C’est Cheese Please

This past week I visited C’est Cheese Please, a cheese store in Cambridge (Ontario, Canada). I was visiting the area and did a search for “cheese” on my iphone maps app. C’est Cheese Please popped up and I decided to check it out.

I enjoy visiting different cheese shops because it is a process of discovery. Having never been to this store before, I was wondering if C’est Cheese Please would be a large cheese supermarket or a small cheese boutique. It is the latter, a small specialty cheese shop.

The inside is inviting, warm and decorated in such a way that you just know the owner has a passion for all things cheese. Although small, I found myself browsing for several minutes, soaking up the variety of merchandise on display. C’est Cheese Please sells cheese boards, knives, books, chocolates, jams, bread, etc. There is a lot of cheese stuff packed into such a small store.

C'est Cheese Please - Interior

The purpose of my visit was to see if C’est Cheese Please would have any interesting cheeses that I have not yet tried. I drifted to the cheese case.

C'est Cheese Please Cheese Case

I asked for any recommendations. The salesperson started asking me a few questions in order to steer me in the right direction. Before long she was slicing off some samples of several new cheeses that I have only read about. I narrowed my decision down to a few to bring home to enjoy.

There were business cards on the counter. I picked one up and asked the woman if she was the owner, Wendi Yates. She responded yes. I decided to introduce myself and reveal my cheese adventure and blog hobby.

Wendi remained warm and welcoming. I wanted to talk a lot more about the cheeses that she was carrying since they were so uncommon. She answered all of my questions and explained about many of the cheeses in the case and stories about them … where they came from, how they are made and why they are special. I was fascinated with her depth of knowledge.

I noticed a reader’s award on the wall.

After spending just a short time in the store it was easy to understand why C’est Cheese Please was a local favorite.

As with many small business’s the success of the store is reflection on the person behind it.

Wendi Yates - C'est Cheese Please

I left with three amazing new cheeses and I will post reviews on them soon.

If you live anywhere in the vicinity of C’est Cheese Please, it is worth a visit if you enjoy cheese. Wendi is very knowledgeable and provided a comfortable and enjoyable shopping experience. This was cheese shopping at it’s best for me.

C’est Cheese Please
12 Water St. South
Cambridge Ontario
519-624-9642

Nosey Goat Camelot Cheese – Video Inspiration

Nosey Goat Camelot

I picked up some Nosey Goat Camelot last week during a visit to the Upper Canada Cheese Store in Jordon Station, Ontario (Canada). This cheese was out on the sampling counter. Amidst all of the golden yellow cheeses made from Guernsey Cow milk was this pale white cheese. As the staff offered me a sample piece I was braced for disappointment but was instead rewarded with a surprisingly good cheese, a goat cheese.

Nosey Goat Camelot Cheese

The Nosey Goat Camelot cheese is made from the milk from a herd of Lamancha goats in Keene, Ontario.  This cheese is semi-hard and aged for 2 months.

Nosey Goat Camelot Cheese Wheel

Nosey Goat Camelot took top honors at the 2011 Royal Winter Fair in Toronto. It won Reserve Champion in the goat cheese division.

Nosey Goat Camelot Cheese

What does Nosey Goat Camelot cheese taste like? This is a mild goat cheese with a firm paste. It is well balanced and mildly salty. It has a great texture and slices easily. I recommend savouring thin slices by letting it melt on your tongue. It dissolves slowly and turns creamy. It will excite your taste buds as you explore the unfolding of flavour. It has a short and soft finish. It’s not strong yet it steps right up and greets you with a flavour presence that is “just right”.

I am still somewhat inexperienced exploring goat cheeses. I have not tried very many as compared to cow’s milk cheeses. Yet, this is the cheese that is motivating me to increase my experimenting with goat cheese.

Nosey Goat Camelot is now my benchmark semi-firm goat cheese. It will be interesting to compare others against it. If you want to include a goat cheese on a cheese board I suggest you give Nosey Goat Camelot serious consideration. I think it is unique but in a safe way that most people will either accept or really like.

