Amiram and Drora Obrutsky started the Ein Camonim goat farm in 1979. They took the name Ein Camonim from Ephraim Kishon’s book The Fox in the Chicken-Coop, which is about an aging Knesset member who is told to take time off after he collapses during a speech and finds himself in a backward Israeli village far from civilization.
Amiram Avrutzki got into the dairy business “by accident” when a friend asked him if he could look after a herd of goats because he was short of space. Drora, who didn’t want to waste the goats’ milk, started to make cheese from it. At first, she made the cheese in her kitchen and then she studied the art of cheese-making abroad.
Amiram started researching the different breeds of goats in other countries: he discovered a breed of Alpine goat that produces 1,000 litres of milk a year as opposed to the 140 litres produced by the goats native to Israel. After dealing with a lot of bureaucratic red tape, Amiram was given permission to import Alpine goats from France, and he is now an expert who exchanges information with other goat breeders around the world.
Ein Kamonim was one of the first dairies in Israel to make boutique cheeses directly on the farm.
They produce about thirty different kinds of cheese, which are all made from the milk of their herd. All the milk is whole and pasteurized and all the ingredients are natural without preservatives or food coloring.
You can buy all of their cheeses and delicious goat’s yogurt in the dairy shop.
Don’t leave without bringing home a jar of their delicious fig and walnut jam, which goes well on top of most of their cheeses or slathered on buttered bread.
The best way to try all of their cheeses on offer is to dine al fresco at their beautiful restaurant
and enjoy their “all-you-can-eat” cheese platter,
which comes with a variety of salads, olives,
and a lovely basket of fresh whole grain rolls. It also includes a carafe of wine, water and homemade lemonade.
Ein Kamonim Goat Farm and Restaurant
Acre-Safed Highway 85, between Hanania Intersection & Nahal Amud
Ein Camonim
Phone: 057-942-8691
Interesting post, I have been there several times but didn’t know about the history of the farm. I am able to buy Ein Kamunim cheese at the local supermarket with Vered Hagalil being one of my favorite varieties. Also love their charcoal cheese.