Inspired by her goat farming protégée and playing off popular TV series “Bewitched”, my cheesey pick this week, Maggie Paradis’ La Sorcière Bien Aimée, was born to add a brie type to the wonderful variety of other goat, cow and sheep’s milk cheeses produced by Fromagerie Les Folies Bergères. Not one to compromise quality or consistency, Maggie’s cheese must always be good or she won’t make it – pure and simple.

Handmade from whole natural milk, La Sorcière Bien Aimée has a good, clean goaty flavour with a hint of sweet grass and no bitterness, ammonia or aftertaste, even if a little overripe.   The paste is thick, smooth, creamy and silky, wild with mushroom aromas and a salty finish.  Specific cultures and a cheesemaker’s patience and care give these excellent results — not rushing is crucial. I love Maggie’s cheeky attitude as she describes the aging of La Sorcière… “the cheese pouts at first, then it will cry, becoming a weepy mess…”.  My sentiments exactly, only they’re tears of joy in this case.  Try it at my Taste of Quebec tutored tasting June 3 during The Great Canadian Cheese Festival in Prince Edward County.  www.cheesefestival.ca

FACTBOX:
Cheese:  La Sorcière Bien Aimée
Producer:  Fromagerie Les Folies Bergères
Interesting Fact:  Quebec cheeses can be sold in Ontario only if the cheesemaker is federally registered.

 Enjoy! – Vanessa

My cheese pick this week, Monforte Dairy’s Black Sheep, is tribute to all those who march to the beat of their own drummer, are often the odd man (or woman out) among others, or venture down the cheesy road less travelled. Ruth Klahsen, one such individual and a self-taught cheesemaker, understands artisan, and believes strongly in not rushing cheeses as they develop, “crafting cheese with care, and a commitment to excellence.” A healthy dose of patience, deep love of her craft (and each & every one of her cheeses, like her three sons), drives her cheese prowess.

Black Sheep Cheese is a soft, surface-ripened sheep’s milk cheese shaped like a pyramid with the top sliced off, inspired by France’s Valencay. Handmade, when young, it sports a vegetable ash coating dark as midnight. With age, a snow white bloomy rind develops, adding mild piquant flavors and protecting the creamy, rich, milky, earthy goodness inside. Now available at The Piggy Market, Black Sheep stands out from the crowd. Catch this, more Canadian top cheeses, and my Taste of Quebec tutored tasting at the Great Canadian Cheese Festival June 1-4, 2012 in Prince Edward County.

FACTBOX:
Cheese: Black Sheep
Producer: Monforte Dairy
Interesting Fact: Ash coating on a cheese is tasteless, protects the paste, promotes mold growth and balances out the acidity.

Enjoy! – Vanessa

One of my earliest & fondest cheese tasting memories is my cheese pick this week, Bonnechere, from local Back Forty Artisan Cheese, hailing from Ottawa Valley’s own Lanark Highlands.  I was a young, unripened cheese enthusiast when I discovered Back Forty cheeses years ago, made from raw sheep’s milk & hand-crafted in the kitchen of owner Jim Keith.  This special find is named after the rugged Bonnechere River & mysterious cave landmarks of our region.

Bonnechere is one-of- a-kind artisan cheese.  It’s a semi-firm, double pressed and unique both inside and out.  A beautiful, chestnut patterned toasted rind covers the interior smooth ivory paste.  Hand torching gives Bonnechere smoky aromas and a very distinct caramel flavor.  As it ages, these characteristics amplify the tangy, sweet, and fruity body of the cheese.  Sour milk lingers with a slight amount of acidity. Produced in very small quantities with seasonal milk, it’s a hot commodity.  If you see this cheese, don’t blink, don’t hesitate, snap it up immediately.  I suggest The Piggy Market or Serious Cheese as a starting point.  Make these cheesemongers your best friend and you’ll never miss out.

FACTBOX:
Cheese:  Bonnechere
Producer:  Back Forty Artisan Cheese
Interesting Fact:  Pressing a cheese expels more whey and gives the paste a firm, dense texture.

Enjoy! – Vanessa

My cheese pick this week is less than two years old debuting as the first cow’s milk cheese from leading “green” Prince Edward County cheesemaker, Fifth Town Artisan Cheese Co.  Fashioned after stinky German Limburger cheese, award-winning Rose Haus – is named for Rose House (see the label) – one of Ontario’s oldest museums, mere minutes away.  Like your favorite uncle, you can take it anywhere and be guaranteed a good time.