Nosey Goat Camelot is the cheese that has inspired me to try producing my first cheese video.

Guernsey Girl – A Grilled Cheese sans Bread

Guernsy Girl Grilling Cheese

I purchased Guernsey Girl grilling cheese during a recent stop at the Upper Canada Cheese Company store in Jordon Station, Ontario, Canada. One of the staff had inquired as to whether I had tried a grilled cheese before. I responded “Of course, I love a grilled cheese sandwich with the warm cheese oozing out from between the crunchy bread.” She politely corrected me. “No bread involved”. I cocked my head in confusion and prodded her to go on.

She said that Guernsey Girl cheese is designed to be grilled sans (without) bread. She suggested cutting the cheese into slices about the thickness of my small finger (3/8″ – 1/2″) and browning it in a hot fry pan. Being that I am cheese adventurous I had to give this a try.

Guernsey Girl is made by the Upper Canada Cheese Company from cow’s milk, Guernsey cow milk to be exact. Out of the wrapper it had an appearance reminding me of Mozzarella – without the stringiness.

Guernsy Girl Grilling Cheese - Sliced

I took a bite of the cheese before grilling. It has a very interesting texture. It is squeaky on the teeth, like a fresh cheese curd. It was quite mild and somewhat unexciting. But this cheese is designed for heat.

I heated a frying pan and tossed a slice in.

Guernsey Girl in a Fry Pan

Surprisingly it held it’s shape under the heat. I expected it to ooze all over the pan and burn because that’s exactly what happened when I tried frying a slice of processed cheese and a slice of cheddar cheese. The Gurnsey Girl looked like it would melt, but it didn’t. It started cracking and popping and sounding all exciting.

I lifted the corner. It was browning quickly so I flipped it over.

Guernsey Girl cheese brewing in a fry pan

Doesn’t it look sexy here? The colour and texture had been transformed into a thing of beauty. When the second side was browned I removed it to a plate.

Guernsey Girl Grilled Cheese

I might have slightly over cooked this piece but I was experimenting and grilling cheese without bread takes a little getting used to. But you get the idea.

What does Guernsey Girl cheese taste like? After browning this in a fry pan the outside was a little crispy with a softer inside. The inside was not as soft as I expected. I expected the inside to ooze out like a ripe Mont d’Or. But this cheese holds its shape. It is cheesy tasting but not cheddar tasting. Again it reminded me of mozzarella. The squeak dissapeared after being heated. Heating the cheese lifted the flavour a notch but this is not a knock your socks off full of flavour kind of cheese. It is subtle and slightly salty. A good snacking cheese once cooked.

I want to try this cheese on the barbecue to see how that works. I don’t think it will fall through the grill since it has so much body.

Subsequently I started thinking of all kinds of experiments I could try with the Guernsey Girl. Perhaps I should drizzle a little honey or maple syrup on top? Perhaps I could cut the cheese into sticks – like french fries or Jenga  blocks.

Maybe I’ll throw a cheese Jenga party.

Jenga - image from Google Images

I could grill up a bunch of Guernsey Girl cheese sticks then stack ’em up high and eat ’em.

I’m glad I tried the Guernsey Girl grilling cheese. It was tasty, interesting and different. Those are all good qualities in any cheese adventure.

A Visit to Upper Canada Cheese Company Store – Jordon Ontario

Upper Canada Cheese Store

I traveled to the United States over the holiday. On the drive back I decided that we needed a rest stop aka. a cheese break. I decided to check out The Upper Canada Cheese Company store in Jordon, Ontario (Canada). The store is just off of the QEW highway, exit 55.

Upper Canada Cheese Store

I was traveling from Niagara Falls towards Toronto. The cheese store was about 3 minutes off of the QEW with easy off and easy on.

The store is attractive and nicely decorated. The staff was friendly and greeted me as I entered the store with my children. From within the store they have a couple of viewing windows where you can see cheese being made and stored.

