I tend to have a fondness for traditional cheeses. It is fascinating to trace a cheese to the exact town it originated in, and learn about generations of a family that have lived there and worked to keep the integrity of the cheese alive. The basics
The Franche-Comté is an area in eastern France, bordering Switzerland. It lies south of Alsace and north of the Savoie. This beautiful area is very often overlooked by visitors to France as it is more rural and less known, However, from a cheese
There is something special about mountain cheeses. Although many of them have a similar basic nuttiness, they all have amazing subtleties of flavor and texture. It is the differences in taste that bring to mind the beautiful areas these high alpine
It’s always great to discover new Canadian cheeses. A few months ago I stumbled on a terrific cheese from Ontario that I hadn’t tried before. That’s not to say that it has only been available for a short time; it’s more a case
Picking only ten cheeses for 2016 is almost impossible when there are so many delicious candidates out there, but what the heck let’s do it. In no particular order, here are some cheeses that struck me as especially different and new, as well as
Today a few words on building a great cheese plate for a holiday get-together. It's a busy time of the year, and it's nice to keep things as simple as possible. I think you can apply that to cheese plates as well. Usually when I start to choose cheese
I work every day surrounded by cheese. I spend a lot of time in the fridge sorting, rotating, and caring for the amazing products that we are lucky enough to source. It’s easy to become obsessed with the finished products, and how they taste, what
Quebec has a long and formidable history of cheese making that has the rest of the country working full out to catch up. Despite a long legacy of production and cheese styles, Quebec cheesemakers are not just sitting around idlely watching while the rapidly
I thought I would write about one of my favourite cheeses. Abbaye de Tamié is a medium-textured washed rind cheese, which is a typical style of the Trappist cheeses made throughout Europe. This cheese is anything but typical though. The Abbaye
Every once in a while a cheese miracle happens. Sometimes, it's as special as a supplier offering us something great that we didn’t have to pre-order eight weeks before its arrival. This week one of these cheese miracles happened. One of my cheese
In the realm of the cheese store, triple creams seem to be the most sought after gems. The lush, silky texture of the cheese and the milky, slightly tangy taste seems to bedazzle people into forgetting all other cheese varieties. Who needs contrasting
At the close of 2014 I made a New Year’s resolution. I have to say I have never been a fan of the idea before, as I find people always seem to be trying to do commit to things that they don’t want to do. I decided that I would try to commit
When we think of Swiss cheeses, we certainly think of alpine style cheeses and traditional names come to mind easily. Emmenthal, Gruyere and Appenzeller are all staples in our winter fondue and on top of a tasty gratin. However there are a lot of newer
When I have been lucky enough to go to France in the past, one of the first things I look for in cheese stores is Saint-Marcellin. This is a delicate, rather fragile cheese and we only receive it periodically in Canada, so buying it at the source is a
First off let’s discuss sheep’s milk. Delicious and rich, cheese made from sheep’s milk can be mild and fruity, aged and sharp and even a little bit gamey and salty sometimes. French, Basque and Spanish sheep’s milk cheese tend