Hi everyone
Happy Victoria Day– sorry to repeat myself–but in case you meant to enter the draw or were suddenly free to head to Prince Edward County June 1-3 I thought I’d send out a quick, “last chance” reminder.
CLICK HERE–for more details, this will take you to the full contest post.
Thanks to everyone who has entered so far and I will draw the winner at some point tomorrow. I’m getting excited about the festival myself!
Sue
Filed under Cheese/Cheese Related, Travel and Food, Uncategorized
I’m very excited to be have two passes (courtesy of the The Great Canadian Cheese Festival) to give away for their Artisan Cheese and Fine Food Fair which takes place in Prince Edward County on June 2 and 3. This is the second annual event and numbers for the Food Fair will be capped each day so these are hot little tamales.
Monforte Dairy’s triple-cream Bliss and hand-churned butter will be available at the event.
If like me, the above cheese board is your perfect meal, you won’t want to miss the Food Fair where you will find over thirty artisanal and farmstead cheese makers from across Canada plus a dairy farm for the kids (I plan to leave my son in the care of a responsible–but fun-loving–goat), a food court and 80 exhibitors in total showcasing their wares.
These two tickets are worth $80 and with admission you get:
-10 tasting tickets
-a souvenir Festival cooler bag for cheese purchases (this is much better than a leather purse, trust me)
-free parking at the Crystal Palace where the event is being held
-and you can sit in on the All You Need is Cheese seminars being put on by Dairy Farmer’s of Canada (and taught by Deborah Levy who is fantastic and very knowledgeable)
Here is a link to FEATURED WINERIES, CRAFT BREWERS and ARTISAN FOODS.
Sandbanks Winery, PEC image from About.Com
And if you’ve never been to Prince Edward County, you really must try to see it. It is a perfect weekend away.
There is also a COOKS AND CURDS gala on the evening of June 2 which features Canadian chefs cooking with Canadian cheese, paired with local brews and wine. The first sitting is sold out but the second sitting is still open.
Information about getting tickets to everything (but obviously you’re going to win these) is available on the festival site as is accommodation information. See you there!
HOW TO WIN:
If you think you’d like to attend simply email me at thespread@globeandmail.com with the subject heading CHEESE FESTIVAL GIVEAWAY and I will do a draw next Tuesday, May 22 and mail you the tickets if you win.
Good luck and please spread the word, forward this, tell your friends to pass on information about this amazing event. Much appreciated.
Filed under Cheese/Cheese Related, Toast Posts, Travel and Food, Uncategorized
I had the pleasure of not only feasting on the above delicacy from Old West Ranch in Alberta, but I also had an amazing conversation with farmer and cheesemaker James Meservy. At the end of it I was convinced he should host his own radio show, the man is a natural story teller. But part of it is that he has an amazing story to tell.
You can read the piece in my article in today’s Globe and Mail, but I never have the space I wish I had to full tell a cheesemaker’s story…….so here’s a little bit about James, his wife Debbie and their journey to cheesemakerdom (they started off as beef farmers) which didn’t make it into the piece.
Patch the Water Buffalo, in the rain. Photo by James Meservy.
In 2003 “mad cow disease” had killed the beef industry and by 2007 the Meservy’s were selling off cattle to make bank payments (therefore cutting revenue at the same time). They had to do something drastic, “So naturally I thought, we’ll get water buffalo, isn’t that what everyone does?” says Mr. Meservy. He’d been fascinated with the animals since he discovered mozzarella was made from their milk during a childhood game of Trivial Pursuit and had already been researching the idea for a number of years. The couple encountered many stumbling blocks—from difficulty sourcing the water buffalos and once acquired, losing precious animals to illness. When he finally saw his big, spunky beasts for the first time, Mr. Meservy only half-jokes that his stomach sank “ I thought, I’m going to get killed, I can’t survive that.”
