Site Search Go

Home

< Back

Friday, August 21, 2009

Member Rating

By Fresh Bites

Fifth Town's NEW facility in Prince Edward County...

Today We Are Getting A Little Bit Cheesy.

And for a good reason. Two weekends ago, Ontario showed the world that the title of “cheese-capital” isn’t necessarily reserved for France, Wisconsin or New Zealand. In fact, two of our regional artisan producers took top prizes at the “Superbowl of Cheese” in Austin, Texas – firmly placing the region as one of the hot new spots to watch on the cheese scene.

The American Cheese Society competition is one of the most prestigious cheese competitions in the world and this year, the folks at Fifth Town and Black River cheeses walked away with some great accolades. Impressive given the stiff competition at the event where these two little warriors from Prince Edward County had to compete with roughly 1,327 entries. Fifth Town’s Lighthall Tomme won a first place award in the Aged Goat Cheese Category while their Cape Vessey won second place in the Washed Rind Goat Category. The Premium Goat Milk Cheddar, a combined venture between the Fifth Town and Black River cheese companies won 3^rd prize in the Goat Cheddar category.

Fifth Town’s Lighthall Tomme’s is a natural rind, cave-aged goat cheese and has won several awards for its quality. In addition to the recent awards, it won first place in the goat cheese category at the Royal Winter Fair in 2008 as well as first place at the British Empire Show. Cape Vessey is a washed rind, firm goat cheese that is aged 3-4 months but can also age up to 6 months. This Trappist style cheese has a chewy, slightly salty rind. The paste offers complex and slightly aggressive flavours. It is creamy on the palate with a rich, flavourful finish. This is Cape Vessey’s 3^rd award for the Goat Washed Rind Category. Cape Vessey was also last year’s Grand Champion Goat Cheese at the Royal Winter Fair. It also won first place the British Empire Cheese Show.

Prince Edward County has a long history of producing quality cheeses. The Black River cheese factory has been operating for 108 years and is the only cheese factory remaining from what was a prospering industry. In the late 19th century, Prince Edward County was a major producer of top quality barley to feed the insatiable North American brewing industry. After the “barley days”, a cheese industry started to develop and by at its peak the dairy industry supported 20 different cheese factories. Today, many of the historic buildings that are now homes, shops and restaurants were once cheese factories. However, as industrialization took hold more and more producers were purchased and amalgamated until only the Black River Cheese company remained. In 2002, Fifth Town started producing cheese and along with Black River, the two companies are putting Prince Edward County back on the cheese map.

For years, Quebec has been world-renowned for their artisan cheese producers and a leader in the Canadian cheese scene. Recent reports identify 75 different producers in the region whereas Ontario is estimated to have 15. With the recent wins for Fifth Town and Black River along with the innovative work over at Monforte in Stratford, could Ontario be experiencing a cheese revolution? Are we on the path to finally abandoning our industrial cheese production for a more artisan-focused industry? We wanted to know your thoughts with OUR DISCUSSION TOPIC OF THE DAY. While our industry may be smaller yet starting to make some ground, we wanted to know…Which Ontario Artisan Cheese is Your Personal Favorite? Share your thoughts and let’s help to spread the word of the great cheeses coming out of Ontario!

Have a Cheesy Weekend Everyone!