Some women like shopping for shoes,
some for clothes… I like shopping for cheese. Any time. Any place. (Although
don’t get my wrong, I still love my shoes and clothes.)
Before I walk you through my
favourite fromageries in the area (French for “cheese shops”), we should get
acquainted with the basics.
There are
three primary types of milk that cheese is made from: sheep, goat and cow. Rich
sheep’s milk has the most fat and
protein of the three and often has hints of sweetness and nuttiness. Goat’s milk is pure white, low in
lactose and easily digested. It is naturally homogenized, thus, making it
smoother. Cow’s milk has the most
carotene and is the most commonly used of the three to produce cheese.
There are
also three types of rinds; bloomy, washed and natural. Bloomy Rind is sprayed with an edible mold (camemberti, glaucum or penicillium candidum for example), creating
a cloudy white coating called a “bloom”. P.
Camemberti, another type of mold, is responsible for the classic fuzzy-rind
cheese called Camembert (which looks like Brie). Washed Rind is washed with wine, beer, a salty
solution or brine and bacteria. Think “stinky cheese”. The aroma is stronger
and the flavour of the cheese is usually saltier. This is because of the brine
and alcohol. This damp process produces a bacteria called B. linens that gives these cheeses their flavor complexities (and
the rinds their orangey, pink or reddish hues). Example: Epoisses. Natural Rind: Many cheeses are coated
with natural, holey rinds, simply hardened by contact with air. These include
the blues, most goat cheeses and cow’s milk cheeses. Examples: Asiago and
Parmigiano-Reggiano.
Next, is the difference between pasteurized
vs. unpasteurized milk. Pasteurized milk is heated for a certain period of time
and then cooled immediately – slowly the microbial growth in it. Unpasteurized
milk is raw milk. In North America, cheese made with unpasteurized milk must be
aged for 60 days before being eaten. After that time frame, the acids and salts
in raw-milk cheese naturally prevent listeria,
salmonella, and E. coli from growing.
Other Definitons:
Aged cheese:
The process of waiting 6+ months before eating the cheese. Aging typically
causes cheeses to develop a sharper, stronger flavor. (ie. aged = strong taste,
young = mild taste).
Artisinal:
Cheese made by hand (little to no machines) via the skilled craftsmanship of a
cheesemaker. The cheeses are usually more complex in taste and ripened to
achieve a certain visual look. Look out for some local options featured in this
article.
Carotene:
An orangey photosynthetic pigment important for photosynthesis (responsible for
colour in carrots or yellow colour in cow’s cheese).
Homogenized milk:
Milk with the fat particles broken up and dispersed uniformly so the cream will
not rise.
Where To Get Your
Cheese On:
Cheese Magic
- 182 Baldwin Street, Toronto (Kensington)
Although small, this place
does make magic. It has reasonable
prices and the staff is quite friendly. They recommended a few of their specialty
cheeses to try. Paillot de chevre (Quebec) goat cheese was my favourite - only
$3.99/100g. It uses straws for support around the outside as it can be easily
crumbled over a dish.
My recommendations:
-Comte (France)
is made from raw cow’s milk, aged for 18 months, and tastes a bit like a Swiss
cheese ($5.99/100g).
-St. Benoit Ermite
Bleu (Quebec) is a blue cheese made from cow’s milk. It’s made at the only
cheese dairy in North America that’s run by Benedictine monks
($4.49/100g).
-Beemster (Holland)
is regarded as the signature Dutch cheese of The Netherlands made with
artisanal techniques. It’s semi-firm, made from pasteurized
cow’s milk, with a sweet flavour and caramel colour ($4.99/100g). If
you’d like it to be extra-aged or made from goat’s milk, it’s a dollar more.
Note: Cheese Magic also features specialty
jams like Bonne Maman if you’re feeling fruity!
Global Cheese
- 76 Kensington Avenue, Toronto
When you first approach, you’ll be
(visually) smacked with signs that advertise their daily discounted cheese.
Hence, it can be a bit overwhelming to choose. During their peak time of year
(November – January) they have 400+ options, featuring cheese from South
America, Europe, North America and the Middle East.
My recommendations:
-Epoisses
(France) is very creamy and liquidy, made from unpasteurized cow’s milk with a
washed rind ($12.99/250 chunk).
-Bleu des Causses
(France) is a blue cheese made from cow’s milk – nicknamed “blue for beginners”
because of its mild taste. It’s aged for 3–6 months in Gorges du Tarn's natural
limestone caves ($20/kilo).
-A Brul (Nova
Scotia) is artisanal, unpasteurized raw sheep’s milk from our eastern shores.
It’s solid, aged, hard and sharp-tasting ($5.40/100g).