With no formal training other than a home cheese book and a half-day spent at a Vermont mozzarella plant he made his first batch of cheese in March 2010. Popping 10 balls of mozzarella into a jar he started canvassing Calgary restaurants. The response was overwhelmingly positive, his mozzarella is now on the menu at the renowned River Café (among others) and sold at Janice Beaton Fine Cheese.
James’ (and his family’s) perseverence seems like it could move mountains. Perhaps typical of many agricultural families. His cheese is pretty amazing. James says he’s not trying to replicate the Italian version, he’s doing his own thing. His goal was to create a more robust expression of the flavours normally found in buffalo mozarella and I think he really succeeded.
Take the lid off one of the containers of his cheese and just the wonderful, fresh, milky aroma will convert you.
Contact James Meservy at farm@oldwestranch.ca
Filed under Cheese/Cheese Related, Toast Posts, Travel and Food
Memories. Since it is the weekend and time for languid, lazy breakfasts, I was remembering the cheese and coffee pairings I did awhile back.
And how the chevre and black coffee was a brilliant match. So I thought I would repost the reminder. Buy some chevre and make a really good cup of coffee (or hell, buy that too) then sit back and watch someone else slave over the waffles and bacon. And make sure they promise to do their own breakfast dishes.
And if you’ve promised someone breakfast in bed just add fresh fruit to the menu and you will be the best ever bed chum in as much time as it takes you to grind coffee beans and wash strawberries.
Have a good one!
PS–I just remembered this Ginger Melon salad (see bottom of post) that would step up the chevre/coffee thing and would totally earn you foot massage (at least in this house).
American Farmstead Cheese on Lower East Side window- by Tad Seaborn
Rather than repeat myself less eloquently in regards to my cheese-a-thon in NYC, I thought I would post a link to today’s Travel Section in the Globe and Mail where I write about chasing the cheese (thanks Julie!) in New York. If you would like some ideas on where to go, or just want to get your mouth watering please take a look.
If you have the paper, then you will see the above picture (which truly sums it all up) and some other beauties, plus a map of Manhattan showing all the cheese stops I made. Enjoy! I certainly did.
Purchasing snacks at Saxelby Cheese, Essex Street market.
I only had enough change for a skinny piece!
Wine and cheese in the same package. Perfectly portable and legal for the underage too. I didn’t know that the award-winning Merlot Bella Vitano ( from Sartori cheese in Wisconsin) was gettable up in these parts.
But I went to the new Leslieville Cheese on Donlands and there it was. It’s referred to as a cheddar-parm hybrid in some reviews and does have the creamy quality and acidity of cheddar mixed with the savoury, sweet crunch of the Reggiano. In this one you also get a bit of that fermented grape tang.
I asked the cheese monger to write the other flavours on my cheese package/notepad–it also comes washed in raspberry ale, balsamic vinegar and rubbed with espresso. If you like the coffee-cheese idea you can also get the delicious lavender/espresso rubbed Barely Buzzed from Sobeys. Or you can read about my coffee and cheese pairing experience here.
Have a fantastic weekend!
Filed under Cheese/Cheese Related, Toast Posts, Uncategorized
Sometimes we fall in love with a food, eat it endlessly and then forget about it for months (or years like my Supernatural Brownie recipe). That is what I felt like when I bought a wedge of Tomme de Savoie recently. In fact I thought, really, I forgot about this? I mean look at this guy–he couldn’t be more photogenic. And more pokeable than the Pillsbury Dough Boy. The paste is so rich and unctuous that it holds promise of creamy fullness making it impossible not to touch.
The word “Tomme” refers to small to medium-sized alpine-style cheeses from France and usually the region’s name is attached (Savoie in this case). The word Tomme is used also used a bit more freely to describe a smaller style of cheese which is good for ageing, has a rustic rind and a semi-soft interior. These “other” Tommes can be found in Canada (such as Tomme de Grosse Île and Tomme Haut Richelieu). Originally a Tomme would be made from the milk of several different herds, not just from one farm, but always from animals that grazed in the same region. (Thank you Steven Jenkins and Max McCalman for this last bit of information.) I also have read that these smaller “Tommes” originated to use the the skim-milk left over from bigger, richer cheeses like Beaufort.