Upper Canada Cheese making room

Upper Canada Cheeses Aging

There was not any cheese being made while we were there, probably because of the holidays.

The staff offered us samples of several cheeses. My son and I thought the Nosey Goat Cheese samples were particularly good.

Nosey Goat Cheese

I have previously tried and reviewed Upper Canada’s Niagara Gold and Comfort Cream cheeses. Today we bought some Guernsey Girl and Nosey Goat … reviews to follow.

The store also carries many other quality cheeses besides their store brand. They sell compotes, jams, vinegars and other things cheese related. It was definitely worth the short detour off of the QEW and our visit ended up being the perfect rest stop before finishing our drive home.

I recommend stopping at:
Upper Canada Cheese Company Store
4159 Jordan Road
Jordan Station, Ontario L0R 1S0

Store Hours:
Sunday to Thursday – 10 AM to 5 PM
Friday to Saturday 10 AM to 6 PM

Telephone: 905 562 9730
info@uppercanadacheese.com

Comfort Cream by Upper Canada Cheese Company

Upper Canada Cheese's Artisinal Comfort Cream

Nope, this is not a post about lemon meringue pie. This is a picture of Upper Canada Cheese Company’s Comfort Cream.

I found this cheese in my neighbourhood cheese shoppe, Goat Inc. in Port Credit (Ontario, Canada). I was really intrigued by the golden yellow colour. Comfort Cream is a camembert style soft cheese. This cheese is a Canadian cheese produced in Jordon Station, Ontario.

The milk from this this cheese comes from a small herd of Guernsey cattle. Guernsey cows are not common in Canada. The guernsey cow is smaller than a Holstein and it only produces about half of the milk of a Holstein. The milk from the Guernsey cow is high in butter fat and beta-carotene.  The milk is a rich golden colour which carries through to this cheese.

Guernsey Cow - Google Images

Comfort Cream is an artisanal cheese that is hand salted, hand turned and hand wrapped. This cheese is aged four weeks. It is recommend to let the cheese “ripen” a few more weeks to maximize the flavour.

What does Comfort Cream Cheese taste like? It is creamy and buttery. I found it to have a very mild earthy flavour. This cheese is not as rich as some of the triple cream cheeses that I have tried. I think it is more interesting than basic Camembert. Comfort Cream should be served at room temperature or baked (5-7 minutes at 400F). It spreads well and I recommend serving on a thin slice of fresh baguette or unflavoured crackers such as Carr’s Table Water Crackers.

Upper Canada Cheese Company also makes a cheese named Niagara Gold from the same heard of cows. Niagara Gold is a harder cheese as it is aged 5 months. Niagara Gold is one of my favourite Canadian cheeses.

I would agree with Upper Canada Cheese Company’s naming of this cheese. Comfort Cream is comforting. If you like Camembert or Brie it is a good bet you will like Comfort Cream cheese.

Goat’s Milk Cheese with Blueberry and Cinnamon by Celebrity International

Celebrity International Goats Milk Cheese with Blueberry and Cinnamon

I came across this goat’s milk cheese at a Metro Supermarket in Port Credit (Ontario). I’m not sure what prompted me to give this cheese a try. I have seen this cheese before but I always passed over it in favour of “yellow” cheeses.

When I unwrapped the cheese and put it on a plate my confidence slid. My photo is not the best, I’ll admit that, but this cheese did not look very appetizing sitting on the plate.

Celebrity International Goats Milk Cheese with Blueberry and Cinnamon

The blueberries looked like dried up raisins. I am pretty adventurous but it took a little courage to shove this into my mouth. Fortunately that is where things took a turn for the better.

What does Celebrity International Goat’s Milk Cheese with Blueberry and Cinnamon taste like? Although I rate this cheese low on the “plate appeal” scale it was actually quite good.  I was surprised. The goat cheese was fairly creamy, but slightly dry. It had a mild saltiness that was well complimented by the the blueberry and cinnamon. It was a good cheesy combination. I spread it onto Carr’s Table Water Crackers.

