Upper Canada Cheese Company

Located in the small town of Jordan, in the heart of Canada's premier (folk from BC will argue this point - get over it! *smile*) wine region, this cheese manufacturer makes wonderful artisinal cheeses. I first tried their cheeses a few weeks ago when I was trolling through wineries with Dave, Rosanne, and Paul. Featherstone winery had samples of the Comfort Cream cheese. It paired so well with the wine that I purchased a wheel to bring home.

Yesterday my friend Ruth was graduating with her Master's of Education and I had invited friends and family here for a post graduation glass of wine, some cheese, and nibbles prior to going out for dinner. I was off for a vacation day so I decided to travel to Jordan to visit the cheese factory and purchase some cheese directly from the manufacturer.

The cheese company has the following 'philosohpy':

• To utilize the gifts of the region as much as possible: the long growing season, the escarpment, the protection of two Great Lakes and the limestone provide the Terroir;
• The high solids, large percentage of Vitamins, calcium, Beta-Carotene and the presence of only Beta-Casein A2 make the milk the finest and healthiest that is available;
• To make cheese daily from ONLY fresh milk with no additives and no preservatives is our commitment;
• To intervene as little as possible mechanically, but to be traditional with hand moulding, hand salting, hand brine washing and hand wrapping is our philosophy.

The owners have gathered a motivated crew of employees who understand the rare combination of all these things. The cheese making facility is a simple, but state of the art facility located in Jordan Station. It is set on 17 acres of land and the creamery itself is built along the rail line, as it would have been done a century ago, when the iron rails were the main form of transportation. History has seen the passing of some 1200 cheese plants down to less than eighty today; their hope is that this trend will be reversed.

This reversal has started with two delicious cheeses. One is a bloomy rind cheese, which they have named “Comfort Cream” which is patterned after the famous “Camembert”. It is rich and creamy. It was wonderful with some of the Strawberry Balsamic Vinegar Jam with Black Peppercorns I made last week.

The second cheese is a washed rind, with tremendous flavour that was developed by the Trappist Monks to get them through long, meatless fasts. The staff have combined the milk, the recipe and married them together in our “Niagara Gold”. This cheese has a nutty flavour, it is a semi-hard cheese and paired very well with fruit, and the last of the fig balsamic jelly that my friend Palma gave me when I was in California.

I see the emergence of this artisinal cheese maker as part of an exciting development in Niagara. First came the wines, followed by the foods. The area is becoming a wonderful spot where you can find interesting things to tantalize your palate, excellent accommodation, art galleries, and fine shopping. It is no wonder that so many Americans flock to this region!

Comments

[Robert]

Your description of these cheeses has me drooling!

It has been very gratifying to see the resurgence in artisan cheeses despite the 'pasteurise everything' brigade doing everything they can to eliminate them.

I have gathered (from trawling cheesemaking books on Amazon) that the US and Canada is something of a hotbed for artisan cheese production?

[Jerry]

Robert - I don't know if the term hotbed is appropriate. I think that there is a growing appreciation for thinsg which are unique and traditionally made. We have such a young sense of 'tradition' here that it is good to see. There is a sense that small, independent 'manufacturers' can make wonderful foods with simple, natural ingredients.

I've only recently started to appreciate cheeses and must explore more!

[Juno888]

Your description of these cheeses has me drooling!

[Jerry]

Juno - if you're ever in the area you need to check them out!