Quinta Anema

Quinta Anema is an organic dairy farm at Courela da Ponte Velha, on the banks of the Lavre stream in the municipality of Montemor-o-Novo, Évora district. Jan and Elisabeth Anema come from farming families in Friesland, in the Netherlands, and moved to the Alentejo in 1987. For years the farm sold milk and kept up to 80 cows; in 2010 the couple converted to organic farming and went back to the craft they had practised in Holland, making Gouda-style cheese.

The herd is now small, about 15 cows of the Blaarkop breed, a hardy Dutch breed that was close to extinction not long ago. The animals graze outdoors for most of the year and eat green pasture or hay grown on the farm, with very little concentrate feed and no silage. The Anemas also keep sheltered places for wildlife on their land to encourage biodiversity. The farm holds organic certification and the CSS seal, a label that promotes sustainable rural economies in Portugal's interior.

The cheese is made by hand with traditional equipment from milk that is neither pasteurised nor homogenised, and the rind is treated without preservatives or fungicides. It is sold at the municipal market in Montemor-o-Novo and in local shops and cooperatives in the town.

The farm sees itself as a link between city and countryside. It offers guided visits to the organic farm and the cheese dairy and holds open days, and its Escola Viva programme brings young people to work on the land and spend time in nature. Lavre is a village north-west of Montemor-o-Novo; contact the farm to arrange a visit.