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Oprah Loves la Quercia!

If you need a celebrity endorsement before you try fabulous food - here is a good one: Oprah loves La Quercia Prosciutto! Here is her proclamation http://www.oprah.com/spirit/100-Things-That-Are-Getting-Better/2 Better yet, buy some from us or Cumbrae butchers, or McEwan and taste for yourself. It is not too salty, well developed meaty flavour and there is a nutty edge - Would you beleive that the pigs are fed acorns for the last three weeks of their lives? Try it for yourself - Oprah is right!

The Cheese of Toronto

Hot Cheese - Cheese for Frying

Have you ever had haloumi – that Middle Eastern cheese. If you haven’t you are in for a real surprise. The cheese in its raw state is firm and rubbery – there is no rind to speak of and, well it is pretty bland looking and tasting. Traditionally the cheese is sliced fairly thickly and pan fried. Frying must be next to godliness for this cheese because the transformation is remarkable. It brown a bit, gets a bit crusty, but the centre becomes soft and squeaky on the teeth like fresh curds. It is lovely on its own or served with couscous or grain salad or riveting in a salad.
The cheese originates from Cyprus but is commonly found today through the Middle East and Greece. Traditionally it is made with goat or sheep milk, although many examples found in North America are made from cow milk – it is cheaper and there is more cow milk here. Mint is often added to the cheese in a vein, although there are plain versions as well.
While it is not in production at the moment, Ruth Klahsen of Monforte Dairy has made a really good example of sheep milk haloumi , compete with mint vein – Ruth –we hope to see it again soon!
Guernsey Girl:
Here is a thread I was writing about earlier in the year. Dairy Farmers of Ontario has extra milk quota for cheese production of ethnic cheeses (there is no regular quota available for cow milk cheeses in Ontario at the moment) and they are looking for producers to create cheeses with this milk. Enter Upper Canada Cheese with extra Guernsey milk available and no extra quota to produce. Through this innovative ethnic cheese program they have produced a Guernsey cow milk haloumi – a one of a kind cheese, and it is a knock out!
Guernsey milk is incredibly thick and rich, very yellow and high in butterfat. Raw, the cheese is uninteresting and bland, but cut a thick slice – say a half inch and pan fry it or place it in your pannini machine and it changes its tune. The outside of the cheese really browns and gets crusty while the interior is smooth and soft and takes on the most incredible, rich hot butter flavour. Imaging a self contained grilled cheese sandwich with no bread and you are beginning to get the picture. This is a cheese that is begging for imaginative chefs and home cookers to create new uses – but I, a kitchen hack can easily see it making or being a base for incredible hors d’oeuvres, in salads, as a streamlined grilled cheese sandwich, or enjoyed just on its own.
This is a brand new cheese that is unique to Canada and is begging to become a new Canadian tradition. Perhaps one day people the world over will travel to Toronto and expect to try that wonderful local specialty Guernsey Girl ________! Available at http://www.aboutcheese.ca and your fine cheesemongers across Ontario.

Hot Cheese is Hot!

Posted by Andy on 01-08-2010

Has anybody noticed, or is it just me, that hot cheese is getting to be a hot topic here in Canada. Ok, raise your hands now, how many of you received a gift basket over the holidays with a “cheese baking dish” inside. I cannot tell you how many of them I saw in the gift basket catalogues that come stuffed inside of the newspaper in the weeks leading up to Christmas. Surely, as curious as it is, this is a sign of a wakening sense in Canadians that there is more to cheese than just eating it at room temperature or as fondue.

Now that it has been 10 below for the past five days and the cold is starting to permeate, the house and your bones, you naturally start to think of those very hearty foods that will warm from within, like stews and soup and you guessed it – hot cheese.

But what do we know about hot cheese? Well there is fondue – it can be lovely, but our parents generation figured out how much work it is (they all received at least 2 fondue sets as wedding gifts). First there is the grating and the cooking (you can buy one of those prepared pouches, but let’s face it – it is just not the same), the bread slicing and toasting, fiddling with the sterno – lots of fun dipping – and then there is cleaning the pot. Surely there must be other options! In fact there are quite a few.

As is often the case with cheese, we look to our European cousins and the food mavens, the Quebecers, for inspiration. On a quick survey there is Raclette, Haloumi style (like the brand new Guernsey Girl from Upper Canada), baked, fried, melted and the Quebec creation “fondue” (grated cheese, bound with cream and rolled in bread crumbs and then deep fried). Over the next few weeks let’s explore some of these.

Right now let's take a look at Raclette.

What could be easier and more delicious than a Raclette dinner party? Raclette is an action, a cheese and machine to serve the cheese. Raclette is a washed rind cheese from the Alps region of France and Switzerland and its name is derived from the scraping action used to serve it. It is one of my favourite cheeses cold, but it was not until a few years ago that I had my first hot Raclette experience that I learned how delicious it is hot.

