On this Video Wednesday at CheeseLover.ca, we visit Les Bergeries du Fjord to learn about the sheep’s-milk cheeses produced at La Baie on the Saguenay River in Québec.
Les Bergeries du Fjord, owned by Claude et Martin Gilbert et Josée Gauthier, started making cheese from the milk of Jersey cows in 2003, soon winning awards with Belle du Jersey and Jersey du Fjord. In 2006, they began production of sheep’s milk cheeses, soon also winning awards with Blanche du Fjord and Berger du Fjord. They use raw milk exclusively for all their cheeses.
Giovanni Le Brasso shows a guest how easy it is to cut an 80-kilo wheel of Emmentaler at the Switzerland Cheese display at the Gourmet Food & Wine Expo in Toronto this week.
There are more wines to taste than is humanly possible in one evening and all kinds of fancy food to sample, but pulled pork was the clear winner in our hearts and stomachs at the Gourmet Food & Wine Expo in Toronto this week. Not just any pulled pork but a perfect parfait served up at Hank Daddy’s Barbecue stand.
Pulled-Pork Parfait made by Hank Daddy's Barbecue, pictured with Hank's nephew Gordie.
Here are the ingredients: pulled pork, Hank Daddy’s Original Barbecue Sauce, mashed potatoes, more sauce, another layer of pork, sauce, potatoes, more pork and a topping of baked beans. Talk about an ultimate take on comfort food! No wonder Jennifer Bain raved about it in the Toronto Star after sampling the dish at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair last week.
For cheese lovers, there is a diverse selection of tastes to be had at the Gourmet Expo which runs till Sunday:
Cypress Grove Cheese from Northern California and Sobeys Ontario team up to present a divine plate of four goat cheeses made by Mary Keehn, one of the founders of the artisan-cheese movement in the U.S.
A delicious selection of classic and contemporary goat cheeses is available at the stand operated by Ontario Goat Cheese.
Devil’s Rock, a creamy blue cheese from Northern Ontario, and squeaky cheese curds are front and center at the Thornloe Cheese stand.
Agropur's two-year Grand Cheddar was crowned Grand Champion.
Agropur, the giant co-operative owned by 3,459 dairy farmers in Canada, United States and Argentina, dominated the cheddar competition at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair this week. Agropur cheddars won or placed in six of seven categories with its two-year Grand Cheddar being crowned Grand Champion while the Reserve title went to its one-year Grand Cheddar.
Both cheddars are made at the Longueuil plant in the village of Bon Conseil near Drummondville, Quebec.
Aged cheddar is made with unpasteurized milk. The milk is lightly heated in a process called thermization, which preserves the microorganisms and enzymes in raw milk that give cheddar its characteristic flavor. To prevent pathogenic organisms from proliferating, this type of cheddar undergoes a minimum 60-day aging period from the start of production. The resulting cheese retains all its flavour characteristics and gives the cheddar its distinct flavour.
Here are the top three cheeses in each category of the cheddar competition. Unfortunately, the results provided by the Royal do not name the actual cheddar, only the location of the plant, which is not particularly useful for consumers.
Grand Champion honours at the Royal Fair are the latest recognition for Lindsay Bandaged Cheddar, shown here at the American Cheese Society competition where it was named Best in Show, Runner-up.
Two new goat-milk cheeses—one barely out of the vat—took top honours in the goat-cheese competition at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair this week.
Lindsay Bandaged Cheddar was named Grand Champion about a year after it was introduced by Mariposa Dairy of Lindsay, Ontario—and began winning awards, including Best of Show, Runner-up, at the American Cheese Society.
Camelot, a new goat-milk cheese introduced by Upper Canada Cheese of Jordan, Ontario, only a few months ago, was named Reserve Champion and its other new cheese, Nanny Noire, placed second in mold-ripened class.
Mariposa Dairy dominated the goat-milk cheese competition, winning or placing in five categories.
