Bay of Quine Region, Cheese education, Cheese festival, Cheese love, Events, Great Canadian Cheese Festival, Jamie Kennedy, Stonemill Bakehouse

For cheese lovers, all roads lead to Picton on June 3-4

No Comments
Informative Cheese Seminars are included in the price of admission at #TGCCF.

Top 10 reasons why you won’t want to miss the seventh annual Great Canadian Cheese Festival in Picton, Ontario, on June 3-4, 2017.

  1. More than 500 foods and beverages for sampling and purchase, including 200 artisan and farmstead cheeses.
  2. Chance to meet Canada’s outstanding cheesemakers face-to-face, including many from Québec.
  3. Informative Cheese Seminars on a variety of topics.
  4. Express access to more than 100 exhibitors and vendors, including specialty foods, small-batch wine, craft beer, craft cider and—NEW!—spirits.
  5. SWAG! An insulated Festival tote bag for your purchases and a souvenir Festival glass for sampling wine, beer and cider (19+).
  6. Local VQA wines and cider available for purchase by bottle or case (19+).
  7. Dairy Farm, with animals and displays, including the sweetest water buffalo you’ll ever meet.
  8. Food Court, featuring—NEW!— J.K. Fries and Braised-Beef Poutine from Jamie Kennedy Kitchens.
  9. Live music by Starpainters trio in the Prince Edward County Pavilion.
  10. Ample FREE parking.

More than 5,000 cheese lovers are expected to attend, sampling and purchasing close to 200 different cheeses made by artisan producers from the Atlantic to the Pacific. It’s the biggest artisan cheese show in Canada, indeed, in North America, with an estimated 500 foods and beverages in total on offer.

Meet Canada’s best cheesemakers, including Armand Bernard of Cows Creamery in P.E.I., at Canada’s biggest cheese show.

Cheesemakers, specialty food producers, small-batch wineries, craft breweries and cideries, and other exhibitors and vendors have reserved 100+ booths making the event at the Picton Fairgrounds one of the biggest artisan food markets in Ontario.

TICKET OPTIONS:

  • Super Saturday (June 3) or Super Sunday (June 4): All attractions listed above PLUS EXTRAS such as informative Cheese Seminars, an insulated Festival tote bag for your purchases, a souvenir Festival glass for sampling wine, beer and cider (19+), live music and more. Super Ticket $50 plus tax per day.
  • BEST BUY: Weekend VIP Pass (June 3 and 4): Admission Saturday and Sunday with VIP access at 10 a.m., one hour before show opens to public. PLUS reserved seating at informative Cheese Seminars. Includes all attractions listed above PLUS EXTRAS such as Cheese Seminars, an insulated Festival tote bag for your purchases, a souvenir Festival glass for sampling wine, beer and cider (19+), live music and more. Weekend VIP Pass $75 plus tax.

Tickets can be ordered online in advance at http://cheesefestival.ca/tickets/ or purchased at the door.

The Great Canadian Cheese Festival is the only place where you can taste and buy 200 different Canadian artisan and farmstead cheeses—plus specialty foods galore.

The Festival’s main attraction, the Artisan Cheese & Fine Food Fair, is open 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, June 3 and 4. Families are welcome. Children 15 and younger FREE when accompanied by an adult. Special pricing for groups of 10+.

There is so much to do at the Cheese Festival—and in must-visit Prince Edward County—that you’ll want to make a weekend of it. Check out featured accommodations in Prince Edward County, Belleville and Kingston at http://cheesefestival.ca/where-to-stay/

The Festival also offers special events like Gastronomy on the Farm with Jamie Kennedy, Cooking with Cheese Class with Cynthia Peters and a Quinte Cheese Tour. For additional information, visit CheeseFestival.ca. For assistance, email info@cheesefestival.ca or telephone 1.866.865.2628.

The Great Canadian Cheese Festival is produced by Cheese Lover Productions with the generous support of Celebrate Ontario. Prince Edward County is Gold Sponsor, Bay of Quinte Region is Principal Partner and Stonemill Bakehouse is Official Bread Supplier.

