{"id":1778,"date":"2010-11-29T10:32:56","date_gmt":"2010-11-29T15:32:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cheeseloverca.wordpress.com\/?p=1778"},"modified":"2010-11-29T10:32:56","modified_gmt":"2010-11-29T15:32:56","slug":"discovering-quebec-cheese-one-wedge-at-a-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cheeselover.ca\/index.php\/2010\/11\/29\/discovering-quebec-cheese-one-wedge-at-a-time\/","title":{"rendered":"Discovering Quebec cheese one wedge at a time"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/strong><\/strong>
Vanessa Simmons passes her enthusiasm for cheese on to students at a Savvy Company tutored tasting.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It is hard to imagine someone with a greater enthusiasm for cheese and its appreciation than Vanessa Simmons<\/a>.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ve never met a cheese I didn\u2019t like,\u201d she insists, and I believe her. I met Vanessa on a Monday night in Ottawa as she led a cheese-tasting class presented by Savvy Company<\/a> titled the Great Canadian Cheese Discovery. Held at Thyme and Again Food Shop<\/a>, the class focused on Quebec artisan cheeses.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Vanessa is a Cordon Bleu-trained chef, whose passion for cheese first developed when she made her own feta during a cooking class. She says she was amazed that it seemed to take just \u201cmagic, faith and some TLC\u201d in order to produce a great-tasting cheese. She was hooked.<\/p>\n

Vanessa is now working toward her Cheese Education Guild<\/a> certificate with Canadian cheese maven and author Kathy Guidi<\/a>. Once a week, Vanessa leaves work early and drives five hours from Ottawa down Highway 401 in order to attend the cheese appreciation course in Toronto.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy brother jokes I either need a boyfriend or a dog, because I spend way too much time with cheese,\u201d Vanessa says with a laugh.<\/p>\n

But Vanessa\u2019s great enthusiasm for cheese makes for a tasting course that is both educational and inspired. She led her 18 guests through a selection of seven Quebec cheeses, all of which paired with two Ontario wines: Cattail Creek Chardonnay Musque<\/a> and Niagara Teaching College Winery Cabernet Sauvignon.<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>We began our sampling with Le Joupon Frivole<\/a> from Fromagerie Les Folie Bergeres<\/a> in St-Sixte, a soft, rich surfaced-ripened sheep\u2019s milk cheese.\u00a0 It was fresh tasting and had a thick texture, forming a paste that coated the mouth. The milk used for Le Jupon Frivole is thermalized, a process commonly used in Quebec. Unlike the high heat of pasteurization, thermalization uses lower heat over a longer period of time. It is therefore gentler on the milk, and helps maintain its original flavours.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Our second cheese of the evening was Foin D\u2019Odeur<\/a>, produced by La Moutonniere<\/a> in Sainte-Helene-de-Chester. When it was presented to us, this ripe cheese was melting all over the plate. \u00a0Foin D\u2019Odeur is a bloomy rind sheep\u2019s milk cheese. It had grassy, natural flavours, while the rind tasted mushroomy.<\/p>\n

Nearly every cheese we tasted that night was packaged in a beautiful, hand-designed label, as Vanessa pointed out to the group. The unique labelling reflects the grassroots nature of Quebec cheesemaking. The labels serve as an indication of where the cheeses comes from, and speak to the personal attention they receive from their makers.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Our next sample was a knockout little cheese, and one of my two favourites from the evening\u2019s selection. Le Pizy<\/a> from Fromagerie La Suisse Normandie<\/a> in Saint-Roch-de-L\u2019Achigan comes in a tiny wheel, but packs a rich, buttery taste with a bit of a tang. A winner at Quebec\u2019s Selection Caseus<\/a> awards this year, this cow\u2019s milk cheese is a standout.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Sein d\u2019Helene with cheesemaker Lucille Giroux.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We then moved to the most playful cheese of the evening, Sein d\u2019Helene<\/a> from La Moutonniere. Literally \u201cHelen\u2019s breast,\u201d this cheese is sold in a cone-shaped package, both to reflect its cheeky name and the mountainous region from where it hails. The cheese mixes sheep and cow\u2019s milk; it is a fresh, earthy tasting cheese with a bit of acidity.<\/p>\n