I was in the mountain town of Annecy and went to restaurant Le Freti that specialized in Raclette. Not knowing what to do, I followed the two native men at the table next to me. Here is what happens. The Raclette machine is brought to the table and the cheese is mounted in it.

Next, the accompaniments arrive. Saucisson, pickled onions and cornichon, jambon de montagne (like prosciutto) and steamed baby potatoes. That is it. You start to heat the cheese and as it melts, you use a knife and scrape off the melted part and drop it on the accompaniments. Oh, it is so good. It is stinky, the flavour is sharp but woody and it is the perfect foil for the paired foods.

How to set it up? Really it is great because you set up the machine, the cheese, the charcuterie platter and boil potatoes and your guests serve themselves! – There is no stuck on mess to clean up later although you may want to air out your house. That is it!

How much to buy? The two gentlemen next to me in Annecy finished off a half wheel of cheese (about 1.5 kg) but I am thinking that is a bit heavy for North American sensibilities. I would suggest 200-250g per person.

What about the machine? There are two styles available. There is the traditional style like in the picture above or a more consumer friendly grill type version. The advantage of the grills is that they can cook other foods in addition to the cheese, making for a more balanced meal and perhaps being more inclusive to more varied diets. The cheese is sliced thinly and placed on the grill to heat. The grills are available in cooking equipment stores and cheese shops in the $80-$110 range. The Our Church Street shop is now renting both the traditional and grill style machines for $10/night or free when you purchase a half wheel of Raclette.

Charcuterie ideas? Fortunately for us, charcuterie is also hot and there are a burgeoning number of artisan charcuterie producers near the city. Be sure to ask at your local specialty deli or butcher. Interesting examples can be found at Cumbrae's butchers, Scheffler's, Petite Thuet and the Cheese Boutique, and About Cheese to name a few.

What about the cheese? There are plenty of French and Swiss Raclettes out there made from both pasteurized and raw milk. They are available in plain or with peppercorns inside for a bit of a bite. As you might have guessed, the Quebecers have long embraced the idea of Raclette and there are several very interesting Canadian raclettes available. Look for examples from Fromagerie Champetre, Fromagerie Fritz Kaiser and Fromage Côté.

Warm your nights this week with easy entertaining, friends, great foods and hot cheese!

-- Andy

Photos from kerolic, josh.lavoie, La Savoie Mont-Tremblant and mikeyworld2007 on Flickr

Originally published online for the Good Food Revolution website.

Nothing’s Better Than Cheddar

Posted by Kelsie on 01-07-2010

Cheddar is without a doubt, the most recognized Canadian cheese. Every fall, local cheesemakers submit their cheddar into competition at the Royal Winter Fair. This year’s grand champion winner was Mapledale. Their 5 and 7 year old cheddars are very popular at About Cheese.

But what is it that makes a cheese Cheddar? In Canada a cheese can be called Cheddar based on its moisture and milk fat content but a cheesemaking technique known as cheddaring gives cheddar it’s unique flavor and texture.

In October I spent 3 weeks in Vermont learning about making cheese. While working on a goat dairy I met a cheddar maker from a neighbouring dairy and she offered to teach me about it. I jumped at the opportunity and spent a day making unpasteurized cheddar at Neighbourly Farms. Neighborly Farms is a farmstead cheese facility that employs 2 full-time cheesemakers who make organic colby, cheddar, clothbound cheddar, monterey jack and feta.

A foggy morning in Brookfield, Vermont.

I meet Melissa and David on a foggy autumn morning at the dairy in Brookfield, Vermont. Melissa has already filled the cheese vat with milk so once I’m suited up in a hairnet, jacket and boots we get started by adding some mesophilic starter to the milk. The starter culture is a mix of lactic acid bacteria that love moderate temperatures and its perfect for making raw milk cheese. The starter culture plays two important roles – it develops the flavour of the cheese and increases the acidity.

Melissa adding the rennet.

Once the milk has reached the appropriate pH we diluted some liquid vegetarian rennet with water, poured it into the vat and thoroughly stirred it in. We then used our shovels to stop the milk from moving to insure that it coagulates properly. The milk then sits and in the mean time we assemble the box molds and line them with cheesecloth. After about 20min the milk has formed a ‘coagulum’ or ‘gel’ that has a consistency somewhere between pudding and jello. We reach in to the gel and attempt to make a clean break in it. Success! We can now move on to the next step.

Using the harp to slice.

I now use a harp to cut the gel into marshmallow like curds. A harp is a tool with evenly spaced metal blades that can vary in distance depending on the desired firmness of the final cheese. For a hard cheese like Parmigiano Reggiano, the gel is cut into lentil sized curds. These curds expel more whey than large curds (think large marshmallows) and result in harder cheese. Similarly, large curds contain more whey (moisture) than small curds and result in soft cheese.

It’s important to note that at this point these curds are different than what we know as cheddar curds. Once the curds are cut I continually stir them with a rake to make sure they don’t settle to the bottom and start to ‘knit’ together and form a solid mass of cheese. While I stir, the curds slowly expel whey, shrink in size and become firmer. When the curds reach the proper acidity level the whey is drained off.

