Pionnier

What happens when two of Quebec's finest cheesemakers collaborate to fabricate a new cheese? You get, what I believe to be one of Canada's greatest cheese; Pionnier.

Pionnier is a firm, washed rind, cooked paste cheese, made from a blend of raw cow and sheep milks. The large 40 KG wheels which are aged for 10 to 12 months are branded with a muslin label integrated in the crust.

The history of the Pionnier is explained on the muslin label; "C’EST ELLE, C’EST LUI, C’EST EUX", which translates to "It's Her, It's Him, It's THEM". She is Marie-Chantal Houde from Fromagerie Nouvelle-France (maker of Zacharie Cloutier winner of the 2011 Sélection Caseus Gold & 2013 Bronze), he is Jean Morin from Fromagerie du Presbytère (maker of Louis-D'Or winner of the 2012 Sélection Caseus Émérite and Bleu d'Elizabeth winner of the 2013 Sélection Caseus Gold and 2013 Émérite award). They have put their hands and heads together to create the Pionnier another award winning cheese (2013 Sélection Caseus Bronze & a special award for Best Raw Milk Cheese).

The Pionnier has a lovely honey coloured paste that is rich and creamy. Pionnier has a strong fruity, buttery and hazelnut flavor, with a perfect balance of acidity and sweetness, followed by a complex lasting aftertaste. This artisanal mountain style cheese reminds me of the French Savoie cheeses; Abondance and Beaufort d'Alpage.

Remember, Pionnier is an artisanal cheese and is produced in limited editions. If you get your hands on a piece, savour it.  The Pionnier pairs nicely with a white Chardonnay de Chablis or a Merlot de Savoie.

www.fromagepionnier.com

Burrata

Burrata is a fresh Italian cheese made from mozzarella and cream. Burrata is usually made from  buffalo milk but it is also made from cow milk or a combination of both milks. The success of Burrata cheese is huge right now, not only in Italy but here in Montreal it is very much in demand.

Burrata was first made in the early 1900s on the Bianchini farm in the town of Andria in the region of Puglia in southern Italy. The ingenuity of these cheesemakers began producing Burrata as a natural consequence of the typical peasant culture and accustomed to little waste and the reuse of any surplus. They decided to mix the residues from the processing of the cheese dough with the cream and wrap it all in a casing which is also made of spun paste.

Burrata is formed into a pouch made from spun curd which contains a soft heart of cream called 'panna' and is filled with ritagli ( the 'scraps' or 'rags') of mozzarella, wrapped with leaves of asphodel, a local herb which grows in the wild in the area of Andria and gives an aromatic and tangy note to the cheese.

The Burrata I selected is produced by Cilento S.P.A. a cheese factory located in Cellole in the region of Campania in southern Italy. The Cilento family have been operating for more than a generation in the dairy sector, dedicated exclusively to the production of the Mozzarella di Bufala Campana DOP (Protected Designation of Origin).

Enjoy the sweet milky buttery taste of Burrata in simple dishes and also in very elaborate meals. Burrata can be enjoyed simply accompanied by a green salad or served with ripe juicy red tomatoes, olive oil and ground black pepper.  A delightful rich cheese that pairs nicely with a Castel del Monte, a dry, medium-bodied chardonnay from the Puglia region of Italy.

Here is a great video put out by the Culinary Institute of America on the making of Burrata: Puglia's Molten Mozzarella.

Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real - Don't Take Me Back

Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real is an American rock group based out of Venice, California.

The group consists of Lukas Nelson (son of Willie Nelson) who is lead vocalist & guitarist and Promise of the Real members; Anthony Logerfo (drummer), Tato Melgar (percussionist) and Merlyn Kelly (bass).

Don't Take Me Back is reflective of Lukas Nelson's usual style; honest and direct, a song that captures a strong feeling and tie to a powerful melody. This live version was recorded at the Vilar Performing Arts Center in Avon, Colorado on October 23, 2011.

Don't Take Me Back and a fine selection of other guitar based rock tracks appear on the album Wasted.

http://www.promiseofthereal.com/

Le Maréchal

Le Maréchal is a firm raw cow's milk cheese produced by Fromagerie De Granges in the Vaud region of Switzerland.

Artisan cheesemaker Jean-Michel Rapin from Granges-Marnand in Broye started making Le Maréchal in 1992. The cheese is named after his grandfather Emile Rapin who was a blacksmith-farrier, which is called a maréchal-ferrant in French. A large picture of his grandfather which reflects his original and robust character is on the label of every wheel of Le Maréchal.

