Tangala Cheese Farm
The Best Cheese We've Tasted in Turkey!
Buket Ulukut moved from Istanbul to the Ak Mountains in 2008 to live in Yakaköy, a mountain village near the ancient ruined city of Tlos in the scenic region of Lycia. She started the Tangala Goat Farm in 2013. The size of the herd has increased every year and she now has nearly 50 goats. The farm occupies a total of 10 hectares of land; there is a old traditional cob house, as well as a guest house building.
Here we see Buket (on left of picture) introducing a group of visitors to the delights of her many tasty cheeses. Buket is happy to welcome visitors to the farm, and arranges cheese tasting events on a regular basis. Visitors to the farm also get the chance to meet some of Tangala's other charming residents, including an Anatolian Kangal breed dog called Dudu, various chickens and a donkey named Dolunay (full moon).
One of Buket's greatest pleasures is to herd her goats in the rocky mountain slope and surrounding forest, their natural environment. But only when she can spare time from her cheese production activities! Fortunately, she also has the help of a full time goatherd.
r It's easy.
Below the main building is a purpose-built cellar designed for cheese making using the most modern hygienic production methods. Her delicious cheeses are carefully aged for several months in a climate-controlled environment. As well as using the milk from her own goats, she also produces a variety of other cheeses using cow's milk bought in from neighbouring farms.
What could be more agreeable than to sit around in the sunshine eating a home-made Turkish pide or Italian pizza with a fabulous view of the snow-capped mountains in the distance?
It's not just cheese! Buket has many other locally-made products for sale, such as honey, tahini, carob molasses, chilli jam, pomegranate and rose-hip syrup.
And once you get home, what could be more wonderful than a simple lunch of bread, cheese, honey and wine?
​