro Delle Donne, the current owner of Zandam Italian Cheese, is a cheesemaker at heart. Having spent many years in the cheesery, learning from his mother Iolanda, Mauro still regularly travels to Italy to ensure that Zandam cheese remains authentically Italian in every sense. Zandam Italian cheese is also proudly South African. A strong South African influence inspired the family cheesemaking through the loving and skilful mentorship of family friend Ken Borchards, a pioneer in the cheese industry.

OPENING HOURS:

Saturday & Sunday: Closed
Monday to Thursday: 08H00-16H30
Friday: 08H00-15H00

© 2020 Zandam Cheese  |  All Rights Reserved 
ADDRESS: R312 Lichtenburg Road, Durbanville, 7551
MAP: Click to view in Google Maps
TEL: +27 21 976 9794

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