Healthy grass is the first link in the sustainable-food chain.
Cheese makes news every day. That’s why we’ve started collecting links to the most interesting news reports of the week on a special page under the News tab at the top of the blog. Check it whenever you visit CheeseLover.ca.
Millbank Cheese started operations in 1908 in the old foundry building in the village of Millbank in Southwestern Ontario.
Caseus Helveticus—Swiss cheese to me and you—was first mentioned in recorded history by Pliny, the first century Roman historian. Doubtless, it was more like cottage cheese than what we’re familiar with in modern times. The type of Swiss cheese we eat today first appeared in the 15th century when the technique of using rennet to firm up cheese was introduced.
In the 17th century, the Amish religion was founded in Switzerland. By the 18th century, the first Amish arrived in Ontario, bringing with them the old ways—including making cheese.
And that‘s how, three centuries later, I’m enjoying a chunk of mild and creamy Swiss made by Millbank Cheese Factory, but there is a twist in the history.
Millbank Cheese and Cold Storage in the village of Millbank in Southwestern Ontario was founded in 1908 by Old Order Amish dairy farmers. Over the years, Millbank Cheese grew and grew. By the 1980s, it employed 35 full-time employees and sold $12 million worth of cheese and butter annually. Then started a revolving door of owners: First, Schneiders, then Ault Foods, and finally Parmalat—which shut down production in 1999 but kept the retail store open.
Millbank’s pioneering past flowered again when 90 traditional farm families purchased the factory from Parmalat in 2003 and again began to make cheese the Old Order Amish way. Today, Millbank manufactures goat, sheep and cow-milk products.
And so it came to pass that when I walked into The Art of Cheese in the Beaches area of Toronto, owner Bill Miller suggested I try Millbank’s organic, unpasteurized Swiss cheese.
“This Swiss is very creamy,” Bill said. “When warmed up, it has a slight tangy bite. The real difference, though, is in the after-taste. In mass-produced Swiss, you get a metallic taste—some would say tinny—from the chemical residue that comes from the use of additives to speed up the maturing process.” As Swiss is such a light-tasting cheese, there is nowhere for the additive residue to hide.
The cream content level of the Millbank Swiss is 33% milk fat, which is high, yet that’s what makes this a rich Swiss and an excellent snack.
Bill suggested I try it in scalloped potato as the cheese helps bring out other flavours without dominating. Alas, my chunk was long gone by supper time.
—Georgs Kolesnikovs
Georgs Kolesnikovs is Cheese-Head-in-Chief at CheeseLover.ca. He grew up eating Swiss, Havarti and Limburger, and a Latvian cheese called Janu siers.
Michael Simpson at Leslieville Cheese Market West. Click on image for a larger view.
Leslieville Cheese Market, with two locations in Toronto, is opening a third store in Flesherton, right on the main route to Georgian Bay cottage country.
“There is a bit of a food movement happening slowly in and around Flesherton,” says co-owner Michael Simpson. “It’s not an organized thing. People from Toronto who vacation in the area have brought with them a demand for excellence.”
Leslieville Cheese Market North will open June 1 at 10 Sydenham Street in Flesherton, right beside The Bakery, a popular stop on Highway 10.
“The Bakery in Flesherton is known far and wide,” says Michael. “We previously have had a great relationship with them. That makes us all the more happy that our market will be situated right beside them and their fantastic aromas.”
Leslieville Cheese Market North will be managed by co-owner Gary Ikona.
Cheese makes news every day. That’s why we’ve started collecting links to the most interesting news reports of the day on a special page under the News tab at the top of the blog. Check it whenever you visit CheeseLover.ca.
Simmering on a back burner at CheeseLover.ca is a dream to create and promote an Ontario cheese taste trail. Quebec has such a taste trail. Why not Ontario?
We see Cheese Lover’s Guide to Ontario as a periodical publication and an interactive website. Of course funding—from commercial sponsors and government grants—will be a key ingredient that takes time to develop.
There are 50 cheesemakers in Ontario today. (We include historic Forfar Dairy in Portland which has ceased production but still has cheddar for sale.)
Not all cheesemakers are open to the public or have on-site stores, so it’s wise to telephone ahead.