Upper Canada’s goat cheeses are made only with milk from a rare herd of Lamancha goats pastured at Gord and Melanie Wood’s Idyllwood Farms near Keene, Ontario, and cared for by the entire Wood family. Says Lauren Petryna, head cheesemaker:
“This fresh, pure milk is then transformed into Camelot and Nanny Noire. Camelot ages for two months in our cellars, while camembert-style Nanny is rolled in ash, allowed to develop its bloomy rind and is ready to be enjoyed within weeks.”
Here are the top three in the mixed-milk class of the annual competition at the Royal:
Despite multiple entries from large cheese producers such as Saputo and Agropur, Quality Cheese of Vaughan, Ontario, collected the most first-place ribbons—four in all—with Zerto Fresh Mozzarella, Ricotta, Borgonzola and Burrata.
Perhaps as an indication of things to come, a new artisan cheesemaker, Primeridge Pure of Markdale, Ontario, won a second and a third with Grey Rush, a creamy dessert cheese.
The Grand Champion, Aged Lankaaster, is matured to a minimum of 10 months. Margaret Peters-Morris tells CheeseLover.ca. The cheese entered in the competition was made in June, 2010, therefore, it was 16 months mature.
Aged Lankaaster is a firm cheese, traditional rind, characteristic gouda “eyes” present, paste is dark, laden with crystals, with lovely butterscotch, pineapple and lactic notes, the veteran cheesemakers says. This cheese lingers in one’s mouth and is very suitable to use as cheese to make any “gratin” in culinary preparations.
Here are the top three in the variety class of the annual competition:
Market Trends in Cheese: A View from the Trenches will be the topic of a special presentation by Andy Shay, Cheese Product Manager at Sobey’s Ontario, at the first annual general meeting of the Canadian Cheese Society next week.
The meeting on Wednesday, November 16, starts at one o’clock at the Centre for Social Innovation, 720 Bathurst Street, Toronto. It is open to Society members and those interested in getting involved in the organization dedicated to growing the artisan/farmstead/specialty cheese sector in Canada.
The transformation of the Ontario Cheese Society into a Canadian organization to represent and promote artisan, farmstead and specialty cheesemakers coast to coast is under way—not without its challenges. For more information, visit the Ontario Cheese Society website which is being reconfigured to reflect the new scope of the organization.
The Canadian Cheese Society’s first national cheese conference and market is scheduled for March 29, 2012, at Hart House, Toronto.
Petra Kassun-Mutch, founder of Fifth Town Artisan Cheese, serves as chair of the Society. Board members are Elisabeth Bzikot of Best Baa Dairy, Don Pendlebury of Pine Grove Cheese, Amarjit Singh of Local Dairy, Robert Santen of Glen Echo Fine Foods, Georgs Kolesnikovs of The Great Canadian Cheese Festival, Wendy Furtenbacher, and Suzanne Caskie.
Ivan Balenovic, Bothwell's CEO and one of the ownership partners, says about $6 million has been invested since 2002, including $1.8-million for the new aging facility,
“Cheesemaker ages well” was the headline Saturday when the Winnipeg Free Press featured a story on Manitoba’s Bothwell Cheeseer as it celebrates 75 years of making cheese in New Bothwell just south of Winnipeg. Click here for the full report.
Click here for a brief history of Bothwell Cheese published in Savour Winnipeg. To reach the Bothwell Cheese website, click here.
Cheese makes news every day. That’s why we’ve started collecting links to the most interesting news reports on a special page under the News tab at the top of the blog. Check it whenever you visit CheeseLover.ca. The newest links are shown below.
A feature story in The New York Times on affinage has kicked off debate on the meaning of the word and the value of the practice. What is your take on affinage?
On this Video Wednesday, let’s visit with David Wood at Salt Spring Island Cheese just off Vancouver Island in British Columbia. It’s a dairy worth a visit in person, if you have the opportunity. To sample the Salt Spring chèvres is to taste what arguably are the best goat’s-milk cheeses produced in Canada. The garlic chèvre is to die for.
