FLASHBACK FRIDAY: First published March 17, 2013

When they want to pay homage to fromage, cheese lovers in Europe make a pilgrimage to France. In the U.S., the destination is Vermont or California. In Canada, there is only one choice: Québec.
Despite much progress in Ontario and British Columbia in the last decade, Québec remains Canada’s leading artisan-cheese region. With about half of Canada’s 180 cheese producers based in Québec, its leading role isn’t likely to end anytime soon.
For Canadian cheese lovers, the easiest way to find Mecca in Québec is to visit Marché Jean-Talon in Montréal. Which is what Significant Other and I did with a great friend in cheese, Vanessa Simmons, cheese sommelier at Savvy Company in Ottawa. We have many friends who love cheese, many friends who love food, but only in Vanessa do SO and I find an appetite for food, drink and adventure to match ours.
We warmed up for Marché Jean-Talon by visiting Complexe Desjardins in downtown Montreal to say hello to cheesemakers taking part in the annual La Fête des fromages d’ici. It was good to see so many producers represented by Plaisirs Gourmets at the show. SO and I sampled our way around for several hours and then caught up with Vanessa to compare notes and purchases. No surprise that our wallets were $150 lighter and bags similarly heavier.
What makes Marché Jean-Talon such a perfect Mecca for cheese lovers is that here one finds:
- Le Marché des Saveurs du Québec
- Bergerie La Moutonnière
- Fromagerie Qui Lait Cru?
- Chèvrerie du Buckland
and across the lane:
Short of spending weeks driving from cheesemaker to cheesemaker around Québec, it doesn’t get much better than this.
Two hours and more than $350 later, here’s what we had in our cooler bags:
OUR HAUL
- Le Pont Blanc, Fromagerie Au Gré des Champs
- Etoile Bleu, Fromagerie Jeannine
- Le Pizy, Fromagerie de la Suisse Normande
- Le Verdict d’Alexina, Fromagerie Le Détour
- Le Gaulois, Fromagerie de la Ferme Ducrêt
- Athonite, Fromagerie du Monastere Vierge Marie la Consolatrice
- Valbert, Fromagerie Lehmann
- Pied-de-Vent, Fromagerie Pied-de-Vent
IN VANESSA’S COOLER
- 20 Vaches, Fromagerie l’Atelier
- Chèvre a Ma Maniere, Fromagerie l’Atelier
- Etoile Bleu, Fromagerie Jeannine
- Athonite, Fromagerie du Monastere Vierge Marie la Consolatrice
- Le Troupeau Benit, Fromagerie du Monastere Vierge Marie la Consolatrice
- Monnoir, Fromagerie Au Gré des Champs
- Brebichon, Fromagerie du Verger
- Fleuron, Fromagerie de la Table Ronde
- Fou du Roy, Fromagerie de la Table Ronde
- Le Voyageur, Fromagerie Le P’tit Train du Nord
- La Maria Chapdelaine, Fromagerie La Normandinoise
- Blackburn, Fromagerie Blackburn
- Le Pizy x 3! Fromagerie de la Suisse Normande
CHARCUTERIE
- Terrine Champignons et Noisettes, Le Veau Charlevoix
- Cretons au porc, Les Cochons Tout Ronds
- Ménage, Les Cochons Tout Ronds
- Cured ham, Les Cochons Tout Ronds

And if all that wasn’t enough, Vanessa forced us to accompany her to Schwartz’s Montréal Hebrew Delicatessen for lunch of the most famous smoked meat in Canada. Oh, the agony!
—Georgs Kolesnikovs
Georgs Kolesnikovs, cheesehead-in-cheef at CheeseLover.ca and director of The Great Canadian Cheese Festival, lived in Montréal when Oka was still made Trappists at Oka. Way back then, his smoked-meat emporium of record was Bens De Luxe Delicatessen & Restaurant founded in 1908 by Latvian immigrants Ben and Fanny Kravitz.