In case you wanted to get closer. And kiss it.
Tomme de Savoie is a raw, cow’s milk cheese (bask in its beautiful colour) and it has a thick, rustic inedible rind. I can just picture this cheese in my pocket when cross-country skiing or in my hand at the kitchen counter while I procrastinate from cross-country skiing. You’ll get flavours from the pastures the cows’ grazed in, a slight herbaceous, grassy quality with nutty milky notes and a beefy mouth feel to match its earthy, pungency.
AND, because you will want to eat a tonne of it (or a tomme of it! drum roll pls) , since it is still traditionally made with skim-milk it actually a lower-fat cheese (with high-fat flavour).
Filed under Cheese/Cheese Related, Toast Posts
Today I wrote a piece in the Globe about a spread called Fromage Fort. Without repeating myself (as you can simply read the actual piece), I thought I would expand a little on the recipe that is in the Globe and tell you the specific cheeses that I blended to make two versions of the spread as I was testing it.
This makes such a fabulous grilled cheese or quick meal just broiled on baguette that I almost had to stop myself from eating it twice a day (I didn’t stop myself though, that would be wrong).
And my cheese drawer is suddenly SO spacious. I feel some cheese shopping coming on….
Yep, 5 or 6 of these and contentment is yours.
TRIAL 1:
The first trial was made of actual leftover cheese in my fridge. I used:
2 oz Stilton (blue)
3 oz Pierre Robert (soft, triple creme)
2 oz Garottxa (hard)
2 oz asiago (firm)
handful parsley
1 clove garlic
1/4 cup white wine
lots of fresh ground pepper
So, just about an even ratio of everything though I threw is some extra Pierre Robert that was leftover on the cutting board. (Why did I not just eat it? Oh the willpower I possess.)
Then I just buzzed it for 30-60 seconds in the food processor til completely combined and it was done.
TRIAL 2
Same wine, pepper, herbs and garlic, I went out and bought specific bits of cheese for this one:
2 oz Abondance (firm)
2 oz old cheddar (firm)
2 oz Munster (soft, washed rind)
3 oz Brie (soft)
This version was quite strong (though the blue in the first batch really spoke out) but it was a little more pungent due to the Munster.
But again–I find when melted the flavours mellow out a bit (not if you ask my husband about the Munster version though!)
TA-DAAAAA!!!!!!
I know I am going on about this, but it is truly some of the easiest and most rewarding “cooking” I have done. And it all has to do with cleaning out the fridge. Two birds…lots of cheese bits.
Filed under All Recipes, Cheese/Cheese Related, Toast Posts
There’s always too much good cheese and not enough space in my Globe column to include it all so I’ve listed a few other cheesy ideas below (with advice from our local cheese mongers in Toronto, Edmonton and Vancouver).
SOBEYS (Ontario)
Fiscalini Ageing Rooms (photo from Fiscalinicheese.com)
Fiscalini, Clothbound Cheddar:
Andy Shay, the cheese buyer at Sobeys has just brought this California cheese into stores within the last week. Made in traditional English style, this cheddar is a world-class award winner (including “outstanding Cheese of the Year”). I’ve been looking forward to this one like, well, like a kid at Christmas. (Also ask for it at Les Amis du Fromage in Vancouver)
Juliet Harbutt’s Line of British Cheese:
(For a detailed list of the whole line see my post on British Cheese)
Specially picked for best quality (and also keeping in mind being stored at a larger retailer) all these cheeses are fairly hardy and can be left out for an afternoon of nibbling. The Stilton is made by Cropwell Bishop who make some of the most outstanding examples of this product.
