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