Hand crafted, this single note, semi-firm, washed-rind, cow’s milk cheese is made with the milk of a small herd of Holstein cows from local Quinte Crest Farm.  Rose Haus has a firm, creamy, buttery ivory yellow paste, apricot- to-gold colored rind, and rich mild milky, earthy and mushroomy flavors.  When ripe the paste softens, becoming oozy and aromas intensify.  On special occasions Rose Haus gets a washed with local beer, which adds an extra flavor profile, and amplifies the yeasty characteristics of this cheese.  I highly recommend waiting for an extra week or two before enjoying (or buy two wheels if you can’t wait) for the full flavors to develop.  You’ll thank me for it.

FACTBOX:
Cheese: Rose Haus
Producer: Fifth Town Artisan Cheese Co.
Interesting Fact: Rose Haus is rind washed in The Grange of Prince Edward County’s barrel fermented Chardonnay which adds a toasty layer to the cheese’s character.

 Enjoy! – Vanessa

My cheese pick this week is the mighty Le Migneron de Charlevoix, one of Quebec’s original artisan cheeses, produced in partnership with Laiterie Charlevoix, and industry pioneer, Maison d’Affinage Maurice Dufour, of Baie-Saint-Paul.  Migneron is unique in that the cheese is made at the dairy, and then ripened in Dufour’s caves at another site, following European traditions of “affinage”, where some would say the true artistry of cheesemaking lies.

There’s a lot going on with this semi-firm, washed-rind, cow’s milk cheese. Le Migneron, with its sunny disposition, shines orange/tangerine/apricot hues from the thin rind outside of a soft, bone colored center.  Aromas and flavors are just as pleasant: mild and milky, lightly buttery, with a little bit of nut and cream all wrapped into a nice long unexpected finish that has you reaching for the next nibble before you know it.  I’m not surprised, that a decade after being crowned “the big cheese” or 2002 Grand Champion at the Canadian Cheese Grand Prix, Migneron remains a favorite in the hearts (and stomachs) of local caseophiles (cheese lovers), including mine.

FACTBOX:
Cheese: Le Migneron de Charlevoix
Producer: Maison d’Affinage Maurice Dufour
Interesting Fact: Washed rind cheeses age or ripen from the outside in, and the inside out, contributing to both the complexity of the aging process as well as the flavors and aromas of the cheese itself.

 
Enjoy! – Vanessa

February can be a ho hum time of year and so my cheese pick this week – Lemon Fetish - is the perfect curd choice to beat off the blahs and replace them with a little bit of zing and zest.  Hailing from Prince Edward County, Ontario, Fifth Town Artisan Cheese Co.’s littlest cheese family member is one of over 20 varieties of sheep, goat and cow milk cheeses.

A pretty package, Lemon Fetish is an unripened, feta-style sheep’s milk cheese, made from Local Food Plus milk producers, and shaped in small, round wheels weighing in at only 100 grams, but delivering a huge impression.  Rolled in Red Fife wheat and lemon zest, the paste (inside of the cheese) has a dry, crumbly texture.  Enjoy citrus and sour cream notes, and fresh, clean, tangy and salty flavors.  A little goes a long way thinly sliced over mixed greens, to garnish a gourmet vegetable quiche or anywhere you would use traditional feta cheese.

FACTBOX:
Cheese:  Lemon Fetish
Producer:  Fifth Town Artisan Cheese Co.
Interesting Fact: The Red Fife Wheat used to coat the cheese was invented by David Fife – operator of the first experimental farm in Canada.

Enjoy! – Vanessa

As the temperature falls, I prefer cozy evenings indoors, crackling fires, big spicy red wines & slow cooked comfort food.  And to go with them is this week’s cheese pick, the perfect cold weather curd, Bleu D’Élizabeth.  Produced by family run Fromagerie du Presbytère, in the central region of Québec, it’s named for the small, recently-restored rectory that houses the cheese factory in the village of Sainte-Elizabeth-de-Warwick. 

This beautiful, semi-soft, raw organic cow’s milk blue cheese has a natural rind with spots of dark clay.  The creamy, silky, melt-in-your mouth paste (inside of the cheese) is speckled with blue and blue-green veins throughout from the presence of Pénicillium Roqueforti (what makes a blue cheese turn blue).  Bleu D’Élizabeth is rich in flavor, with a hint of sweetness and spice, without being overbearingly salty.  Cold Canadian nights call for this hearty blue on your cheese board, either shining on its own, or playing a starring role as your dessert plate, joined by your favorite local ice wine, iced cider or port.

FACTBOX:
Cheese:  Bleu D’Élizabeth
Producer:  Fromagerie du Presbytère
Interesting Fact: The piquant (spicy) flavor in blue cheese is a result of mold development (veins) due to exposure to air.