A TASTE OF QUEBEC (Toronto)
Pied De Vent (photo from fromagesduquebec.qc.ca)
Located in the beautiful Distillery District the store carries only Quebec products. Aside from amazing cheese you can get Quebec honey, charcuterie, preserves and lots of other easy to prepare nibbles. Suzanne at the store recommended the following:
The name of this cheese refers to the sun’s rays peeking through the clouds. It has a copper-coloured rind and buttercup yellow paste. Until recently, Pied de Vent was only available in Quebec. This luscious cheese has a supple paste with a full, meaty aroma. The flavours are buttery, robust and nutty. A great after-dinner cheese all by itself. (Also at Loblaws Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto, and Les Amis de Fromage, Vancouver)
A hard pressed cheese aged more than 6 months with salty and fruity flavours. Made by the producers of Pied-de-Vent and also raw milk.
Chaource (photo from aritisinalcheese.com)
The scoop from Tania and Lydia at this great new (just over a year old) cheese shop in Edmonton is the following:
This decadent double-creme is made in France’s Champagne region and is the perfect pairing for your bubbly.
Gingha Fruit Cheese
This “Scottish Pear” is made with a mix of Scottish cheddar, cream cheese and pear Schnapps. It is formed in the shape of a pear and covered in wax. (See how easy it is to eat more fruit?)
They also carry Shropshire Blue and classics like Epoisses, Valencay (so gorgeous on a cheese board), and Robiola (Heaven is a gooey Robiola).
LES AMIS DU FROMAGE (Vancouver)
Cropwell-Bishop Stilton
Allison at Les Amis was kind enough to stop and email me some ideas in between the holiday rush. I’m putting my money on the Ported Stilton– apparently it’s going very fast!
Ported Stilton
The right way to marry your port and Stilton–have a professional do it. “We pierce the outside of the Stilton and pour Port into the wheel, we start at the beginning of November and give it at least 6 weeks,” says Allison.
Goat Cheeses
They have lots of fabulous little goat cheese with fresh ash, Espelette peppers, aged pyramids, logs buttons, leaf-wrapped and soaked in Marc.
(these types of goat cheese are so lovely they must be seen to be appreciated, go immediately)
Mountain Cheeses
My favourite cheese category–they’ve got lots reports Allison, including Abondance from Savoie and Le Marechal from Switzerland.
BLUE CHEESE
Blue Juliette (photo from Provincial Fine Foods)
Today’s column, The Spread was based around Stilton and Roquefort and blues in general. It was quite a struggle to whittle down, and here are a few other blues that you might consider (amongst dozens! I know!)
Blue Juliette, pasteurized goat, BC
This soft, creamy, shadow of a blue is made from goat milk and hails from Salt Spring Island, BC. There ‘s no oxygen allowed into the interior of this soft-ripened cheese so the mold only develops in a lace-like blue/green pattern on the rind. Beautiful on a cheese board and only mildly feisty.
Montbriac (also known as Roche Baron), pasteurized cow, France
If Cambozola’s been your blue cheese compromise, ditch it for a sexy French ally. A brie-like bloomy rind cheese that gets silky and runny when ripe, its exterior is a striking charcoal colour due to the ash covered rind. Blue mold is minimal but creates a rich, tangy flavour with a hint of spice.
Erborinato al Cacao e Rum, raw cow, Italy
Tis the season of pampering, and if you’re hoping to indulge your guests look no further than this Erborinato from Italy’s Piedmonte region. This blue is Infused with 8-yr old rum and coated in cocoa powder. A hard-to-get cheese with an appropriate price tag, it’s currently available at Toronto’s Cheese Boutique.
That’s a half-wheel of Stilton (producer is Cropwell-Bishop) staring you straight in the face. And holding it is Juliet Harbutt, British cheese guru and knower of all things cheese-related. (There, I think I’ve deftly summed up Juliet’s dense full page resume of achievements). Juliet, among many other things, started the British Cheese Awards in 1994 to help recognise excellence in British cheese. She was in town last week (at The Cookbook Store) promoting a selection of British cheeses in Canada.
