This text is part of the special book Plaisirs
It won a third Caseus Gold on Wednesday, beating the 60 other cheeses to have made it to the final of the popular Sélection Caseus competition this year. The opportunity to dive into artisanal Quebec cheese production which, over the years, has carved out a fine reputation and a place of choice on the stalls of cheese makers.
Created in 2010, Fromagerie Nouvelle-France participated for the first time in the Sélection Caseus competition in 2011, with its very first cheese, Zacharie Cloutier. “And we won the Caseus Gold, we couldn’t believe it! exclaims Marie-Chantal Houde, who embarked on this adventure with her brother Jean-Paul. However, she recalls, at that time, sheep’s cheese was non-existent in Quebec… and for lack of funds, she produced hers in the facilities of another cheese factory!
The small miracle accomplished in 2011 by the cheesemaker and her shepherd brother from Racine, a small town in the Eastern Townships, could have stopped there. But the know-how of Fromagerie Nouvelle-France shines, since then, regularly in the competition. “To date, we have won around fifty Caseus Selections with our cheeses, including twice the Gold Caseus”, proudly says Marie-Chantal, who did not yet know, at the time of our interview, that her Zacharie Cloutier would once again be crowned, on November 2, Caseus Or, and would therefore become the best cheese in Quebec, all categories combined, of the year 2022.
Constancy and personality
How does a small cheese dairy that produces relatively little – it works with six local sheepfolds, but the milk from these sheep herds only represents that of seven cows – manages, almost every year, to amaze the professionals on the jury? “I believe that this success is attributable to the quality, but also to the consistency of our products,” replies the cheesemaker. Judges’ tastes may also change. All these parameters play a role in the Caseus contest. But in general, the award-winning cheeses above all have a personality, something special that sets them apart. »
These prices obviously served Fromagerie Nouvelle-France. “They allowed Quebec sheep’s cheese to be on the map “, she agrees. This does not mean that production has exploded. The cheese dairy sells, in addition to Zacharie Cloutier, Madelaine, a soft cheese; Fréchette, a cheese spread; Grillou, a Halloumi-type grilling cheese; and, finally, a sheep’s milk yogurt. That is five products in the face of fierce European competition which has dozens. “But our mission of promoting the work of local sheepfolds and buying their milk at a fair price has been accomplished. We also form a great community of producers,” explains the cheesemaker, who appreciates the work of colleagues, such as the Fromagerie du Presbytère (also a Caseus subscriber), La Moutonnière and the Migneron family..
A family matter
Even if they each have their own signature, a good part of Quebec cheese factories have one thing in common: they are family owned. This is the case for Fromagerie Nouvelle-France, but also for La Suisse normande, founded in 1995 in the Lanaudière region by a couple of European immigrants who have since left the reins of the company to four of their five children.
“We grew up on these lands and acquired values that we couldn’t find elsewhere,” explains Bénédicte Guitel, who is in charge of administration and marketing. With her brother Thibault as well as her sisters Magaly and Laetitia, the entrepreneur sees the cheese dairy as “production at the rhythm of nature, without rushing things, whether for the land, the animals or ourselves. We could produce a lot more, but we stick to this principle and want to continue doing what we love. This translates well into our cheeses, I think.”
This vision of things, which led to the creation of a dozen cow’s and goat’s cheeses with an assumed European signature and belated participation in competitions, has made La Suisse normande a company perhaps less well known than others, but true to its values. Since 2008, Pizzy, a soft cow’s milk cheese of the Vaudois tomme type, has nevertheless won several Caseus awards (including this year in its category), as have Sabot de Blanchette, Biqueron and Capra, three goat cheeses. “We wanted to know where our cheeses stood on the Quebec market, whether professionals liked them or whether we needed to improve them,” says Bénédicte Guitel. We now know that we are part of the Quebec cheese landscape, but what really matters to us is sharing our passion with people. A deliciously contagious passion, indeed!
The iconic Caseus
This special content was produced by the Special Publications team of the To have to, pertaining to marketing. The drafting of To have to did not take part.