Lesson learned: If you get a chance to make cheddar I recommend stretching before and after and eating a hearty breakfast.

Time to Cheddar

Curds are shoveled to the sides of the vat to allow more whey to drain / David flipping cheddar slabs

Now the cheddaring process begins! We shovel the curds to the sides of the vat and let them sit for 10 minutes. During this time the curds knit together and form a solid mass. Next we cut them into slabs, stack them and allow them to sit. The slabs are rearranged and stacked higher and higher every 10 minutes. This process helps drain whey and will give the final cheddar cheese its characteristic flavour and texture.

The ‘cheddaring’ process – stacking cheddar slabs to drain whey / Making cheddar curds

The slabs are then put through a milling machine to create French fry shaped cheddar curds. While Melissa mills the curds I continually shovel them to prevent them from knitting together again. Eventually we reach the final acidity level and salt is added to stop the cheese from acidifying further. The cheddar curds are now shoveled into box molds which are then pressed over night. Our hard work resulted in 840 lbs of cheddar!

Time to clean up

After a full day of cheddar making, we have to make sure every surface in the room is cleaned. We hose down and squeegee the floor, scrub the vats and wash every tool. I once heard that 90% of cheesemaking is actually cleaning. I have to say, I think that’s a pretty accurate figure. In terms of physical exercise, making cheddar is somewhat equal to shoveling two driveways after the heaviest snowfall of the year and then realizing that you have to clean every dish from Christmas dinner. I have so much respect for cheddar makers.

Lesson learned: If someone says “Hey, let’s have some fun and make some cheddar” be wary it may be a trick. Making cheddar is a tough job! I’ve never worked so hard before.

To learn about Ontario’s rich history of cheddar check out Heather Menzies’ By The Labour of Their Hands: The Story of Ontario Cheddar Cheese.

My day making cheddar has helped me understand how aptly named Menzies’ book is.

-- Kelsie

Photos by the author

The Vache Canadienne - Part of Our Heritage!

Posted by Daryl on 01-05-2010

Just like the Heritage Minutes we all love from the CBC (think: “Doctor, I smell toast burning!”), this hardy cow is a unique part of Canadian history and has played a very special part in the history of cheese making in Quebec.

The Vache Canadienne descended from cattle brought over to New France by settlers from Normandy and Brittany in the year 1608, as is referenced in the name of the amazing cheese from Laiterie Charlevoix Le 1608

Master cheesemaker Dominique Labbé accompanied by Fabienne Thibeault at Laiterie-Charlevoix, in Baie-St-Paul. Photo - Jean-Pierre Debarbat.

Through cross breeding of the original Norman and Breton stock, a melting pot scenario came about and the Vache Canadienne was born. The breed is identifiable by its smaller frame and redish black hide.

By 1850 the Vache Canadienne was the main dairy breed used in the province, and reached their peak at about 300,000 cows. But the Canadienne became threatened by the new breeds being introduced into Canada like the Brown Swiss, Holstein and Jersey.

Owner Cole Snell visiting Laiterie Charlevoix.

The numbers of Vache Canadienne started to decline from 1850 onwards. In 1886, a group of forward thinking farmers in Quebec recognized the value of the breed for their hardiness, adaptability and higher quality of milk (due to higher fat and protein counts). They created the “cattle breed herd book” – which brought about official recognition of the Canadienne as a breed and the development of specific breed standards.

When we fast forward to 2002, we find the Vache Canadienne in serious trouble. Though its’ merits are fully recognized by dairy farmers and cheese makers, there are just over 500 of these wonderful animals registered. That is equivalent to around a quarter of the number of wild pandas left.

Thankfully, in 1999 our cow was granted Heritage Status by the provincial government in Quebec. The Canadienne remains the only dairy breed today to have been developed on the North American continent. But even with its new protected status and given the fact that it produces better milk (and therefore better cheese!!), the Canadienne’s future is not guaranteed (Beta vs. VHS…. anyone??).

The only way to ensure our cow’s survival is to be active participants in it’s revival, and since most of us don’t have pastures to fill up with those red and black beauties, that means BUYING CHEESE!!!! Through good ol’ supply and demand, by buying amazing cheeses like Le 1608, Fleurmier de Charlevoix and Pied-de-Vent (the last one is only available in Quebec) you can help preserve the Vache Canadienne and a huge piece of our agricultural heritage... and they are also super cute.

Resources:

Quebec Heritage Newsletter, May-June 2006, page 16
Canadian Farm Animal Genetic Resources Foundation
Association de mise en valeur des bovins de race canadienne dans Charlevoix
(available in English and French)
Review of Le 1608 in the Globe & Mail by Sue Riedl

--Daryl

Photos from the Vache Canadienne website, Robert Benoit on Flickr, the Laiterie Charlevoix website, and Cole Snell