Celebrity International’s goat cheese is a Canadian cheese made in Ontario from Ontario milk. It is 100% pure goat’s milk and is animal rennet free.

I found this web site for the Celebrity International Goat’s Milk Cheese with Blueberry and Cinnamon. The website mentioned that Blueberry’s may reduce the risk of Type 2 diabetes.  The website also provided the following information.

Sea salt is added to the product, which is beneficial for the health conscious person or Vegetarian because the salt has no iodine. For persons with lactose intolerance, goat cheese is a healthy alternative to cow’s milk cheese products. Goats are fed roasted Soybeans, which are higher in protein and energy, plus Corn-fed, from products produced on the farmstead.
Goat milk is lower in fat and cholesterol, higher in calcium and Vitamins A & D. Goats convert all the carotene in their diet to vitamin A, leaving the milk and cream pure white. The yellow colour in other dairy products is due to the carotene in the milk. Our Goat Cheese is pasteurized.

This cheese tastes better than it looks. This is a cheese for the health conscience. It would be a good cheese to serve at the holidays. I need to figure out a way to make it look more appealing. Maybe if I tossed a few fresh blueberries around it on the serving plate. I think I’ll buy it again and try that.

Cheese Man finds Cheese Lady Online

Oh what a ride I am taking with this cheese blogging thing! Just today, after many months of reading and researching online, I discovered a cheese store in Muskegon, Michigan called The Cheese Lady.

The Cheese Lady - Muskegon MI

The Cheese Lady Store Inside - Image from their website

It was bound to happen. Fate has brought together two fromagephiles (that’s a fancy term for cheese-lovers) across the land, proving that cheese has amazing power.

It would take the Cheese Man about 6 1/2 hours to drive to visit the Cheese Lady.

The Cheese Lady has been doing cheese since at least 2005 as she has newsletters on her website dated that far back.

Evidently her business is doing well as the following YouTube video describes a recent relocation of the store to a larger space.

The Cheese Lady store carries over 100 cheese varieties along with other gourmet food products. If I’m ever passing through Muskegon I will definitely be stopping in … it’s destiny.

Taste of Cheese – Canadian Online Cheese Store

I am building a list of Canadian cheese stores for this blog, one store at a time. Since I am fortunate to live very near Toronto there are a fair number of “brick and morter” specialty cheese stores near me.

If you don’t live in an area with a specialty cheese store nearby then you don’t have to miss out. I have discovered a Canadian online cheese seller that will ship artisanal and world famous cheeses anywhere in Canada … so says their website.

The company is called Taste of Cheese and their website is here. They operate out of Pefferlaw, Ontario.

Their website is well designed and easy to navigate. There is really no point in me copying and pasting their information here. Just go to their site to check it out.

One of their employees, Stacy Atlin, also maintains a blog for their virtual cheese store as well. The blog is here. It is one of many blogs that I follow with Google Reader.

I have not bought product from them so I cannot comment on the purchase experience or service. If anybody reading this blog has bought from them post a comment and let us know your opinion of the experience.

Disclosure: For clarity, I am in no way associated with Taste of Cheese, nor was I remunerated in any way for this post.

Fifth Town’s Bonnie and Floyd Sheep’s Milk Cheese

Fifth Town's Bonnie and Floyd Sheeps Milk Cheese

I found an interesting Canadian made Sheep’s milk cheese called “Bonnie and Floyd”. It is made by Fifth Town Artisan Cheese Company in Picton, Ontario.

The Fifth Town website has a link to download “Cheese Note Cards” which provide a picture and brief description of the cheeses they make. Here is the card describing Bonnie and Floyd from the cheese makers perspective.

This cheese is also the choice of Royalty … no kidding.