Leslieville Cheese
Market West - 541 Queen Street West, Toronto
(The original one is on Queen East and there’s one up north
in Flesherton, Ontario, too)
Along with offering a variety of
cheeses, this place creates delicious homemade dips, salsa, hummus and
tapenades in their own production kitchen. 40 varieties! My personal favourite
was the sundried tomato dip. You’ve got to try it.
In September, if you feel like going back to school for a
day – you can take a $30 wine & cheese or beer & cheese class with
Julia Rogers. In the winter, they also feature a whisky & cheese class.
My recommendations:
-Patte Blanche
(Quebec) is a rarity – it’s hard to find a firm goat’s cheese. It’s also
artisanal! With a slightly sweet after-taste, and similarities in texture to
Gouda, it’s definitely worth $4/100g.
-Delice de Bourgogne
(France) has a strong pungent aroma and tastes a bit salty. It’s made from
cow’s milk in the Burgundy region of France - very soft and creamy because
cream is added twice to the milk during the production process. Tip: try using
this cheese instead of butter while making mashed potatoes ($6.36/100g).
-1608 (Quebec) is
a semi-firm, sweet, washed rind cheese. It uses milk from resilient Canadienne
cattle, whose ancestors were brought to Canada from France between 1608 and
1670. These cows, now endangered, produce milk that is almost floral in taste.
This artisanal cheese works well with pastas or with fruit and honey
($5.99/100g).
About Cheese
- 483 Church St., Toronto
This is my go-to
place, and as such, it holds a warm spot in my heart. I lived just south of
this area for four years when I attended Ryerson University. I remember the
first time I went in: I had an entirely free afternoon and ended up spending 3+
hours in here, sampling everything in the store. The young guys that work here
(ya ya, I know what you’re thinking) are personable, knowledgeable and are
eager to show you their favourites.
My
recommendations:
-Evanturel (North Bay) is an artisanal
cheese – with a bloomy rind. It has a striking streak of vegetable ash running
through the middle. The ash creates an earthy tone to this cheese’s beautifully
rich, creamy, supple and mild finish. It’d be nice with a Chardonnay ($7/100g)
-Grey Owl
(Quebec) has a smoky-coloured vegetable ash and mold rind. This creamy artisanal
goat cheese has a chalky, peppery zip. Too strong to have alone with crackers;
I’d have it with some smoked salmon, too ($6.40/100g).
-Blue Haze
(Quebec) deserves its own category. This rockin’ artisanal blue cheese has a
smoky edge and soft insides. It’s made of pasteurized cow’s milk and smoked
with a harvest blend of applewood, cheerywood, plumwood and hickory (be careful
– sometimes the term “smoked” is used loosely, referring to a synthetic paste
instead of the actual process – but rest assured, About Cheese uses the real
deal) ($8/100g).
-
Provincial Smoke
(PEI) is a raw, artisanal, cow’s milk cheddar with a natural rind (created by
the smoking process). This sweet, tangy pungent cheese is caramel gold on the
exterior, in tones ranging from light to dark ($5.75/100g).
– Brie de Meaux
(France) is actually brie (note: it
has to be produced in Meaux to be considered real brie). This unpasteurized
cow’s milk has mushroomy, bold earthy tones and was the featured sale of the
day… bonus! ($7.53/100g)
Grande Cheese
Factory Outlet - 468 Jevlan Dr., Woodbridge, ON
Amongst my friends, I’m known as
the deal finder. This bargain-hunting force has lead me to Grande Cheese Factory Outlet. Talk
about deals. This place is like cheese heaven. With Italian music playing in
the background, you first walk through a selection of homemade thin-crust
pizza, then through an extensive olive/salad/antipasto bar, to eventually find yourself surrounded with rows and
rows of cheese.
My recommendations:
-Bocconcini (Italy)
is a small, semi-soft, white round ball of cheese that originated in Napoli.
It’s mild in taste and is made via a combination of buffalo and cow’s milk. The
spongy texture allows it to easily absorb flavours, too. This one’s made by
Grande Cheese, themselves! ($6.49/pound)
-Passiti (Italy) reminds
me of mozzarella but is a bit saltier and tastier. It comes in an odd shape,
but don’t let that deter you ($4 for $12 or $7.49/pound).
-Cacciocavallo
(Italy) is made of sheep or cow’s milk and tastes similar to provolone. It’s
firm in texture and has a hard, edible rind ($6.99/pound).
Across the street, you’ll find fresh, homemade pasta – from
stuffed tortellini to cannelloni – at Only Pasta Inc. And beside that, the
smells of warm baked bread ooze out of Cosenza Bakery. If shopping in this area
doesn’t make you hungry, I don’t know what will.
"You are the barracuda's favourite, girl."
Performing on stage has been fun; having a live audience and being the host on TV! I love when the audience laughs at something I say or claps when I'm trying to get them all amped up to cheer for someone.
