Québec Archives | Cheese Atlas

La Madelaine

Cheese Atlas — Sat, 23 May 2020 02:03:16 +0000

She is quite the treat!

Madelaine is a soft oozy sheep’s milk cheese made by Fromagerie Nouvelle France in Québec, Canada.

In 2009, bother and sister Jean-Paul and Marie-Chantal Houde decided to launch into a new project. Together, they built a small dairy on their family property, annexed to their family farm.

Over the years, Jean-Paul had amassed a wealth of farming experience. As for Marie-Chantal, she took her experience as a cheesemaker in France and started working on how to best transform the farm’s amazing milk into cheese.

A spectacular first

In May 2010, they released their first cheese. Actually, the semi-hard Zacharie Cloutier would go on to win many awards in the region.

Since then, they have added more cheeses to their range, including our featured La Madelaine. For this cheese, Marie-Chantal uses pasteurised sheep’s milk from their farm. After adding culture and rennet, she shapes the curds into a square mould. At 2 months, this lovely cheese has a fluffy white mould rind.

On the nose, this farmhouse cheese has a strong barnyard aroma and its ivory pâte oozes spectacularly at room temperature. When ripe, it has an earthy flavour with notes of dry hay.

How to pair La Madelaine

Pair your Madelaine with a dark cherry paste on a cheese board or spread it on a warm Montréal-style bagel and enjoy with grapes. Wash it all down with a sparkling Cider.

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La Bête à Séguin

Cheese Atlas — Sat, 23 May 2020 01:39:02 +0000

As wild as its name suggests

La Bête à Séguin is a soft washed rind made by Fromagerie de l’Isle in Québec, Canada. Effectively, its name translates to Séguin’s Beast and it is fitting! Bold, wild and genuine, it is just like the artist whose name it bears, Marc Séguin.

Some 75 km outside of Québec City, this historic fromagerie lies on the small island of Île-aux-Grues. Actually, its location near the banks of the Saint Lawrence River has made it one of the most significant cheese makers in Canada.

Expertly matured

Furthermore, the cheesemakers have been using local milk since 1977 to hand-make some of the world’s best artisanal cheeses. Currently, their range includes Riopelle de l’Isle, Canotier de l’Isle and Tomme de Grosse-Île. More recently, they have added this wild washed rind, La-Bête-À-Séguin.

After collecting fresh milk from local farms, the cheesemaker adds culture and rennet to form the curd. Next, they pour the curd into the cheese moulds and mature the wheels for a minimum of 60 days. During this time, it develops a bloomy white rind and an intense wild yeasty aroma with barnyard notes.

When ripe, its texture is seductively oozy at room temperature and it has a velvety mouthfeel. Overall, its strong flavour is savoury and meaty.

How to pair La Bête à Séguin

Enjoy this robust soft cheese with a local fennel sausage and an aromatic Riesling.

The post La Bête à Séguin appeared first on Cheese Atlas.

Bleu d’Elizabeth

Cheese Atlas — Fri, 01 May 2020 23:26:18 +0000

Canada’s finest blue?

Bleu d’Elizabeth is a blue cheese made by Fromagerie Presbytère in Québec, Canada.

Its story begins with the Louis d’Or farm in the sleepy little village of Sainte-Elizabeth-de-Warwick. Operated by the Morin family, the farm is home to a herd of Holstein and Jersey cows.

In 2005, the family decided to expand their operations and start making cheese. In order to do so, they purchased the old presbytery across the road and turned it into a cheese factory.

Inspired by Bleu d’Auvergne

Fast forward to now and their range of artisanal cheeses includes the semi-hard Louis d’Or and Bleu d’Elizabeth. To make this blue, a small team of artisan cheesemakers use a recipe inspired by Bleu d’Auvergne.

Moreover, they thermalise the milk from their cows before adding Penicillium roqueforti. Afterwards, the affineurs mature the wheels for a minimum of 60 days.

This process allows the formation of a thin natural rind and a spectacular marbling of greenish-blue veins throughout the pâte. Finally, they wrap the wheels in foil so as to preserve the internal moisture levels.

Ultimately, the finished product has a moderate blue mould aroma and a buttery mouthfeel. Besides, its flavour is savoury with hazelnut notes near the rind.

How to pair Bleu d’Elizabeth

The ideal pair for this robust blue is a fortified cider. Truly celebrate the local terroir by enjoying it with the local specialty, an ice cider.

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Adoray

Cheese Atlas — Wed, 29 Apr 2020 02:08:53 +0000

There are few pleasures in life that stack up to spooning the soft, oozy insides out of a spruce bark wrapped cheese. And, Canada’s Adoray is about as good as they get!

Established by Alain Boyer

Adoray is a surface-ripened soft washed rind cheese made by Fromagerie Montebello in Canada.

Initially, Alain Boyer established Fromagerie Montebello in the Outaouais region of Québec, Canada in 2011. Drawing from his vast cheesemaking experience, he started making artisanal cheeses using local milk.

A soft oozy centre

Adoray is one of the more recent additions to their range. This cutesy small format cheese is made with pasteurised cow’s milk and wrapped in spruce bark. Moreover, the bark allows the soft oozy centre to keep its shape. In addition to this, the spruce also implements a woody character to the cheese.

Matured for 21 days, it develops a light orange rind that is mottled with bloomy white mould. It smells like a damp forest floor and is buttery, spicy and meaty on the palate.

Indeed, the name Adoray is a tribute to head cheesemaker Alain Boyer’s grandfather ADOrice and father RAYmond. Alain drew his inspiration for the cheese from the passion and dedication of the two men.

How to serve Adoray

You will want to enjoy this masterpiece at or even beyond its “best before date“. Leave it at room temperature for at least an hour and either enjoy with a spoon or spread on a warm crusty baguette.

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