Picton Fairgrounds is located in the heart of Prince Edward County, south of Belleville in Bay of Quinte Region. One hour from Kingston, two hours from Toronto, three hours from Ottawa and New York State, and less than four hours from Montreal.

THE GREAT CANADIAN CHEESE FESTIVAL
June 3-4, 2017, Picton, Ontario
1.866.865.2628
http://cheesefestival.ca



 

	


	

		
			
    
				
    • 
		
    • 
		
    • 
			

	


	


											



			

			

				Baluchon, Buick Verano Turbo, Cheese festival, Cheese trail, Events, Fromagerie Abbaye St-Benoit, Fromagerie du Presbytère, Fromagerie Isle-aux-Grues, Fromagerie La Station, Fromagerie Le Détour, Riopelle de l’Isle			

		

	
	

		Cheesemobile heads to Gaspésie this summer
	


			

			
			No Comments
		

	
				
	

		
Our elegant cheesemobile, aka Buick Verano Turbo, at Mt. Revelstoke in B.C.
Our elegant cheesemobile, aka a Buick Verano Turbo, at Mt. Revelstoke in B.C.


Another successful Great Canadian Cheese Festival is behind us and it’s time to start planning another road trip—in search of cheese and other delights.


 Last summer, an elegant Buick Verano Turbo served as the cheesemobile as we hunted for the best in cheese in British Columbia and researched venues for a future Great Canadian Cheese Festival West.


This summer, the general plan is to head into Québec and eventually circumnavigate iconic Gaspésie to satiate our second love—fresh seafood. Of course, a visit to the region’s sole cheesemaker, Fromagerie du Littoral, will be on the itinerary.


Here’s the travel plan that’s taking shape:


    

  • Initial destination: Ste Elisabeth de Warwick two hours east of Montreal.
    • 

  • Festival Des Fromagers Artisans du Québec held this year at Fromagerie du Presybytère. The annual festival travels from cheesemaker to cheesemaker and attracts upwards of 10,000 cheese enthusiasts.
    • 

  • Visit Fromagerie Abbaye deSaint-Benoît-du-Lac and Fromage de La Station in Eastern Townships.
    • 

  • Fromagerie FX Pichet in Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pérade. home of Le Baluchon, the Canadian Cheese of the Year.
    • 

  • Grand tour of Gaspésie, some 1,200 km in all, searching for the freshest seafood and other culinary delights during 10 days along the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River and into the Gulf of Saint Lawrence. Breathtaking panoramas and tasty maritime cuisine await.
    • 

  • Fromagerie le Détour in Témiscouata-sur-le-Lac, home of Magie de Madawaska, a wonderful soft cheese worth driving many days for.
    • 

  • Overnight visit to Isle aux Grues in the middle of the St. Lawrence River east of Quebec City from whence comes Riopelle, one of Canada’s iconic cheeses, named after Jean-Paul Riopelle, a larger-than-life painter and sculptor who spent his summers on Isle aux Grues and died there.
    • 

  • Return home to Ontario with coolers full of goodies.
    • 



More, as it develops.


If you have recommendations for must-make-stops along the proposed route, we’d love to hear them. Click here to e-mail CheeseLover.ca.

	


	

		
			
    
				
    • 
		
    • 
		
    • 
			

	


	


											



			

			

				Cheesewerks, Dairy Farmers of Canada, Events, Great Canadian Cheese Festival, Grilled cheese			

		

	
	

		Cheesewerks the Official Grilled Cheese at Cheese Festival
	


			

			
			No Comments
		

	
				
	

		
Cheesewerks Original: Aged and double-smoked Balderson cheddars are grilled on cracked-peppercorn sourdough and served with roasted-garlic-red-pepper ketchup.


Cheesewerks has been named Official Grilled Cheese of the second annual Great Canadian Cheese Festival taking place June 1-3 in Picton, in the heart of Prince Edward County, the newest VQA wine region in Canada.