The Fifth Town Website reports that:

On Friday, November 6th, Prince Charles toured the Brick Works project and also visited the Farmer’s Market!  He stopped to talk to several vendors including Fifth Town.  Dave Smyth, our farmer’s market rep at Evergreen was there to tell the Prince all about Fifth Town. He apparently sampled the cheeses and then asked “how much” for a piece of Bonnie & Floyd. Dave told him $9. Turns out His Majesty likes sheep milk cheese.  The Prince then turned to Minister Jim Flaherty to see if he could spot him a $10 to buy the cheese.  Luckily, he had some “stimulus funds” in his pocket!

Prince Charles choosing Bonnie and Floyd - image from Fifth Town Cheese Website

In 2010, at the 83rd annual British Empire Cheese Show organized by the Central Ontario Cheesemakers Association, Bonnie and Floyd took 1st place in the division of Artisan Sheep’s Milk Cheese.

What does Bonnie and Floyd taste like?

It was mild at the start then it developed a light, flowery, earthy flavor. It is not overly salted and I appreciate that. It finishes with a nice light buttery, nutty taste. I like it.

What do Prince Charles and I have in common? For one thing we both appreciate a good Sheep’s milk cheese.

Roquefort – Girl Crazy, Cave Dwelling, Slow Kid – Thank you!

Roquefort Cosse Noir

I picked up some Gabriel Coulet Roquefort Cosse Noir at Whole Foods in Oakville, Ontario. This is a French cheese made from raw sheep’s milk.

According to Wikipedia:

Roquefort is one of the world’s best known blue cheeses. European law dictates that only cheese aged in the natural Combalou caves of Roquefort-sur-Soulzon may bear the name Roquefort. Legend has it that the cheese was discovered when a youth, eating his lunch of bread and ewes’ milk cheese, saw a beautiful girl in the distance. Abandoning his meal in a nearby cave, he ran to meet her. When he returned a few months later, the mold (Penicillium roqueforti) had transformed his plain cheese into Roquefort.

That’s a great story but I’ve got a few questions.

In the first place, when I was young, if I had to choose between finishing a cheese sandwich or chasing after a girl I would have finished the sandwich then took after the girl. I mean seriously, how fast was this girl going, when she passed by, that required abandoning a cheese sandwich?

Secondly, that must have been some chase. That girl must have been really fast and the kid chasing her must have been half snail. How long does chasing a girl take? According to the story … a few months later? Well, if I didn’t get the girl within a few minutes, or a few hours at most, then I would give up and go back to finish my sandwich. With a full belly, I would wait for another girl to come along.

Ok then … I can come to terms with the kid being so girl crazy that he leaves his sandwich behind, and then he gets so distracted that he doesn’t come back … for months. BUT, when he returns and finds his cheese all moldy and stinky, WHAT IN THE WORLD was he thinking when he decided he should eat it anyway?

But I digress. It’s still a nice story and I’m glad he tasted it. I’m even more grateful that he had the sense to bring his discovery to the attention of the proper authorities to produce even more of the remarkable cheese.

The mold that gives Roquefort its distinctive character is Penicillium roqueforti and it is found in the soil of the Combalou caves in France.

Again, according to Wikipedia:

As of 2009, there are seven Roquefort producers. The largest by far is Roquefort Société made by the Société des Caves de Roquefort^[5] (a subsidiary of Lactalis), which holds several caves and opens its facilities to tourists, and accounts for around 60% of all production. Roquefort Papillon is also a well-known brand. The five other producers, each holding only one cave, are Carles, Gabriel Coulet, Fromageries occitanes, Vernières and Le Vieux Berger.

The cheese I tried, and that is pictured above, was produced by Gabriel Coulet. It is 44% milk fat with a 33% moisture content.

What does Roquefort Cosse Noir taste like?

It is milky, smooth, creamy, salty and packed with flavor. It is a strong cheese that will steal the show when put alongside a milder cheese. It spreads easily on crackers or bread. I recommend spreading it on a fresh warm baguette. On a cheese board it would take center stage.

I rank Roquefort high on my list of favorite cheeses and based on it’s popularity, I am not alone.

Here is a link to Roquefort France’s website.