What a nice surprise it was to receive this package, cheese! ??? To commemorate the 150th anniversary of Canada, Dairy Farmers of Canada is highlighting three distinct Canadian cheese from local cheesemakers. This weekend I’ll be hosting a friend from NYC at the cottage and treating her to wine and great Canadian cheese.
TODAY IS A GREAT DAY….
??? #CanadianCheese pic.twitter.com/noMdZbbViU— CASiE STEWART ☀️ (@casiestewart) June 27, 2017
Canada has a tradition of producing high-quality, great tasting cheese. A couple years ago I was in Montreal and visited Fromagerie Au Gré des Champs, one of the top cheese makers in the province. It was so cool to see how and where cheese is made. Tasting fresh cheese really gave me an appreciation for it. Safe to say my suitcase was loaded up with cheese for my trip home!
Growing up I didn’t eat a lot of cheese but *luckily* I grew out of that lactose allergy in my teens. I had hardly tried anything other than cheddar and mozzarella before Sean and I started dating 7 years ago. Since then, he’s shown me a whole new world of great cheese! There’s so many great varieties, and ways to eat it; sharp ones, super soft ones, melted cheese in general, cheese with garlic, on crackers, with potatoes, pizza, fruit, or my personal fav, with vegemite on toast.
A Bit of History
Cheese making in Canada goes back to our French and English heritage, “French settlers brought over methods for making soft, ripened cheeses, while United Empire Loyalists fleeing the American Revolution, introduced the distinctly British characteristics of cheddar“.
In my research, I learned cheese making in Canada can be traced back to the early 1600s but it wasn’t until 1864 when the first cheese factory was set up. Cheese making in Canada is older than the country itself! By 1867, there were over 200 cheese factories in Ontario alone. ?
“Our great Canadian cheeses start with 100% Canadian quality milk, which are produced by our passionate dairy farmers in a sustainable way’ said Sebastien Bergeron, Director of Marketing for DFC.
Representing the best of the best in Canadian cheese, Dairy Farmers of Canada has hand-picked three highly-awarded varieties to share as part of the Canada 150 celebrations. My favourite from the three DFC sent over is the Avonlea Cheddar. The recipe is from Scotland, and the flavour comes from the salt air, iron-rich soil, and Holstein cows milk.
Join me in celebrating Canada and the dairy farmers who help make cheese possible by sharing great Canadian cheese with your friends and family this weekend. ???