The Toronto grilled-cheese emporium is Canada’s first and only restaurant totally dedicated to placing artisan cheese at the centre of every plate. The Festival is Canada’s only event to showcase Canadian artisan cheese from coast to coast, along with artisan foods, fine wine and craft beer.


“Although we had more than 100 artisan cheeses on hand for sampling and purchase at the inaugural event, our patrons asked for more,” says Georgs Kolesnikovs, the Festival’s founder. “Thus was born the idea for a food court featuring grilled-cheese sandwiches and other eats.”


The Cheese Festival and Cheesewerks share the same mission: promote the best in Canadian cheese.


” We support 100% Canadian cheese, using Canadian artisan products throughout our menu and retail offering,” says Kevin Durkee, co-owner of Cheesewerks. “In fact, we are recognized and endorsed by the Dairy Farmers of Canada. Having the little blue cow as part of our credentials is amazing. The DFC designation is typically offered to producers and retail brands, to showcase their use of 100% Canadian Milk.  I’m not familiar of another restaurant that has been awarded this designation. We are very proud of this designation.”


Cheesewerks is developing a special menu for the Cheese Festival, but it’s sure to feature some of its more popular offerings such as:


    

  • Original: Balderson Aged and Double-Smoked Cheddars on Cracked Peppercorn Sourdough
    • 

  • Los Angeles: Havarti, Smashed Avacado, Arugula, Citrus Compote on Green Onion Potato Bread
    • 



Cheesewerks will be joined in the Festival’s food court by Buddha Dog and Primitive Cuisine during the Artisan Cheese & Fine Food Fair on Saturday and Sunday, June 2 and 3.


Space is limited at historic Crystal Palace and grounds. Save money and avoid disappointment by purchasing tickets online.

	


	

		
			
    
				
    • 
		
    • 
		
    • 
			

	


	


											



											



			

			

				Blue Benedictin, Cheese plates, Epoisses Berthaut, Events, Fromagerie Abbaye St-Benoit, Fromagerie Fritz Kaiser, Fromagerie Le Détour, Fromages CDA, Glen Echo Fine Foods, Great Canadian Cheese Festival, Grey Owl, Gunn's Hill Artisan Cheese, Ivy Knight			

		

	
	

		Cheese fuels passion to organize a better Festival
	


			

			
			No Comments
		

	
				
	

		
Here are the cheeseheads who work behind the scenes to make The Great Canadian Cheese Festival happen. From the left, Lin Chong, registration co-ordinator, Jackie Armet, cheese co-ordinator, Becky Lamb, volunteer co-ordinator, Terry Chong, operations manager, Karin Desveaux, executive director, Peta Shelton, Prince Edward County liaison officer, Ivy Knight, cheese gala co-ordinator, and Rebecca Crosgrey, event co-ordinator and assistant to Georgs Kolesnikovs, founder and director.


When they worked up an appetite during a recent planning session, here’s the cheese they dove into for lunch:


Gunn’s Hill Artisan Cheese: Hard and Semi-Hard, two impressive cheeses, the first like a Gruyere, the second like a Gouda, produced by Shep Ysselstein, a young chessemaker, in southwestern Ontario.


Fromagerie Fritz Kaiser: Tomme du Haut-Richelieu, a lovely washed-rind, goat-milk cheese from one of Quebec’s artisan-cheese pioneers.


Brillat-Savarin: A luscious triple-cream Brie with a truffle from France was devoured with much smacking of the lips.


Fromagerie Le Détour: The distinctive Grey Owl—with its dark ash rind—is sweet, tangy and creamy, a terrific example of the high standard of goat-milk-cheese production in Quebec.


Fromagerie de l’Abbaye Saint-Benoît: Bleu Bénédictin, a Canadian classic made under the supervision of Benedictine monks in the Eastern Townships of Quebec.


Époisses Berthaut: An extraordinary washed-rind cow’s milk cheese with a natural red tint from Burgundy in France is too powerful for some, worshiped by others. Ours came to us courtesy of Glen Echo Fine Foods.


