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At the end of April, Joe and I went to Montréal to attend SIAL.
SIAL is a large food show that occurs every two years in Canada, and alternates between Toronto and Montréal. This year, they hosted the second edition of a Cheesemonger Competition.
Well, you might ask, what is a Cheesemonger Competition? You need to cut some cheese if you work in a cheese boutique, right? Well, there is quite a bit more to it. As well as needing some serious muscles to lift and cut through heavy and hard cheeses, you need to be able to answer questions about the cheeses in your case and know how to care for all of them. The larger the selection of cheese you have, the more details you need to remember about each one. It's exercise for your body and your brain!
At the SIAL competition, the six finalists had four categories to prepare for and a panel of seven cheese professionals to judge their entries.
They had to build a cheese 'board' or display themed "Cultural Mosaic of Canada". They were given a list of styles of cheese that had to be present, including five raw milk cheeses, and at least five goat cheeses, as well as five AOP-designated cheeses.
They had to give an oral presentation on one Canadian cheese of their choice and speak about it for three minutes to the panel of judges.
They had a cutting challenge as well. They were given a whole wheel of Sylvan Star Gouda from Alberta, and they had 5 minutes to cut 4 pieces weighing 250 grams each. Of course they had no scales to check their cuts against, so they had to trust their gut and their experience to know if they were close. They could make as many cuts as they liked until they were happy with 4 pieces that they then submitted to the judges to weigh.
The last section of the competition was a multiple-choice questionnaire. They were given twenty questions about Canadian cheese and European cheeses that are commonly available in Canada, and they had twenty minutes to complete the quiz.
During the live competition held in the midst of the food show, the six contestants were building their boards while show attendees milled around them. I was one of the gawkers. All the displays looked fabulous, and they were all very different. Each monger's style and vision came through so clearly.
Although I appreciated all the finalists' work, Joe and I were cheering for Stacy Lee-Scott, our local BC finalist. Stacy has Wedge Cheesery in Vernon.
She did an amazing job with her display. All of the items were chosen with care and purpose. The room was very warm, and there was a lot of pressure on everyone, but she kept her composure and made it seem like just another day at her store. Her finished display (in the picture) was absolutely beautiful.
Competing is a whole different beast than just practicing your craft at work. Just like Chefs, some love to compete and some would never consider it. This group of finalists was focused and inspired and was a joy to watch. Watch out, here come winning Canadian Cheesemongers!
In the end, after all four components of the contest were completed, Anne Gavreau-Sybille from Anne et Frères in Montréal was the champion. She has a great little boutique in the Villeray neighbourhood with her brother.
The Cheesemonger competition was definitely one of the high points for me on this trip to Montréal. What a pleasure seeing Canadian cheesemongers taking so much pride in their craft.