If you do visit an Ontario cheesemaker, we’d like to hear from you to start collecting experiences and impressions—and tasting notes—for Cheese Lover’s Guide to Ontario.
Editor’s note: Thanks to Bill Miller of The Art of Cheese for pointing out that we were missing Millbank Cheese founded in 1908 and now again owned and operated by the Old Order Amish of Ontario.
Cheese and wine expert Julia Rogers, left, enjoys an informal beer tasting with chef and sommelier Tonia Wilson.
Julia Rogers loves beer.
In her latest newsletter, the cheese and wine expert declares beer is a better partner for cheese than wine. This from a lady who spent the last five years earning an internationally recognized Diploma in Wines and Spirits from Wine & Spirit Education Trust in England, the world’s leading provider of wine education.
Julia says beer is best because it works with cheese on four levels:
Physiological – It serves as a counterpoint to salt in cheese and “scrubs” fat and protein off the tongue;
Sensory – The primary tastes and aromatic features of beer and cheese are highly compatible;
Intellectual and spiritual – Beer and cheese are among the primal foods of the human race. Enjoying them returns us to ancient roots.
Put simply, pairing beer with cheese makes for a stellar match. In her newsletter, Julia goes on to suggest 10 pairings. The one that caught my eye—seeing how I like my beer dark and my cheese strong—was Trois Mousquetaires Imperial Baltic Porter and Ciel de Charlevoix, both from La Belle Province. (Another reason to look forward to June and a planned excursion to Montreal and Warwick.)
On June 17, Julia will pair with brewmaster Sam Corbeil to present a tasting class entitled Patio Season Beer, Wine and Cheese at Leslieville Cheese Market in Toronto. She also has something planned on heritage beer and cheese at Black Creek Pioneer Village with details still being worked out.
—Georgs Kolesnikovs
Georgs Kolesnikovs, who has been known to enjoy a dark ale or three, is Cheese-Head-in-Chief at CheeseLover.ca.
Henriot Champagne flows at Cheese Boutique during the launch party for this year's Festival of Chefs.
Chefs from Toronto’s leading restaurants will strut their stuff when the seventh annual Festival of Chefs unfolds at Cheese Boutique over the five weekends of May.
The concept is simple: Let the chefs create dishes with ingredients available at Cheese Boutique. Invite the public to interact with the chefs and—for a donation to Toronto Zoo’s conservation program—let them sample the cuisine paired with a glass of wine.
Here’s the schedule for the cooking demonstrations every Saturday and Sunday in May, from 12 noon to 4 p.m.:
May 1 – Anthony Walsh of Canoe
May 2 – Anne Yarymowich of Frank (AGO)
May 8 – Jason Bangerter of Auberge du Pommier
May 9 – Alida Solomon of Tutti Matti
May 15 – Mike Steh of reds bistro
May 16 – Anthony Rose of Drake Hotel
May 22 – Chris McDonald of CAVA
May 23 – John Higgins of George Brown College
May 29 – Keith Froggett of Scaramouche
May 30 – Jonathan Gushue of Langdon Hall.
Of course, there was plenty of cheese to sample at the launch party.
Five wineries are participating:
Tawse Winery
13th Street Winery
Cave Spring Cellars
Norman Hardie
Cattail Creek Estate Winery
Afrim Pristine, co-owner of Cheese Boutique, describes the annual promotion as “a celebration of culinary excellence, of passion, fine ingredients and sharing knowledge.”
Cheese Boutique is located at 45 Ripley Avenue in Toronto’s west end. The photos were taken at the festival launch party last week.
Charcuterie and other taste treats were sampled by guests at the festival launch party.
Two pigs and five lambs were only the beginning of the feast at Monforte's hootenanny.
Ruth Klahsen sure knows how to throw a party. This afternoon, more than 800 of her closest friends showed up—and hardly anyone knew it was Ruth’s 53rd birthday. The invitations had only said it was to be a hootenanny in the Stratford Festival Theatre Lobby.
And what a hoot it turned out to be!
Ruth hosted the party to thank the 858 contributors who have raised $385,000 toward the cost of a new plant for Monforte Dairy. Government funding, including a $190,000 grant just the other day from Ontario’s rural economic development program, will make up the rest of $880,000 budget that will see Monforte return to cheesemaking on May 17 in a spiffy new production facility in Stratford.