The cheesemaker and a team of local dairy farmers that supply the milk to make Le Maréchal, are bound by an agreement they created to guarantee good quality milk in a production process that looks after the cows and nature in general and guarantee an original, creamy tasting cheese.

Le Maréchal is a robust mountain style cheese similar to Gruyere but the wheels are much smaller weighing 6 kg. It is aged for 130 days. During the ripening process the rind is hand-rubbed with aromatic herbs.

Le Maréchal has a dry brown rind that is flecked with herbs. The firm cooked pressed paste has a beautiful golden colour which is smooth and solid with few holes. It has a nutty and herbal aroma.

Le Maréchal has a melt in your mouth texture and a rich, nutty flavour with sweet tones of butterscotch and berries.

Pairs nicely with figs and a glass of dry white wine or a Beaujolais.

www.le-marechal.ch/

Photo source : www.lake-geneva-region.ch

Ibores

Ibores is a firm raw goat-milk cheese from the ruggedly beautiful region of Extremadura in the province of Cáceres in the southwest part of Spain.

Ibores cheese has a Denomination of Origin protection; it is made exclusively from whole, raw milk from goats of the Serrana, Verata, Retinta breeds and their crossbreeds. Ibores cheese is matured a minimum of 60 days, some wheels labeled 'Artisanal" are aged at least 100 days.

Ibores comes in a small 1.2 kg (2 lbs.) flat cylindrical wheel measuring 15 cm (6") across and approximately 9 cm (3.5") high. It has a striking orange-ochre colour rind that has been rubbed with pimentón (paprika) and a dense ivory colour paste with a few small crevices.

Ibores has a buttery and moist texture with a pleasant creamy taste on the palate. Ibores is slightly acidic and a moderately piquant flavour with a lovely goat-milk lingering tangy finish.

Ibores pairs nicely with an oaky flavoured Spanish red wine from Rioja.

http://www.quesoibores.org

Fromagerie La Station De Compton

It seems like I have been away for a long time. My apologies for the delay in updating my blog but it is gardening season and I can't help but take every free time I can to work outdoors and attend to my garden.

I've also been on a lovely road trip with my sister Pauline and my mom through very scenic regions of Quebec; the Centre du Quebec and the lovely Eastern Townships in the southeast of Quebec.

One of the most memorable stops of my holiday was a visit at one of Quebec's finest cheesemakers the Fromagerie La Station located in the quaint village of Compton near Lake Massawippi in Memphrémagog County.

Fromagerie La Station de Compton make excellent farmstead cheeses, all made of raw milk from a heard of dairy cows raised in an organic farming environment. The family farm and cheese factory is owned and operated by Pierre Bolduc and his wife Carole and their three sons; Simon-Pierre, Vincent and Martin who all play important roles in the management and fabrication of their award winning artisanal cheeses.

Driving up to the farm we are greeted by a herd of Holstein cows that seem very happy to be out grazing on the fresh green grass in this beautiful scenic countryside.

At the Fromagerie's cheese shop we are warmly greeted by co-proprietor Carole Routhier who graciously accepted to give us a wonderful guided tour of their family operation.

One of the first steps of cheese making; the warm morning organic cow milk is brought in and then coagulated and stirred.

The curded milk is then pumped out of the vat into cheesecloth where the whey can continue to drain before the cheese is placed into their molds.

Here the cheeses have been removed from their molds (forms) and are soaking in brine.

Spruce boards drying before heading to the salle d'affinage. It's the spruce boards that give the cheese that distinctive rustic woodsy aroma.

In the affinage room, the cheese wheels are brushed with salt and the wheels are turned.

The longest process of cheese-making is the affinage, where the wheels are left to age to achieve that specific distinctive flavour. The affinage time varies for each of the Fromagerie La Station cheeses; La Raclette de Compton and Comtomme take 90 days, Chemin Hatley is aged 3 months, Comtomme Signature is aged for 4 to 5 months and Alfred Le Fermier is aged 8 months and some wheels up to 24 months.

It's lunch time and at the Fromagerie La Station cheese shop people line up to feast on their delicious grilled cheese sandwiches.

If you are at all in the Eastern Townships region this summer I strongly recommend a trip to Compton to visit one of Quebec's finest cheesemakers the Fromagerie La Station.