Fan mail, comments and ideas will reach the Festival event staff via cheeseheads @ cheeselover.ca.

	


	

		
			
    
				
    • 
		
    • 
		
    • 
			

	


	


											



			

			

				Best Baa Farm, Events, Fifth Town Artisan Cheese, Monforte Dairy, Petra Cooper, Slow Food, Toscano			

		

	
	

		Cheese just one delight at Slow Food/Evergreen Picnic at Brick Works in Toronto
	


			

			
			No Comments
		

	
				
	

		
A 90-minute nap was in order after three hours of grazing at the fourth annual Slow Food/Evergreen Picnic at Brick Works in Toronto today. A capacity crowd of 1,200 sampled the best of Ontario’s sustainable harvest as presented by top chefs and leading producers, supported by a bevy of winemakers, craft brewers and producers of fruit wine and hard cider.


Here’s how the Brick Works Picnic works: A chef, such as Giacomo Pasquini of Vertical Restaurant creates a dish—Tortello, in this example—using fresh ingredients from Bzikot-family run Best Baa Farm—sheep’s milk ricotta and a brebis frais filling—with a light lamb jus and vegetables—dried organic veggies and live kale sprouts—grown by Pfenning family-run Pfenning’s Organic Farm.


The tortello is served in a simple presentation mere seconds after it is made by the chef’s crew in one of 66—Yes, 66!—food stations spread through the renovated Brick Works, a singular cultural showcase devoted to urban sustainability and green living.


Monforte Dairy provided the Toscano cheese that was at the heart of the savoury thyme pound cake created by Table 17.


Fifth Town Artisan Cheese was the only cheesemaker with a display of its own. Petra Cooper (at left) spread the gospel while Ezra Title of Chez Vous presented double-baked fingerlings made with double-smoked bacon and three Fifth Town cheeses, Cape Vessey, Chevre and Plain Jane.


At the Cheese Boutique display, Afrim Pristine was kept busy cutting a 10-year-old cheddar that the cheese shop purchased from historic Forfar Dairy before it churned its last curds in 2008.


But cheese played only a small role in the event overall as some of the best cooks in Ontario showed their mastery of a wide variety of agricultural products from close to home. Among the many stand-outs:



Stand-outs in adult beverages:



Here’s an excellent selection of Suresh Doss photographs from the Picnic. See also the photo essay by Jamie Drummond at Good Food Revolution.


If you’re a foodie within reach of Toronto, the annual Picnic at Brick Works to benefit Slow Food Toronto and Evergreen is an event not to be missed.


—Georgs Kolesnikovs




Even after the nap and a brush of teeth, the marvellous taste of Zane Caplansky’s smoked meat lingers on the palate . . .

	


	

		
			
    
				
    • 
		
    • 
		
    • 
			

	


	


											



			

			

				Cheese rolling, Dairy Farmers of Canada, Events, Natural Pastures Cheese			

		

	
	

		Canadian Cheese Rolling Festival: Talk about craziness!
	


			

			
			No Comments
		

	
				
	

		
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rjlp1J7PQsc]


It’s got to be the wackiest way to promote cheese but the Canadian Cheese Rolling Festival has proven to be highly effective—right out of the gate. About 5,000 people watched the inaugural event at Whistler, British Columbia, two years ago. Who knows how many will show up for the 2010 race this Saturday?


What’s really surprising is that the crazy afternoon of cheese rolling and other activities for the whole family is sponsored and promoted by Dairy Farmers of Canada, an organization generally seen as staid.


Cheese rolling is exactly that. A large wheel of cheese is rolled down a hill and daring men and women chase after it. The first contestant to make it down the hill wins. Vancouver Island cheesemaker Natural Pastures produced special 11-pound wheels of Cracked Pepper Verdelait cheese for the Festival. The winners get to take home the wheel of 100-percent Canadian cheese and a Whistler season ski pass.


