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Cheese has been produced in Canada since Samuel de Champlain brought cows from Normandy in either 1608 or 1610, [1] The Canadienne breed of cattle is thought to descend from these and other early Norman imports. New France developed soft, unripened cheeses characteristic of its metropole, France. Later British settlers and Loyalists fleeing the American Revolution introduced British styles such as cheddar. [2]
Canadian cheeses were almost entirely farm-made until 1864 when an American, Harvey Farrington started buying Canadian milk in commercial quantities necessary for industrial cheese making. The first commercial factory "The Pioneer" was set up in Norwich, Ontario, in 1864. [2]
Following a wheat midge outbreak in Canada in the mid-nineteenth century, farmers in the province of Ontario began to convert to dairy farming in large numbers, and cheddar cheese was their main exportable product (before electric refrigeration was invented), even being exported back to the cheese's country of origin, England. In one year, 1867, the year of Canadian Confederation, 200 cheese factories were established in Ontario alone. [2] In 1881, Édouard-André Barnard created North America's first cheese-making school in Saint-Denis-De La Bouteillerie, Québec. A dairy school (Canada's first) opened in 1892 in Saint-Hyacinthe, Québec, and in 1901, produced experimental Canadian versions of Camembert and Feta. [2] By the turn of the twentieth century, there were 1,242 cheddar factories in Ontario, and cheddar had become Canada's second largest export behind timber. [1] Cheddar exports totalled 234,000,000 pounds (106,000,000 kg) in 1904, but by 2012, Canada was a net importer of cheese, and a manufactured cheese product "Kraft Dinner" macaroni and cheese had become Canada's most popular grocery product and de facto national dish. James Lewis Kraft grew up on a dairy farm in Ontario, before moving to Chicago. As writer Sarah Champman writes, "Although we cannot wholly lay the decline of cheese craft in Canada at the feet of James Lewis Kraft, it did correspond with the rise of Kraft's processed cheese empire." [1]
Canadian cheeses are classified into six categories per their moisture content, which are firm, soft, semi-soft, fresh, blue-veined and hard, with most cheeses being classified as firm, soft, or semi-soft. [3] Canada presently produces over 1,050 varieties and brands of cheese. [3] More than half of the cheese manufacturers are located in Québec. [3] The Sélection Caseus is an annual contest for Québec cheeses that began in 1999. It awards gold, silver and bronze prizes each year as well as prizes in diverse categories. [4]
Cheesemaking took off in Quebec in the late 19th century, following the Canadian–American Reciprocity Treaty (in force between 1854 and 1866). [5] At that time, Quebeckers considered cheese a luxury, and did not eat it regularly. [5] Quebec cheese had a poor reputation in Britain; British consumers apparently regarded its supposedly Catholic terroir as disqualifying. [5] Indeed, Quebec undertook a special export program in 1892 "for the purpose of illustrating … that cheese from Quebec were [ sic ] just as good, in many cases, as cheese from Ontario". [6] As late as World War I, Quebec cheese was sold in the United Kingdom as Ontario cheese. [7]
Joseph-Édouard Caron, minister of agriculture in the early 20th century, instituted an inspection regime for cheese and butter factories in the province. [8] [9]
As of 2013 [update] , approximately 700 varieties of cheese were produced in Quebec, by over 100 cheesemakers. Quebec experienced a boom in cheese manufacturing at the turn of the millennium; numerous cheesemakers set up shop between 2001 and 2008. [10]
Cheddar cheese is a natural cheese that is relatively hard, off-white, and sometimes sharp-tasting. It originates from the English village of Cheddar in Somerset, South West England.
Morbier is a semi-soft cows' milk cheese of France named after the small village of Morbier in Franche-Comté. It is ivory colored, soft and slightly elastic, and is immediately recognizable by the distinctive thin black layer separating it horizontally in the middle. It has a yellowish, sticky rind.
The cuisine of Québec is a national cuisine in the Canadian province of Québec. It is also cooked by Franco-Ontarians.