Our next selection was a goat\u2019s milk cheese from Fromagerie La Petite Heidi<\/a> in Saint-Rose-du-Nord called Tomme Le Rosee de Saguenay. The cheese presented barn aromas and had a sweet, tangy taste. It is dry and crumbly in texture with a yellow-coloured rind.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Next up was the second of my two favourites from the evening: Hercule de Charlevoix<\/a> from Laiterie Charlevoix<\/a> in Baie-St-Paul. The cheese is named for a legendary local figure, Jean-Baptiste Grenon, dubbed \u201cHercules of the North\u201d.\u00a0 According to local lore, when Grenon was captured by the English in the 1700s and hung, he fought so hard and so long, the English were so impressed they released him from the gallows. The cheese certainly exhibits some of that same strength with its powerful flavours. A thermalized cow\u2019s milk cheese, it tastes of earth and nuts, with a rind that tastes of chocolate.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Our final cheese of the evening was the only bleu on our plate: Bleu Moutonniere<\/a> from La Moutonniere dairy. \u00a0Vanessa has nicknamed this blue-veined sheep\u2019s milk cheese \u201cthe converter\u201d for its ability to change the minds of staunch anti-bleu cheese tasters. My neighbour at the table was one of these self-professed bleu haters, so I eagerly awaited her reaction to this cheese. \u00a0Bleu Moutonniere was a big performer at this summer\u2019s American Cheese Society awards<\/a>, claiming first prize in the \u201cblue-veined sheep\u2019s milk with rind\u201d category. The cheese is smooth and creamy, with bright coloured blue veins snaking throughout the wheel. It is salty and earthy, and quite inoffensive for a bleu cheese. Bleu Moutonniere managed to live up to its name at the table, as my neighbour declared \u201cthis is the only bleu cheese I\u2019ve ever been able to stomach!\u201d<\/p>\n

As the evening wound down, I finished up my wine, and mingled a bit with the crowd of satisfied cheese students. Finally, I made my way over to bid goodnight to Vanessa. Like a true cheese enthusiast, she was standing by the cheese table, making sure none of the evening\u2019s offerings went to waste.<\/p>\n

\u2014Phoebe Powell<\/em><\/p>\n

Phoebe Powell<\/a>, CheeseLover.ca\u2019s roving reporter, is currently based in Ottawa. Her last post was about pairing artisan cheese with craft beer<\/a>. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It is hard to imagine someone with a greater enthusiasm for cheese and its appreciation than Vanessa Simmons.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019ve never met a cheese I didn\u2019t like,\u201d she insists, and I believe her. I met Vanessa […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,46,92,161,174,175,177,181,227,233,246,252,263,265,367,390],"tags":[],"brand":[],"class_list":["post-1778","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-artisan-cheese-marketing","category-bleu-moutonniere","category-cheese-education","category-foin-dodeur","category-fromagerie-la-moutonniere","category-fromagerie-la-petite-heidi","category-fromagerie-la-suisse-normandie","category-fromagerie-les-folie-bergeres","category-kathy-guidi","category-lhercule-de-charlevoix","category-la-moutonniere","category-laiterie-charlevoix","category-le-joupon-frivole","category-le-pizy","category-sein-dhelene","category-tomme-le-rosee-de-saguenay"],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cheeselover.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1778","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cheeselover.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cheeselover.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cheeselover.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cheeselover.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1778"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cheeselover.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1778\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7038,"href":"https:\/\/cheeselover.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1778\/revisions\/7038"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cheeselover.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1778"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cheeselover.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1778"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cheeselover.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1778"},{"taxonomy":"brand","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cheeselover.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/brand?post=1778"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}