I've Got The Blues

This past April, I wrote about a beautiful Swiss-style cheese called "Mont St. Benoit" which is produced by the monks at the Abbaye de Saint-Benoit-du-lac located in the Eastern Townships of Québec.  I thought that with the upcoming Blues Festival in Kitchener (August 5th - 8th), I would write about another of the great cheeses that come from the Abbaye - Bleu Bénédictin.  This is one of two blue cheeses that come from the Abbaye, the other being Ermite.  The difference between the two comes from the length of time that the cheese is allowed to mature in the ripening room,.  Ermite has a ripening time of 5 weeks at which time the natural rind is washed off whereas Bénédictin is allowed to mature for 5 months and the natural mould rind is kept on the cheese. 

It is perhaps helpful to understand the process that is used to make blue cheese in order to better appreciate the differences in the end product.  Blue cheese is really a form of controlled spoilage.  Early in the cheese making process, the cheese maker introduces the "Penicillium Roqueforti" spores into the milk.  Once the cheese has been formed, long, thin needles are inserted into the cheese allowing air to enter the cheese through the tunnels that are created.  The result is the growth of the familiar mould  or veining.  The mould breaks down the fats and proteins in the cheese and the longer that this process is allowed to occur, the more intense the flavour that develops and the smoother the texture of the cheese becomes.  Blue cheese because of the tunnelling, ages from the inside out, the opposite of say for example, a cheddar which ages from the outside in.

As we would expect from this understanding of the cheese making process, Bénédictin has a more pronounced flavour and a smoother, creamier texture than its younger sibling, Ermite.  In 2006, Bénédictin won the Canadian Grand Prix and is in stock at "C'est Cheese Please!" $4.85 per 100g.   Enjoy this beautiful cheese with a soupcon of Cidre Glace, also from Québec.   Cidre Glace is the fabulous Iced Cider from Pinnacle and is the perfect accompaniment to blue cheese especially a blue cheese from La Belle Province.  I guarantee it will have you singing the blues, the blue cheese blues!

Bon Appétit!

Is Cheese Art?

"...nature is still a mystery, you never see it whole.  It's like me, always slipping away."  Jean-Paul Riopelle 1923-2002

Beginning as he described himself as a "Sunday Painter", Riopelle developed into one of our national treasurers, an absract painter who used large varieties of different coloured paint applied thickly to the canvas with a trowel.  In the years from 1942-45, he became part of a group in Paris known as the "Automatistes" known for their spontaneous method of painting.  In his later life, he divided his time between two homes in Québec, one of which was in  Isles-aux-Grues, a little island in the St. Lawrence east of Québec City.  This little island is only 4.5 miles long and 1.5 miles wide and boasts a population of 120 people!  From this tiny island comes this fabulous cheese named for an equally fabulous artist.  Riopelle, the cheese, is a raw milk triple cream with a bloomy rind.  It melts in your mouth leaving behind tastes of hazelnut and mushroom with a buttery paste.  In 2004, Riopelle won the Canadian Cheese Grand Prix, a testament to the dedication of the cheesemaker to produce a cheese worthy of the Riopelle name.  When asked to give his name to this outstanding cheese, Jean Paul Riopelle made a few conditions.  Firstly, that the cheese be of the highest quality and that $1 from each wheel of cheese sold go towards a fund to help educate the young people of the Isles-aux-Grues.  He also provided the original painting which graces the outside of the wheel.  He died in March of 2002 without having tasted his namesake cheese.

Is cheese art?  In the case of Riopelle, the answer is " Mais Oui!"

Bon Appetit!

The King of Cheeses

"...but for the odor which is felt in the back of the mouth, the sensation of taste would be but obtuse and imperfect"     Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin 1755-1826.                  

Époisse de Bourgogne, named for the village in Cote-d'Or where it is made in France, is one of those quintessential French cheeses whose presence on the cheeseboard makes itself known long before one sets eyes upon it.  Yes, it smells, but as is often said "Get over it!" because once you do, you will discover a cheese that beneath its reddy-orange rind is decadently creamy.  Spoon it onto a hearty bread or for a really French approach, serve it as the dessert course with raisin bread and toast to life with a glass of Burgundy wine "Santé"!

Époisse is made in a very complicated process, the cows must have grazed on the grasses in the meadows of Burgundy for 3 months.  Once the cheese is formed, it undergoes a complicated series of washes with salt water, rain water and finally Marc de Bourgogne (a local spirit) two or three times a week until it is ready.  It is an AOC protected cheese which means that all the time-honoured preparations must be followed in order to be called "Époisse".  This was a favorite cheese of Napoleon and Brillat-Savarin (the original "foodie" of the 1700's whose book "Physiologie du Gout", 1825 set the stage for the appreciation of the meal.  He is remembered for his famous quote "Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you what you are.")  And it can be a favorite of your's too as it is in stock at "C'est Cheese Please!"

There are a lot of new and old favorites that are here waiting for the chance to thrill you.  Cendrillon, the 2009 World Champion from Québec, Cendré du Lune (Triple Cream with an ash coating), Paillot de Chèvre, Comté along many other goodies are here in the display cases.  And be sure to print off the coupon that was in last week's edition for $2 off your purchase of $15 or more - good until July 31st!

Bon Appetit!