Montreal food and gifts: what to buy, where to buy it

Regional Dining Discussions Quebec, Maritimes, Prairies
12

Cheese

History

I hear you from here: “Its normal that Quebec has such a good selection of cheese given their french heritage!”

Not quite.

Our french heritage has little to do with our modern french offerings. It will help bring in french speaking european in the 1980’s, 90’s and later to give us their influence but had little to do with shaping our historic landscape where it comes to cheese.

From what I understand, cheese consumption under french rule was segmented by social status. Those with enough money would import cheese from europe while the rest would produce their own simple cheese , called a “Paillasson” (a mat in english). Farmers with a milk surplus would make their cheese on a reed mat, thus the name. Paillasson production would disappear with time, apparently ending in the 1970’s but a recent entrepreneur has brought the recipe back recently. It is a very young artisanal cheese with few complexities:

see http://www.fromagesdeliledorleans.com/

Quebec’s first big love affair with cheese wasn’t with french cheese. It was with english cheddar. The first boom came in the 1890’s with the foundation of the Perron cheese factory. Perron cheddar is still available in most supermarket and is the oldest quebec cheesemaker still in operation. It would eventually become the official provider of cheddar to the british crown for almost a century. The manager of this cheese factory is still in the family and the original factory was transformed in the museum of cheddar in the 90’s.

see http://www.fromagerieperron.com/eng/accueil.shtm
http://www.ourcheeses.com/directory/cheddar-perron/

Quebec even started their own dairy school in 1892 in saint-hyacinthe (the school closed by the city is still home with one of the biggest agrocultural school in quebec). Cheddar was such a big thing that Canada provinded up to 60% of England’s cheddar consumption in 1897.

The monastery in Oka would produce their eponymous cheese starting in 1893. It is a semi-soft washed rind cheese that can still be found in most supermarkets in Quebec. The trappist monk sold the license in 1996 to commercial cheese giant Agropur but it is still the same cheese made with the same method. The Oka, with Perron, is one of Quebec’s earliest cheese and was apparently influenced by a breton cheese called Port Salut.

http://www.ourcheeses.com/directory/oka-classique

The next oldest Quebec cheese still available is l’Ermite from Fromagerie de Saint-Benoit du Lac. Produced since 1943, this blue cheese is still made by the benedictine monks and available in most supermarkets.

http://www.ourcheeses.com/directory/ermite/

Quebec has tried to produce Camembert and Feta in 1910 but it didn’t stick because the demand wasn’t there.

Here, cheddar was king. The production was so large in some years that cheddar producers had to take their excess production, cut it up in chunks and salt it to be sold in small plastic bags for individual consumption. That product became known as “cheese curds” and was very popular, being sold in greasy spoons and corner stores all over Quebec.

Of course, one of those greasy spoons had a client who wanted to mix these curds with fries and sauce and thus was born our dish known as “poutine”.

I don’t think anybody knows where cheese curds originated. Poutine has been known to originate from Le Roy Jucep in Drummondville (see http://www.jucep.com/accueil ) so that might be Fromagerie Lemaire in the same city ( http://www.fromagerie-lemaire.ca/index.html ). Victoriaville also has a claim on the origin of poutine so Fromagerie Victoria might be it (see: http://fromagerievictoria.com/index.php ). Maybe it was Fromagerie Saint-Laurent that dates from 1930? (see http://fromageriest-laurent.com/ ). I haven’t been able to find out either!

Want to find fresh cheese curds in Quebec? Just look for cheddar producers! Most of them will sell their excess (or “make” excess cheddar, as cheese curds as so popular nows) in bulk at the factory.

I don’t know of any factory in Montreal though. You’ll have to take your car and visit the regions outside the big city to get at the source. Here are some producers of fresh cheese curds I know of:

And I’m stopping here because there are too many. Quebec has a ton of cheese producers! Just make a search when you are visiting a region and you are bound to find one. The only thing is that they are near cows and there are no cows on the island of Montreal. :stuck_out_tongue:

Few knows about it outside quebec but the humble cheese curd has a cousin named “Tortillon” or “Twist”. It is the same cheddar base as cheese curds but it is brined a lot more so its way saltier. It is less known because there are no iconic dishes made with it but you can still find “Tortillon” near cheese curds at cornerstores and supermarkets all over the country. It was probably developed at the same time as cheese curds, so around 1950-1960.

See: http://www.kingsey.com/tortillon_en.html

When I was young, in the 1980’s, the american mozarella (the solid brick few italians would recognise as such), cheddar, pamesan in a box (remember this? https://i.ytimg.com/vi/KLtq_bRFImE/hqdefault.jpg) and the swiss knight fondue brick was king (see http://demandware.edgesuite.net/aabg_prd/on/demandware.static/-/Sites-CATALOG_Zabars/default/dw034dd3b2/images/max_5GE1003.jpg ). “Fancy french” cheese were Camembert and Brie. Cheese culture was still pretty basic and similar to what was found in the rest of north america.

Little did we know that the second “golden age” of Quebec cheese was under preparation.

