Nothing between the
buffalo and your board.
Curd is a working buffalo dairy in the English countryside. We milk before dawn, make cheese by morning, and sell it the same day.
87
Buffaloes
Murrah breed — the highest-yielding buffalo in the world, each giving up to 16 litres a day at 7.8% butterfat.
4:30
a.m. First Milk
Before the village stirs. Hand-milked twice daily; the dawn pull is colder, richer, and turned into cheese by 9 a.m.
11
Miles Avg. Drive
Our furthest regular customer. Most are closer. The cheese doesn't travel — the customers do, and they always come back.
Pulled by hand before the village wakes.
Eighty-seven Murrah buffaloes wade through the morning mist on Brackley Road. By 4:30 a.m., the first milk is running — thick, warm, and carrying 7.8% butterfat. No other breed gives this.
Murrah buffaloes are milked twice daily in the traditional way: calf present, hand milked. The dawn pull is colder, the milk richer. It goes straight to the cheese room. Nothing is held overnight.
The buffalo doesn't read the clock — we do. And we've been here before four every morning since 2009.
Brackley Road · NN13 · 11 miles avg. customer drive · Calving Feb–March
Get the Cheese Calendar →Spun in hot water, shaped by hand.
The curd is left to mature in the vat until the pH drops to 4.95 — the exact point where buffalo curd will stretch cleanly without tearing. Then 85°C water, and the spinning begins.
Mozzarella comes from the Italian mozzare — to cut. Each ball is pinched off by thumb and forefinger, shaped in seconds, and cooled in cold water. It's in brine within 20 minutes. It's in your hands by noon.
We also make ricotta from the second heat of the whey, halloumi pressed and poached in the same morning, and caciocavallo hung on ash rods for 90 days. One milking. Six cheeses.
5 kg of buffalo milk makes 1 kg of mozzarella. It takes 8 kg of cow milk to do the same. The richness isn't marketing — it's chemistry.
Pasta Filata process · Natural lactic cultures · No additives · Same-day sale
Browse This Week's Counter →
Know what's being made
before you drive out.
Spring
Fresh Ricotta
Buffalo calving peaks — milk richest in April. Ricotta made every Tuesday & Friday.
Summer
Mozzarella
Peak mozzarella season. Pulled by 9 a.m., in your hands by noon. pH 4.95, no exceptions.
Autumn
Aged Caciocavallo
Hung on wooden rods from October. Sharp, complex — 90-day minimum. Limited allocation.
One email a month. No newsletter fluff. Just what's ready and when.
The counter on Brackley Road.
The farm shop opens Tuesday to Saturday, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. The cheese is made that morning. The counter is a wooden board, a slate sign, and whatever came out of the vat at dawn.
On Saturdays, we take the van to the village square in Middleton Cheney — market stall, 9 a.m. to noon. Bring a cool bag. We wrap in wax paper. The Cartwright Arms on the B4525 has our mozzarella on the Friday menu if you can't make the drive.
Young families are welcome. If calves are in the yard, you can watch. We ask that you don't touch the buffaloes without a member of the team present — they're gentle, but they're large.
Our furthest regular customer drives 19 miles each way every Saturday. She says it's cheaper than therapy.
Curd Dairy · Brackley Road · NN13 · Also at Whitfield Farm Shop, A43 · The Cartwright Arms, B4525
Browse This Week's Counter →This Week's Counter.
Stock changes daily. Call ahead or text the dairy if you're driving more than 8 miles.
Farm Shop Hours
Tues–Sat · 8 a.m.–1 p.m.
Curd Dairy, Brackley Road, NN13 · OX17 postcode radius
The Cartwright Arms
B4525, Newbottle
Mozzarella on the menu Fri–Sun
Forge Kitchen
Village Square, Middleton Cheney
Ricotta on the breakfast board
Whitfield Farm Shop
A43, Brackley
Halloumi & Caciocavallo stocked weekly
The dairy notebook.
Fermentation times, breed facts, storage rules. We give this away because a customer who understands the cheese values it properly.
Buffalo Mozzarella
Pasta Filata · Fresh
Season
Year-round, peaks June–Aug
Storage
Keep in its whey, consume within 48 hours. Never refrigerate below 8°C.
Process: Spun in 85°C water at pH 4.95. Shaped by hand. In brine within 20 minutes of leaving the vat.
Chef tip: Tear, don't slice. The weep is the point.
Ricotta
Whey Cheese · Ultra Fresh
Season
Spring & Summer
Storage
Two days maximum. Eat the day you buy it.
Process: Second heat of the mozzarella whey at 90°C. No rennet. Pure lactic coagulation.
Chef tip: Ask for the Tuesday batch — calving peaks mid-week.
Caciocavallo
Pasta Filata · Aged
Season
October drop, March finish
Storage
Unwaxed piece: wrap in damp cloth, 4 days. Whole: 6 months in a cool larder.
Process: Hung in pairs on ash rods. Minimum 90 days. Wax-sealed at 60 days.
Chef tip: Shave over warm polenta. Don't grate — it oils.
Halloumi
Semi-Hard · Grilling
Season
Year-round
Storage
Sealed in brine: 3 weeks. Once opened: 1 week.
Process: Pressed, brined, then poached in its own whey. Mint added at fold.
Chef tip: Dry the surface completely before grilling. High heat, 90 seconds each side.
Smoked Scamorza
Pasta Filata · Smoked
Season
Autumn & Winter
Storage
Vacuum-packed: 3 weeks. Unwrapped: consume within 5 days.
Process: Tied and hung for 24 hours. Cold-smoked over beech and apple wood for 4 hours.
Chef tip: Melt over roasted squash or slice into a toasted sandwich while still slightly warm.
Murrah Buffalo · Breed Facts
Breed
Murrah Buffalo
Origin: Haryana & Punjab
Daily Yield
10–16 L
Up to 25L with ideal management
Butterfat
6.5–9%
vs 3.5% in Holstein cow milk
Milk to Cheese
5 kg → 1 kg
vs 8kg cow milk per kg cheese
Lactation Peak
4th lactation
Our herd avg: 7 years old
Mastitis Risk
Very Low
Natural thick-hide immunity
Questions from the farm gate.
That liquid is the whey trapped inside the pasta filata structure during spinning. High-moisture buffalo mozzarella holds more than cow's milk mozzarella — the tear releases it. It's a sign of freshness, not a flaw. If it doesn't weep, it's too old.
Buffalo milk has nearly double the fat and protein of cow milk, so you need roughly 5 kg of buffalo milk to make 1 kg of cheese versus 8 kg of cow milk. The higher casein content also gives the curd better structure for stretching in the pasta filata process.
Yes — farm visits open seasonally, usually April to October. Check the Cheese Calendar for open Saturday dates. Groups of 8+ should book ahead. Calving visits (February–March) are by appointment only.
We supply six restaurants within 20 miles, including The Cartwright Arms on the B4525 and Forge Kitchen in the village. Chefs can text or WhatsApp the dairy number by 5 a.m. for same-day orders; we confirm by 6 a.m.
Know before you drive out.
Get the Cheese Calendar