Enjoy! – Vanessa

This week’s pick is a cheesy collaboration between two famed Ontario producers in Prince Edward County.  Premium Goat Milk Cheddar is the perfect marriage of fresh 100% pure County goat milk courtesy of Fifth Town Artisan Cheese Co., and the over 100 years of cheddar making know how contributed by Black River Cheese Company, the region’s longest surviving factory.  An interesting contrast to cow milk cheddar, it has won multiple awards since the first batch in early 2009, for the mild, one year, and flavored varieties at the American Cheese Society Competition and Royal Winter Fair, among others.

When young, enjoy fresh milk and a hint of fruit, characteristic of traditional cheddar.  The surprise comes with age—an unexpected burst of tangy zing, milky, sharp, complex, concentrated fruit sweetness, and a hint of caramel, coupled with the tiny crunch of tyrosine crystals (an indication of quality and age in cheese).  Consider yourself lucky to find the smoked variety (a breakfast cheese fave as I love the bacon-like flavor that occurs from the local applewood chips used in smoking).

FACTBOX:
Cheese: Premium Goat Milk Cheddar
Producer:  Fifth Town Artisan Cheese Co., Black River Cheese Company
Interesting Fact:  It takes approximately 10 pounds of milk to produce 1 pound of cheddar cheese.

 Enjoy! – Vanessa

As heard on CBC’s In Town And Out with Michael Bhardwaj, Savvy Company’s cheese sommelier, Vanessa Simmons, featured her selections of for your holiday cheese platter entitled “Cheesins Greetings”.

On a beautiful wooden tray for that unique group of guests, feature a diverse selections of artisan cheeses so that every person discovers a new favourite cheese. (If they love the cheese, it also buys you as the host extra time to get dinner on the table in peace!)

Here’s her suggestions on which cheese to serve…

- your best friends: Beemster XO (try Serious Cheese – Kanata)
– your slightly annoying neighbors: Soft cheeses, small wheels – Fifth Town Nettles Gone Wild, Lost Lake, or Fromagerie Les Folies Bergeres Jupon Frivole
– their teenage EMO son: one or two year old cheddar (try Balderson, most grocery stores), Le Silo (Jacobson’s) or Black River Maple Cheddar (available at Metro)
– single, desperate, coworker: a Triple creme (best local – Madawaska of Back Forty Cheeses from The Piggy Market, or Serious Cheese), La Liberte, or event St. Honore, or St. Andre (Costco)
– husbands hanging in the corner: Firm, earthy natural rind or washed rind cheese (Anything from Canreg Station – Byward Market), or Fifth Town’s Wishing Tree or Bonnie & Floyd
- mother in law:  A big, beautiful blue cheese.  Consider local Highland Blue (The Piggy Market), Quebec Bleu D’Elizabeth, or milder Celtic Blue (Farm Boy, Ottawa Bagelshop, Thyme & Again Creative Catering)
– Santa:  Fresh cheese curds:  La Trappe A Fromage Curds (Costco), Fraiche de St. Sixte (The Piggy Market)

And don’t forget, for the person on your list who has everything, or are very hard to buy for, try a Savvy Gift Certificate for one of our upcoming artisan cheese events in 2012.

Enjoy! – Vanessa

With a week until Christmas to go, my cheese pick this week, Madawaska, is the perfect gift for the hardcore cheese lover on your list.  Back Forty Artisan cheeses are all made from raw sheep’s milk & hand-crafted in the kitchen of owner James Keith who refers to cheesemaking as “magic alchemy”.  Find his cheeses at select gourmet deli & fine food shops in Ottawa while they last (Murray Market, Serious Cheese or The Piggy Market).  Don’t forget a small slice for Santa to guarantee an extra checkmark beside your name on the “nice” list this year.

Madawaska is a little slice of heaven.  Rich and luxurious, it reminds of a dense, beautiful piece of cheesecake in both appearance & texture.  The triple cream of sheep’s milk cheeses, Madawaska is a semi-soft, surface-ripened raw ewe’s milk cheese.  With its thick, white, almost crust-like bloomy (fuzzy) rind, and creamy, dense, slightly open paste you’ll find mushroomy aromas and full, sweet, tangy, milky flavors linger nibble after nibble.

FACTBOX:
Cheese:  Madawaska
Producer:  Back Forty Artisan Cheese
Interesting Fact:  Triple cream cheeses are soft-surface ripened cheeses that have cream added, giving them a longer shelf life, more solid texture, and higher fat content.

 
Enjoy! – Vanessa