The entire selection consists of sixteen traditional cheese that have been consistent medal award winners at the British Cheese Awards. Only about 30% of 900 entries each year garner a medal and 22 “rise to the top” says Juliet. Sobey’s is carrying six of her sixteen choices exclusively at their stores. (There is a bonus 7th cheese on the plate below)
So shall we get on with our tasting?
Starting at NOON (with the vibrant orange Red Leicester and moving clockwise)
1. Red Leicester
This was interesting for me. I love Red Leicester and usually only buy the farmhouse clothbound version. Tasting it next to the larger scale industrial version, there is no comparison. But Juliet introduced us to this younger non-clothbound version which is made at a big creamery, but using artisinal methods. It is made by The Pembrokeshire Cheese Company, a farmer’s cooperative in West Wales.
This wedge was younger than what I was used to but still had the savory-sweetness that intensifies as it ages. Beautiful on a cheeseboard and easier to slice for a snack (or sandwich) when it is softer and younger.
2. Creamy Lancashire
Have you ever had a cheese and thought it was so-so and thus never tried it again? (bad–don’t ever do that. Give Cheese a Chance) I did that with Lancashire. I had a crumbly, drier wedge one time and gave up. This has me converted. It’s buttery, tangy and richly mouth-coating. Made with a loose curd, you can see the delineations where they been pressed together to form the cheese. I mention Lancashire in my Globeholiday cheese column ….(PLUG!) Juliet described the Lancashire as having a “raw onion tang”
3. Double Gloucester
Hailing from Lancashire England, the producer of this Double Gloucester is Butler’s Farmhouse Cheese. It is made using traditional methods in open vats, cloth bound and matured for up to 8 months. There is a slight hint of orange-pink to the paste as it is coloured with annato (a natural colouring from a South American seed also used in orange cheddar and the Red Leiscester). Dense, nutty and firm textured.
Pale Orange Double Gloucester
4. Oak Smoked Lyburn Farms
Loved this one. The smoke is subtle and delicate. It’s naturally flavoured over oak chips and the milk comes from the cheesemaker’s own farm. The cheeses has a caramel coloured rind and will win you over if you’ve been turned off by over-smoked fellows that leave a campfire in your mouth.
5. Wyfe of Bath
This was the “bonus” cheese and is not available at Sobey’s. Wyfe of Bath is a creamy, buttery cheese made from organic milk and molded in cloth-lined baskets.. Juliet’s identified a “rubber boot aroma” (that sharp, pleasant new-ness).
6. Special Reserve Shropshire Blue
The bright orange blue cheese on the upper left of the plate is the Shropshire Blue. Made at Cropwell Bishop (as is the Stilton) it’s based on the Stilton recipe but was actually created in Inverness, Scotland in 1970. Annato gives it its colour. Peaks at 3 months. Not as strong as Stilton you still get buttery, cocoa notes and a real punch of colour on the cheese board.
Half-Stilton
7. Special Reserve Stilton
Only five producers make Stilton. Cropwell Bishop is one of them and the family has been making Stilton for over three generations. Milk suppliers are hand-picked to ensure the quality of this famous cheese. Also peaking at 3 months, this 13 week old piece was buttery, spicy with a dark cocoa flavour on the finish. You can see the beautiful, and typical “shattered porcelain” veining in the piece Julia is holding at the top. Stilton is a dense cheese so the blue veining spreads in a finer, spidery pattern than seen in a looser blue like Roquefort.
Finally, if you’re looking for a great reference book of the cheese sort, The World Cheese Book edited by Juliet is great. You can just have it sit by the bedside and nightly flip through pictures and well-written, succinct information about the world’s major cheeses.
Then you will hop out of bed for a midnight snack.
Filed under Cheese/Cheese Related, Ruminations on the Edible, Toast Posts
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