Call ahead if you would like to book a guided tour.

Fromagerie La Station
440 Hatley Road (route 208)
Compton, QC J0B 1L0
Tél.: 819 835-5301

www.fromagerielastation.com

Le Chevrot

Le Chevrot is an exquisite goat-milk cheese made in France's Vallée de La Loire.

Le Chevrot is produced by Sèvre et Belle, a small co-op created and run by people in the village of Celles-sur-Belle in the Poitou-Charentes region in western France. Through the 100 years Sèvre et Belle have been making goat cheese, they has remained faithful to tradition while constantly adapting to advances in technology. 

Le Chevrot is a small 5 cm (2") high 200 g (7 oz) goat-milk cheese that is produced in both raw and pasteurised milk versions. This chèvre is a "living" cheese, meaning the cheese continues to ripen when it is kept refrigerated at a temperature of 4-6°C.  When Le Chevrot is young it is soft, creamy and mild then as the cheese matures it becomes dryer and firmer and the characteristic goat taste is increased to perfection. A younger Chevrot pairs nicely with white wine and a more mature Chevrot is well appreciated with a bolder red.

Sèvre et Belle dairy also produces award winning barrel-churned butter and other goat milk cheeses among them Cabridoux and Le Chèvre d'Or.

http://www.coop-sevrebelle.fr/

Grace Jones

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRACE JONES!
This weekend Grace Jones will be celebrating her 65th birthday.

I've been a big fan of Grace Jones for many years. Grace's striking appearance, her unique look, her signature stylised vocals and her music are all reasons that to this day she remains my all-time favourite recording artist. READ MORE

Enjoy this video of one of my favourite tunes by Grace Jones; “I've Seen That Face Before (Libertango)”. 



Brendan O'Carroll - Mrs. Brown's Boys

Brendan O'Carroll is an Irish writer, producer, comedian, actor and director; he was born in Finglas, a suburb of Dublin. 

Brendan O'Carroll has been a popular comedian in Ireland since the early 1990's, he is best known for portraying the foul-mouthed Irish mother Agnes Brown in Mrs. Brown's Boys.
 

 

Mrs. Brown's Boys is an award winning BBC sitcom created by and starring Brendan O'Carroll. The show is based on O'Carroll's character he created for an Irish radio series he did in 1992 before using the character for his stage plays which were developed from books and straight to DVD films.

Mrs. Brown's Boys is about an 'Irish mammy' who refuses to cut the apron strings from her six grown-up children who are all adults but she treats them as if they are five. As well as having to deal with her children, she has her hands full dealing with her best friend Winnie, the elderly Grandad and various friends and family members.

Agnes Brown is an outspoken woman never at a loss for words. Here is an outrageously funny exert from Mrs. Brown's Boys staring Brendan O'Carroll as Mrs. Brown.

 

 

http://www.mrsbrownsboys.com
 

Viola

Viola Sororia

Viola sororia is a species of Violaceae, a genus of flowering plants belonging to the Violet family. 

Viola sororia, known as the Common Blue Violet, is a stem-less herbaceous hardy perennial plant that is native to eastern North America. It is known by a number of common names including; Common Meadow Violet, Purple Violet, Woolly Blue Violet, Hooded Violet and Wood Violet.

Violets grows easily in all types of soils and are a good choice for a shady or woodland garden or if you are looking for a quick natural look to a garden. Violets can be aggressive and easily invade lawns, but are an excellent choice for a ground cover. This is a very early flowering violet; it blooms from April to June.

Viola sororia have heart-shaped, scalloped dark green leaves and pretty blue violet flowers that droop from slender stems. The plant propagates on horizontal runners that root every 3 to 5 inches.

Violets are the host plants for Fritillary butterflies. Like many other butterflies, their caterpillars are very selective about what they eat. They do not go for milkweeds as do monarchs; they prefer violets instead. Without violets, there would be no more of those pretty orange and black speckled butterflies.

As well as being used as a common garden plant, Viola sororia has historically been used for food and folk medicine. The flowers picked in early spring when newly opened can be eaten raw in salads or crystallized and used to decorate cakes. The viola flowers can be taken fresh or dried in an infusion to help coughs and bronchitis and also used for soothing nerves, headaches and insomnia.  Herbalists claim that an infusion of dried leaves or dried roots of the viola can alleviate catarrh and bronchitis.