Ontario Archives | Cheese Atlas

Celtic Blue

Cheese Atlas — Sun, 03 May 2020 07:54:47 +0000

Not your standard blue

Celtic Blue is a mild blue cheese made by Glengarry Fine Cheese in Ontario.

In the early 1990’s, Margaret Peters-Morris established this small dairy on her family farm. Situated on the shores of the St Lawrence River, their land provides quality hay, grass and grains for their herd of Holstein cows.

Across the road from the pastures, she built the small cheesemaking facility where the milk is delivered daily.

A Dutch heritage

Since Margaret is of Dutch heritage, she chose to make Gouda-style cheeses. Inspired by her family’s love of all cheeses, she soon expanded their range to include soft and blue cheeses.

Effectively, Celtic Blue was one such addition. Once the cheesemaker has pasteurised the day’s milk, they add in cultures and rennet to form the curd. Afterwards, they move the formed cheese into their purpose-built European designed maturation rooms. Overall, the wheels of blue cheese will spend up to 3 months in this facility.

At this age, the cheese develops a gorgeous limestone coloured rind around its delicate cream pâte. Moreover, the occasional greenish-blue vein adorns the otherwise pristine pâte. On the palate, this cheese is buttery and mildly savoury and blue. Because of this, it is a great gateway blue cheese for the uninitiated.

How to pair Celtic Blue

Enjoy this spectacular Canadian blue with a tart pear and some honeycomb dipped in dark chocolate. Wash it all down with a crisp Cider.

The post Celtic Blue appeared first on Cheese Atlas.

5 Brothers

Cheese Atlas — Wed, 29 Apr 2020 01:39:51 +0000

Best of both worlds

5 Brothers is a hard cheese made by Gunn’s Hill Artisan Cheese in Oxford Country, Ontario. Locals have long considered Oxford County to be the dairy capital of Canada. Hence, the Ysselstein family chose this area to establish their dairy farm.

Shep Ysselstein is a third generation dairy farmer. After spending his childhood on the farm, he moved away for university and travelled the world. His travels presented him with opportunities to study cheesemaking in the USA and Switzerland.

Even though each experience was invaluable, it was in the Swiss Alps that he truly fell in love with cheesemaking.

Inspired by Swiss recipes

When he returned home, he decided to add an artisanal cheesemaking facility to the farm. Unsurprisingly, he chose to make cheeses that are inspired by Swiss recipes.

Moreover, the recipe for 5 Brothers is part Appenzeller and part Gouda. Without doubt, it captures the best of both worlds. They mature wheels of formed cheese on cedar planks for a minimum of 8 months. During this maturation period, the cheesemaker regularly turns and washes the wheels.

At 8 months, they develop a buttery texture with tiny eyes and the occasional crunchy tyrosine crystal. Furthermore, the rind has a sweet grassy aroma and a subtle earthiness. On the palate, one will detect playfully sweet and nutty notes.

How to pair 5 Brothers

This Swiss-Dutch hybrid will pair beautifully with a Chardonnay or a Pilsner.

The post 5 Brothers appeared first on Cheese Atlas.