Colby is a semihard orange cheese made from cow's milk. It is named after the city of Colby, Wisconsin, USA, where it was first developed in 1885 and quickly became popular.
Acid-set or sour milk cheese is cheese that has been curdled (coagulated) by natural souring, often from lactic acid bacteria, or by the addition of acid. This type of cheese is technologically simple to produce.
Neufchâtel is a soft, slightly crumbly, mold-ripened, bloomy-rind cheese made in the Neufchâtel-en-Bray region of Normandy. One of the oldest kinds of cheese in France, its production is believed to date back as far as the 6th century AD, in the Kingdom of the Franks. It looks similar to Camembert and Brie, with a dry, white, edible rind, but the taste is saltier and sharper. Unlike other soft-white-rinded cheeses, Neufchâtel has a grainy texture. It is usually sold in heart shapes but is also produced in other forms, such as logs and boxes. It is typically matured for 8–10 weeks and weighs around 100–600 g (3.5–21.2 oz).
Cheer, formerly Coon, is the Australian trademark of a cheddar cheese produced by the Warrnambool Cheese and Butter company, which is majority-owned by Canadian dairy company Saputo Inc.
Pont-l'Évêque is a French cheese, originally manufactured in the area around the commune of Pont-l'Évêque, between Deauville and Lisieux in the Calvados département of Normandy. It is probably the oldest Norman cheese still in production.
Bleu des Causses is a French blue cheese made from whole cow's milk. Some consider it as a mild variant of Roquefort. The cheese has a fat content of 45% and is aged for 3–6 months in Gorges du Tarn's natural limestone caves. The ripening process involving naturally temperature-controlled cellars is the major element that gives it its special aroma. Today, it is a relatively rare cheese that is only made by a handful of small producers.
René-Édouard Caron was a Canadian politician, judge, and the second Lieutenant Governor of Quebec.
Tête de Moine AOP is a semi-hard cheese manufactured in Switzerland. It is classified as a Swiss-type or Alpine cheese, and was invented and initially produced more than eight centuries ago by the canons of the abbey of Bellelay, located in the community of Saicourt, district of Moutier, in the mountainous zone of the Bernese Jura, the French-speaking area of the Canton of Bern as well as the Canton of Jura.
Cheese is a type of dairy product produced in a range of flavors, textures, and forms by coagulation of the milk protein casein. It comprises proteins and fat from milk. During production, milk is usually acidified and either the enzymes of rennet or bacterial enzymes with similar activity are added to cause the casein to coagulate. The solid curds are then separated from the liquid whey and pressed into finished cheese. Some cheeses have aromatic molds on the rind, the outer layer, or throughout.
Warrnambool Cheese & Butter Factory Company Holdings Limited (WCB) is an Australian-based company manufacturing dairy products, majority-owned by Saputo Inc., a Canadian company, that manufactures a range of dairy products under various brands. The business is based in Allansford, Victoria and is the oldest dairy processor in Australia, having been established in 1888. It owns cheese brands CHEER and Cracker Barrel.
Various cheeses have been called the king of cheeses. The title is informal, and there is no standard definition, but a few are more consistently called that than others, especially in their countries of origin:
The Pikauba is a semi-firm cheese, farmer made by hand, in the region Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean in Quebec. It takes its name from a river, Pikauba River, that crosses the Laurentides Wildlife Reserve.
The St-Albert Cheese Co-operative is a Franco-Ontarian co-operative that specialises in making cheese. One of the oldest co-operatives in Canada, it is known for its cheddar and its poutine curds and was named Grand Champion at the 2013 and 2014 British Empire Cheese Shows.
Switzerland has a strong and ancestral dairy farming and cheesemaking tradition. The breeding of cattle, sheep and goats for milk is attested in the Neolithic period and, since Antiquity, cheese has been exported from the Alpine regions. The rugged nature of the country makes approximately 80% of the agricultural land unsuitable for cultivation, which is therefore mainly exploited for cattle and sheep farming. This mode of exploitation has forged a large part of the Swiss landscape, in the Alps, the Jura and on the Swiss Plateau.
