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My Cracker Addiction
By Andy Shay
I could eat crackers all day – especially the kind that are now being made right here in Canada.
Those of you who have attended one of my cheese tutored cheese tasting sessions may be wondering why I am reviewing crackers – I made you eat all of that cheese with no such edible transport. The quick answer is that there is a time and a place, so let me explain that. Crackers and cheese are a natural compliment, they sort of go together, ring true, like soup and a sandwich. But, over time, we have over used the concept and stopped thinking about what we are eating. Particularly when we are eating fine cheese – at prices up to $100/kg- we owe it to ourselves to slow the eating and resist the cliché in order to get the most enjoyment out of cheese. It is for that reason that I promote the idea of eating cheese without crackers for the first bite or two – get the lay of the land.
If intelligent cheese tasting were course 101, then cheese and cracker pairing would be 102 – it is a more advanced level and can bring even more enjoyment. Really it becomes a food pairing where the flavour of one food, plus the flavour of a second food, when added together becomes more than the sum of the parts, creating a new and different flavour. (If you would like to read more about this check out my previous article Cheese and food pairing)
If we think about crackers, there are really three sorts: transport crackers, crackers to enjoy with cheese and crackers to enjoy by themselves.
Transport crackers
These are the perfect example would be Carr's water cracker, thin, firm, tasteless – perfect for transporting a runny cheese to your mouth.
Crackers to enjoy with cheese
These are crackers that are not too bold in flavour but do have a distinct flavour of their own – the one that pops to mind are the stellar Fine Crackers For Cheese, celery flavour – incredibly they taste just like celery and are often good with blue cheeses.
Crackers to enjoy by themselves
These are crackers that have such bold or brilliant flavour that they would overpower rather than compliment fine cheeses – like “ranch” flavour cracker or “chicken in a biscuit”
Formerly, we had a choice of bland or over flavoured domestic supermarket crackers or fancy european crackers – and there are still plenty of both out there. But, over the past year or so there has been a blossoming of hand crafted cracker production in Canada and I thought it was high time to compare some of the choices.
Country Crackers
I was recently in Prince Edward County visiting my father-in law and discovered these - so good, I ate the entire package in one sitting! I caught up with Marianne the creator, a pastry chef and baker by trade. She invented her crackers to suit her own taste for sweet and salty flavours - as it happens it is usually a great combination for cheese. These crackers are made in small batches and produced entirely by hand. She is based in The County, uses organic flour, local butter and grows her own herbs to use as ingredients. She aimed for a combination of her favourite crackers/biscuits/oatcakes and the result is terrific. At about 1/8 of an inch thick they have a satisfyingly soft bite to the tooth without being crumbly. The rosemary has a delicious warm you all over fresh rosemary flavour. There are two flavours, roasted rosemary and currant. The rosemary is my favourite and would work well with one of those faintly bitter washed rind cheeses. About $7.99 for 140g. These are still hard to find in Toronto, but I recently saw them at The Stop Community Food Centre's Green Barns Saturday Farmer’s market – a great market if you have not been.
Evelyn’s
The Stop's Saturday Farmer’s market in is a great segue to Evelyn’s because they can also be found here. Evelyn’s (daughter of bakers) are the creation of Dawn and Ed who have traveled the world together and bring something exotic to their crackers. They are dedicated to local production and use red fife flour - that heritage variety of wheat that was championed right here in Ontario and took North America by storm in the second half of the 19th Century before being replaced by derivative varieties 50 years later.
These are unlike pretty much any other cracker out there on the market. They are relentlessly brown, you can see the seeds and chalf in the dough. I tried three varieties.
Salty Oat – Yes, you can see the rolled oats. We are talking a very deftly added measure of salt, just right. This is a very delicate cracker – I might put the cracker on top of the cheese, about 1/16 of an inch thick. On first bite they seem soft like they went stale – but on the tongue and the flavour says anything but. They are buttery, nutty and have a pleasing sort of crunch in the teeth. – Pull out the good cheddar – this will be a great pairing!
Bay Barley Anise – Same brown look here, but these are crisp crackers, with a delicious, nutty, spicy aroma – I suppose of anise. In the mouth they are nicely crunchy and at first sort of plain, there is a vague spicyness and I find that it is only after swallowing that the anise, spice flavour really kicks in and the mouth begins to sing a sweet salivating song. I am thinking that you would need a pretty full flavoured cheese to work with this cracker – and in fact I see that there is a sticker on the package that says just that!
Spicy Dahl and Coconut – These are wicked little crackers with fabulous spicy flavour – but not for cheese – have these on the side of a bowl of hearty soup or stew!
At $9.95 for 130g this is not a small investment – but highly worth it for a special occasion and to support all things local. In addition to the market, these crackers are sold at Culinarium and About Cheese and other stores around the city.
Crisps
These are brought to you by none other than the maker of Marg’s flatbreads – Those great flatbreads that have been on the market now for 10 years. Marg is the most likeable woman and I have known her since she moonlighted making the flatbreads from 2-4 in the morning before going to her day job. Last year she started a new line called Crisps. These are just as they sound, very crisp. There are 4 flavours and all are good: cranberry pumpkin, goji pistachio, date and walnut, caramel apricot almond, but the date and walnut and cranberry pumpkin work best for cheese as they are less sweet. Find these in supermarkets and specialty stores for around $4.99
Rain Coast
From the Vancouver Caterer, Lesley Stowe, these are thin slices of a fruit and nut bread that have been toasted for crispness. Again there are three flavours: Original (toasty nut with a bit of sweetness), Rosemary Raisin Pecan and Cranberry Hazelnut. The last two are my favourites with cheese. Creamy bloomy rind cheeses and washed rinds with a bitter edge work well. Raincoast Crisps are a similar to Crisps, but perhaps slightly more subtle and delicate. $6.99 for 170g. Available at specialty retailers across the city.
365 Rosemary
These are the wild card from Whole Foods – made someplace in the States. It is a commercial cracker, but a nice one. Very nicely crisp, perhaps a touch papery, 1/8 inch thick, a touch salty – not necessarily a good thing for cheese which tends to have a salty edge anyway, delicate rosemary flavour. Altogether not bad for the price $4.39 for 142g
Pasquelle’s
To be fair these are billed as flatbreads rather than crackers – they are both delicious but probably better eaten on their own. This is a family owned business here in Toronto and can be found at Nancy’s and at Cheese Boutique. $5.99 for 150g. There are two flavours: Grated Parmesan and Fruit and Seed.
Grated Parmesan – there are some great cheese crackers out there, Eli’s, All the Best and these, but here is my rule – if there is cheese in it, don’t eat it with cheese. That is right , just enjoy them on their own – they are all terrific as singles. These flat breads are very crisp and thin, they snap as you break them. I am guessing that it is not Parmigiano Reggiano that is used, but it is tasty any way. Pleasing salty edge.
Seed and Fruit – Pumpkin, sesame seeds and cranberries. Again, have this on its own. Bright nutty flavour from the seeds and a hint of sweetness from the cranberries. – and boy are they beautiful, almost bejewelled with the topping.
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