“Last year, the attendance at the Canadian Cheese Rolling Festival was above our expectations and many people from across the country and abroad have asked us to bring it back,” says Solange Heiss, a spokeperson for Dairy Farmers of Canada. “It’s a great activity for the entire family and a fantastic way to showcase the amazing 100-percent Canadian cheeses this country has to offer.”


The race course will be set up in Whistler’s Upper Village on Blackcomb Mountain. Free round trip transportation to Blackcomb Mountain Base 2 parking lot via Excalibur Gondola in Whistler village is available for everyone. Anyone over 19 years of age can participate and contestants can register on site on August 14. The downhill event will consist of six men’s and three women’s races. The winner from each round will compete in the finals. For the kids, there will be six uphill races that will be a little easier.


In addition to the races, spectators, families and contestants can take in a host of other fun activities including cheese bowling and cheese twister. Everyone will be able to sample delicious Canadian cheese, wander through a Farmers Market and participate in cheese seminars. Canadian comic and award-winning host, Jebb Fink, will be hosting the festivities.


For more information about the Canadian Cheese Rolling Festival, click here.


CheeseLover.ca has been unable to confirm that a cheese-rolling festival will take place this fall in Toronto’s High Park.

	


	

		
			
    
				
    • 
		
    • 
		
    • 
			

	


	


											



			

			

				Andy Shay, Artisan Cheese Marketing, Cheese festival, Cheese plates, Events, Ewenity Dairy Co-op, Fromagerie du Presbytère, Grey Owl, Kathy Guidi, Le Bleu d'Élizabeth, Louis d'Or, Monforte Dairy, Pied-de-Vent, Poutine, Toscano			

		

	
	

		The joy of working over lunch—with Canadian cheese
	


			

			
			No Comments
		

	
				
	

		
 


Jamie Kennedy's take on poutine at Gilead Cafe.


Planning is well under way for the first Great Canadian Cheese Festival in 2011. That often means lunch meetings which, happily, means cheese on the table.


I had a chance to meet with Canadian cheese maven Kathy Guidi over lunch at Jamie Kennedy’s Gilead Cafe recently. What a treat it was to talk to Kathy—what with her decades of experience in Canadian cheese—and to enjoy one of Chef’s unique poutines: perfect frites with a healthy dollop of sauce bolognaise laced with Monforte Dairy’s Toscano cheese. I could have easily ordered a second serving but we had decided on a cheese plate for dessert, so I had to hold myself in check.


The cheese plate featured:


Le Rassembleu, an organic farmstead blue cheese from Fromagiers de la Table Ronde in the Laurentides region of Quebec. It has a lively creamy flavour, with the aroma of hay. The producers are fourth-generation cheesemakers.


Mouton Rouge, on the other hand, pleases the nose with a fresh and grassy aroma. A raw sheep-milk cheese created by Ewenity Dairy Co-operative in Southwestern Ontario, it has a lovely buttery taste that plays against the nutty reddish rind.


Grey Owl, a pasteurized goat-milk chèvre from Fromagerie la Detour in the Bas-Saint-Laurent region of Quebec, near the New Brunswick border, looks and tastes outstanding, from its snowy white interior to riper regions to the black ash exterior.


Le Bleu d’Élizabeth, Pied-de-Vent and Louis d'Or at the home office.


A working lunch in the home office with festival co-ordinator Kip Jacques isn’t half bad either when the cheese plate features:


Pied-de-Vent, from the Magdalen Islands in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, is an an all-time favorite of mine. Smelly, creamy and tasty, Pied-de-Vent is my idea of a great cheese. Despite what some cheesemongers may tell you, it is available in Ontario.


Louis d’Or, a flavourful, complex Gruyere-like washed-rind cheese is made with the raw milk of the cheesemaker’s own Holstein and Jersey cows at Fromagerie du Presbytère in Central Quebec. Quite possibly, it’s Canada’s best “Swiss cheese.”


Le Bleu d’Élizabeth comes from the same Fromagerie du Presbytère and is an outstanding example of a Quebec blue. No, it’s defintely not named after Queen Elizabeth but rather Sainte-Élizabeth de Warwick. The creamery occupies a former rectory in the village.