Ruth Klahsen shows a flock of her supporters the new production facility taking shape in Stratford. Cheesemaking restarts on May 17.
“But it isn’t government that we have to thank for all this,” Ruth told her supporters during a tour of the the plant this afternooon. “It is you, the people who support Monforte, who made all this possible. Without you, we wouldn’t have got a penny from anyone else.”
Cheddar hoops once used by now-closed Forfar Dairy will find new life at Monforte.
Certainly, the banks weren’t interested in getting involved. As a result, Monforte Dairy now only deals with Mennonite Savings and Credit Union, the only financial institution to show support when Monforte Renaissance 2010 was started.
The hootenanny turned out to be more of a feast than a folk-music party—which is a good thing . . . when you have some of the leading chefs in Ontario showing up to cook for your guests. Take two pigs and five lambs, organize the chefs into two teams, and the result is sure to be outstanding. Here’s the who’s who:
Team Lamb: Joshna Maharaj, Anthony Davis of The Roosevelt Room, John Lee of Chippy’s, Marc Breton of The Gladstone, Jason Inniss of Amuse Bouche, Johan Maes of Petite Dejeuner, and Scott Vivian of Wine Bar/Hank’s.
Team Pork: Daniel DeMatteis, Steffan Howard of Palais Royale, Tyler Cunningham of Mildred Temple, Mark Cutrara of Cowbell, Martha Wright of Frank@AGO, Olivia Bolano of All The Best Fine Foods, and Chris Sanderson of The Drake.
Ontario wines, local beer and apple cider complemented the fine fare the chefs produced.
On the drive home, more than one guest likely reflected on truths that had become apparent during the afternoon:
Georgs Kolesnikovs is Cheese-Head-in-Chief at CheeseLover.ca.
Talk about being open to the public! This video camera in the make room at Monforte broadcasts 24/7 on the Web. Go to <http://webcam.monfortedairy.com>. The username is guest. No password required.
Petra Cooper (left) and Jean McCormack among the Holsteins at Quinte Crest Farm.
Only 20 months after Fifth Town Artisan Cheese first began producing cheese, Petra Cooper, founder and president, isn’t resting on the laurels of critical acclaim that greeted her goat and sheep cheeses. Since late December, cow’s milk is also being turned into cheese at the Prince Edward County creamery—with the first offerings going on sale in May.
Quinte Crest Tomme is the new cheese crafted by Stephanie Diamant, Fifth Town’s master cheesemaker. It will be somewhat similar to Lighthall Tomme, Fifth Town’s award-winning goat cheese. (Click here to learn what makes a tomme a tomme.)
Quinte Crest Tomme takes its name from Quinte Crest Farm—just a few minutes northwest of Fifth Town—where grass is turned into milk by a herd of 30 happy Holsteins under the care of Jean McCormack, one of Ontario’s few female dairy farmers. Jean and Petra are near neighbours as the farm is just a few minutes northwest of the creamery.
Quinte Crest is a single-herd cheese that is aged for three to six months in the underground cave at Fifth Town under the care of affineur Phil Collman (who happens to be married to the cheesemaker).
Not content with just one cow’s-milk cheese, Petra has her team at Fifth Town developing a second. It will be called Rose Haus. Ten percent of net sales will be donated to Rose House Museum which chronicles life in North Marysburgh (originally known as Fifth Town) from the 19th century to the present.
Rose Haus, once approved by government agencies, and Quinte Crest Tomme will initially be sold from Fifth Town’s store at the creamery 15 minutes beyond Picton in Prince Edward County.
Fifth Town Artisan Cheese Company bills itself as a “contemporary, environmentally and socially responsible enterprise positioned as a niche producer of fine handmade goat and sheep milk cheese.”
All of Fifth Town’s goat cheeses are made with Prince Edward County milk that is Local Food Plus certified. The cheeses are aged by time honoured artisanal methods in Ontario’s only subterranean aging facility. Fifth Town is a Platinum LEED certified dairy and won the Premier’s Award for Agri-Food Innovation in May 2009. Fifth Town opened in June 2008 as a federally licensed dairy. Currently, it employs 14 people and buys milk from three local, family-owned goat farms and three local, family-owned sheep farms. More than 80 percent of the milk processed by Fifth Town is goat milk.
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.