Our modern trend of artisanal cheese is tied to the arrival of Fritz Kaiser, a canadian of swiss descent and master cheesemaker who began crafting his cheese in 1981 (see http://www.kaisercheese.com/ ) . He began with adapting a swiss classic, “raclette cheese”, a swiss traditional cheese designed to melt. His most famous cheese is probably “Le Douanier” (see: http://www.ourcheeses.com/directory/le-douanier/ )

With time and effort, with the help of tv and press, the local Quebec artisanal cheese scene became bigger and bigger. The 90’s saw a great leap forward in the availability and consumption of local Quebec artisanal cheese.

The 2000’s saw most special occasions among friends and family featuring a cheese course with local discoveries. The tradition is so anchored in my family that they think they always did it even though I remember it is a fairly new thing.

This tradition had its challenges, however. Cheese producers had to fight against a Canadian government law that wanted to ban raw milk cheese production in 1996… with success. Quebec cheese production represent roughly 60% of Canada’s volume but recently negociated a free trade agreement with Europe opening a larger door to european cheese to the Canadian market. Quebec cheese does not benefit from the same subsidies that European producers benefit so they are often more expensive. The trade agreement is still being ratified and some artisanal cheese producers say they probably won’t survive the onslaught of cheap european cheese.

Quebec has a quota system to regulate milk prices and the price for milk in Canada is more expensive than in the USA or France. Even with their own cows, producers of milk has to “sell virtually” its milk to the milk producers federation and “buy it back” at market prices. The laws of Quebec surrounding cheese production is also way stricter than in France so that occurs additional costs. Some producers had problems developing and experimenting with their own herds of cow since everything had to be regimented with the same rules as milk producers. The inspectors from the province of Quebec (the MAPAQ) are ruthless and target the local producers fiercely.

The first shock an immigrant from France experience in Quebec is the price of cheese and wine. Cheese in France is cheap and prevalent (being subsidised by the government helps). The cost of the same product in Quebec is way higher. Locally produced cheese don’t even have the advantage of price… without the same support of the government, the additional cost of milk and the administrative cost of having everything in stainless steel (as opposed to, say, a rocky basement deep in a French province), Quebec produced cheese are usually more expensive than their French variants.

That doesn’t stop Quebec residents from asking for Quebec products by name when making their purchase decision. That demand, still strong after all the waves the producers had to submit themselves to, is the basis of our local productions. Quebecquers are proud of their cheese and support their industry. They are greatly paid back by having access to a varied selection.

Artisanal cheesemaking in Quebec is a new frontier. The government might be doing its level best to annoy or bancrupt producers but the market is wide open to new discoveries. French artisans are often hidebound by tradition and often feel caught by chains of their own making. The same artisans will often mention that the Quebec scene is a breath of fresh air were numerous influences mix and meld without constraint. You are from a French school of production and you want to include elements from swiss and english traditions? No problem! Go right ahead! If the result is good we’ll buy it!

What to buy

There are a number of website featuring Quebec cheese. My favorite is fromage du quebec which focus the artisanal producers ( http://fromagesduquebec.qc.ca/en/home/ ) but this one has a larger selection from industrial origins: ( http://www.ourcheeses.com/ ).

The best way to discover new cheeses is to follow the Caseus prize rewarding the best cheeses in Quebec each year. The Caseus selection has been founded in 1999 and gives numerous prizes. For our domestic market the caseus nomination probably gives our local cheese the best visibility.

Here is a short list of all the cheeses that won either special mentions or gold, silver and bronze medals since the foundation of the prize (see http://www.caseus.ca/documents/Caseus1999_2014.pdf for the whole list). It looks like a long list but it is only a short sample! I indicated some cheeses which switched names and did not list those who disappeared from the market. When available I will include a review from a website I enjoy reading (its a blog)

Where to find it?

As you might guess, there are a number of cheese shops in Montreal!

Here are a few I like:

  • Supermarkets : our supermarkets (IGA, Metro, Loblaws) seem to have a larger selection of Quebec products each year. Don’t forget them! You might not find speciality products but don’t hesitate to go and see if you are near one, you might be surprised!
  • Fromagerie Atwater : Gilles Jourdenais from Fromagerie Atwater is one of the few cheesemongers described as a “cheese somelier”. Fromagerie Atwater is located in the Atwater market and is considered as one of the more expensive but people there know their stuff. http://www.fromagerieatwater.ca/
  • Fromagerie Hamel: Also known as “the other fromagerie at the Marché Atwater”, Hamel is also located at Marché Jean-Talon and a bit everywhere in Montreal. They have a very nice selection. http://www.fromageriehamel.com/boutiques/
  • Fromagerie Copette The little cheesemonger that could! Located outside the markets in Verdun and less expensive to boot they offer friendly service and are my favorite underdog cheese shop. http://www.fromageriecopette.com/
  • Le marché des saveurs I almost never go to Marché Jean-Talon so I cannot speak much about this institution. I do know it by reputation and expect them to have a nice selection. http://www.lemarchedessaveurs.com/fr/index.php
  • Qui lait cru Another cheesemonger at the Marché Jean-Talon. I know little about it. https://www.facebook.com/quilaitcru
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