There is one other cheese plate in my notes from another working lunch but it was so disappointing that the proper thing to do would be to return to the name restaurant for another tasting before naming names.


One name I’d like to mention is Ezra’s Pound, a fair-trade coffee shop on Toronto’s Dupont Street. I’m so glad Andy Shay, a man of many talents when it comes to cheese, suggested we meet there as the croissants are to die for.


—Georgs Kolesnikovs


Have we mentioned that Georgs Kolesnikovs, Cheese-Head-in-Chief at CheeseLover.ca, loves his cheese?

	


	

		
			
    
				
    • 
		
    • 
		
    • 
			

	


	


											



			

			

				Events, Fromagerie Blackburn, Fromagerie du Presbytère, Gruyere, La Fromagerie 1860 du Village, Le Festival des Fromages de Warwick., Louis d'Or, Mont Jacob, Poutine, Saputo, Tomme des Cantons			

		

	
	

		Good cheese hunting: Day 15, paradise found in Warwick
	


			

			
			No Comments
		

	
				
	

		
For a cheese lover, Le  Festival des Fromages de Warwick certainly isn’t formidable but it sure is fromidable—as the signs all over town proclaim. (Fromage, fromidable, get it?)


In its 16th year, the festival, the largest cheese event in Canada, generally welcomes more than 40,000 people to Warwick, a town of 3,500 two hours east of Montreal, in mid-June. This year, for reasons that are puzzling, attendance dropped to 28,000.


Thirty Quebec cheesemakers offered more than 100 varieties of cheese for tasting. It was impossible to taste them all, as much as one might want to. We focused exclusively on cheeses we did not know but managed to sample barely 20 cheeses over two days. Among the most memorable:




    

  • Louis d’Or, a flavourful, complex Gruyere-like washed rind, firm cheese made with the raw milk of the cheesemaker’s own Holstein and Jersey cows. Fromagerie du Presbytère, Sainte-Élizabeth de Warwick, Central Quebec.
    • 





    

  • Mont Jacob, a semi-soft, interior-ripened cheese, with a  pronounced flavour and fruity aroma. Fromagerie Blackburn, Jonquière, Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean.
    • 



    

  • Tomme des Cantons also caught our fancy but there is no information available on the La Fromagerie 1860 DuVillage site. Perhaps it has been discontinued.
    • 





Saturday and Sunday are the busiest days at le Salon des fromages d’ici, the cheese show that is the heart of the Warwick festival. We’d recommend Friday as your primary day at the event. In addition to cheese, the 2010 festival featured 14 producers of artisan foods, eight vintners, three producers of  ciders, one microbrewer, one beekeeper and two grocery-store chains, plus non-stop entertainment in the festival theatre, a children’s activity park, a farm yard complete with sheep, goats and chickens, a spectacular fireworks display on opening night, and popular Quebec bands and singers in concert every evening.


For lunch, supper or anytime, one could withdraw from all the goings-on to the 750-seat festival bistro under a big-top tent and enjoy a cheese and salad plate like the one pictured. There were six choices on the menu, each one with its own assortment of four cheeses, one pâté, one condiment, grapes, crudité, crisp greens and fresh bread.








Click on this or any other image for a larger view.






Down the street from the festival is La Fromagerie 1860 DuVillage, now owned by giant Saputo, which has a cheese boutique and a restaurant that features, among other dishes, 15—Yes, 15!—different ways to serve poutine, the cheese-curd-gravy-with-fries Quebec delicacy that was invented in Warwick.


Quite frankly, it was distressing, on account of all the fabulous cheese already in the belly, not to be able to dive into a plate of poutine in its birthplace.


—Georgs Kolesnikovs


Georgs Kolesnikovs, Cheese-Head-in-Chief at CheeseLover.ca, has returned home to Frenchman’s Bay east of Toronto with a cooler full of Quebec and Eastern Ontario cheese.

	


	

		
			
    
				
    • 
		
    • 
		
    • 
			

	


	

											



			

			

				Andy Shay, Cheese business, Events, Gurth Pretty, Ontario Cheese Society, Société des fromages du Quebec			

		

	
	

		Ontario Cheese Society goes Canadian
	


			

			
			No Comments
		

	
				
	

		
Ontario Cheese Society, during the course of its annual conference and general meeting next Monday, will evolve into a pan-Canadian organization. In an interview with CheeseLover.ca, here’s how Gurth Pretty, chairman of the society’s board, and Andy Shay, a society board member and one of the conference organizers, explain what’s happening.


CheeseLover.ca: What has prompted the Ontario Cheese Society (OCS) to consider going national?


 


Gurth Pretty


Gurth: The notion has been mentioned by different board members over the last year. When Andy brought to the board’s attention that ongoing trade talks between Canadian officials and representatives from other countries could affect our industry, this was the signal that a national organization was needed to voice the concerns of Canadian cheesemakers.


CheeseLover.ca: What action will take place at the OCS annual general meeting next Monday?


 


Andy Shay


Andy: This is a very exciting time for the Ontario Cheese Society and months of planning are coming to a head at the AGM. Really, we will be asking the membership to ratify the ground work that we have put in place for the society to begin its national agenda. The proposal to go national has been drafted and sent to members and will be voted on at the conference. In addition, we will be asking the members to contribute to the renaming process. The board will sift through the proposals and will announce the new name in May. Coming up there are a few board member seats that will be available to be filled and we hope that we will be able to draw from a diverse national basis. We are also thinking about the AGM for 2011. In a national society, it would move around the country. Next year, the American Cheese Society will be meeting in Montreal, and that might create very interesting opportunities for the 2011 AGM.


CheeseLover.ca: Are there any other provincial organizations like the OCS? Do they support the idea of a national cheese society?


Gurth: La Société des fromages du Quebec is the only other provincial cheese organization in Canada. Several Quebec cheesemakers and distributors were invited to attend this year’s “Unity” conference. Several members are registered in both organizations. We will discuss with la Société’s executive officers, to hear their comments and suggestions.


CheeseLover.ca: Does OCS only represent the artisan cheese industry? What will the scope of the national organization be?


Gurth: The OCS represents all facets of the Ontario cheese industry, from the large industrial cheesemaker to the tiny artisanal-farmstead operation, where they produce cheese from their flock of 25 sheep. The mandate of the national organization is to be written and agreed to by the interim board. I personally hope that the organization will represent all cheesemakers making cheese with Canadian milk.


CheeseLover.ca: How many members does OCS currently have? Are there several categories? What success has OCS had over the six years since its founding?


 


Andy: Currently there are well over 100 members representing cheesemakers, milk producers, distributors, retailers, restaurateurs, educators, media and enthusiasts. One of the original goals was to increase communication among all aspects of the industry and that has been accomplished in several ways. First, the AGM has turned out to be a really important annual event for connecting and reconnecting with the cheese network as well as being a chance to regenerate with new ideas. Second, the AGM marketplace and other consumer shows that the society hosts during the year has increased the public profile and access to the cheeses and the cheesemakers that have not always been easy to find. Third, the communication between the Dairy Farmers of Ontario (DFO) and cheesemakers and between the cheesemakers has been opened and there is now a regular back and forth between those parties, about policy, but also about daily operation. We have also increased communication for all members through the monthly publishing of The Slice e-mail, a sort of bulletin board of all things cheese. One other initiative coming up will be the membership card which will entitle the holder to a 10-percent discount at participating retailers.



The Ontario Cheese Society’s sixth annual conference, AGM and marketplace takes place Monday, April 26, at Hart House on the University of Toronto campus in downtown Toronto.


The public is invited to the Canadian Artisan Cheese Marketplace & Prince Edward County Wine Tasting that will take place Monday evening. Click here for more information.

	


	

		
			
    
				
    • 
		
    • 
		
    •