Every Good Cheese Tells a Story a Tasty Afternoon on the Cheese Trail in Ontario’S Dairy Capital ‘If You Don’T Have the Touch, You Can’T Make Good Cheese’

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Photo • GUNN’S HILL CHEESE Every good cheese tells a story A tasty afternoon on The Cheese Trail in Ontario’s Dairy Capital ‘If you don’t have the touch, you can’t make good cheese’

By Dawn Matheson found her in the back porch with a glass It’s clear this taste was nothing like the of a dark liquid in one hand and a plate plasticky-goo on the pizzas warming in the ne Friday night last June, our topped with a delicate mound of soft oven. downtown Guelph home was full velvety heaven in the other. She said it was My face melted. “Orgasmic,” I told Jen as I of more than a dozen Grade 7s just the time-out I needed. washed it down with the dark brown stout. shooting Nerf guns and blaring “Close your eyes, open your mouth,” Jen Eating a piece of cheese with Jen is always tunes, chaos loud enough that the ordered. “Smell, savour.” like a seduction. Owhole street must have overheard. All it took was one dewy dollop of buttery, “I’m in France, eating Brie on the Loire.” “Mom! Neighbour’s here,” my son yelled creamy cheesy bliss on the tongue for the “No, you’re not,” said Jen, as she launched into the kitchen where I was loading frozen Eminem thumping in the living room to into the story behind the cheese that just pizza into the oven. silence; the waft of the 13 pairs of stinky slipped down my throat. It was Jen Whyte from over the fence. I running shoes in the porch to vapourize. “In fact, you are in Ontario, in Oxford

JULY I AUGUST 2017 GRAND 107 The last famous marketing ploy for the going to be paid back to your milk. If you be flavour if aged over two years. laughing. “It was minus 38. No way!” In a dairy industry in the region was in 1883 good to them, they’re going to be good to you,” “It’s a myth that Gouda is bland. You’re few months, encouraged by a fellow Dutch when the local dairy farmers got together Adam says in a thick genial Dutch accent. just eating the wrong Gouda.” immigrant farmer, they relocated to Oxford to produce a 7,300-pound wheel of cheese After years of milking, van Bergeijk It’s true, says van Bergeijk. Aging is key, County. that toured to the New York World Fair and wanted to try his hand at cheese. In but really cheesemaking is all in the hands. For the next 15 years, Adam and his then to Great Britain. Holland, that meant Gouda, the country’s “I have to feel the curd between my family established themselves in milk pro- In the 1800s, Oxford County was one of signature cheese and one of the oldest still fingers. I can tell how ready it is in the duction, but the Gouda dream never died. the most important centres in Canada with made today; the earliest recording is in process. A good cheesemaker has to have “It took us a while to get licences and 98 cheese factories. On the tour today you 1184. Nearly 800 years later, in 1981, van a sense of touch,” says van Bergeijk, whose permits together… plus, really, you need six can see a period replica cheese factory at Bergeijk and his wife, Hannie, enrolled hands massage imaginary curd as he speaks. figures to be in this business.” the Ingersoll Cheese Museum. in Cheesemaking School in the town of “If you don’t have the touch, you can’t Today, both van Bergeijk sons farm: one at Plans were laid that Friday night in my Gouda where Adam went on to become an make good cheese.” Mountainoak with Adam; and the other on back porch for an escape to cheese heaven. instructor. Soon enough, the van Bergeijks’ sons a dairy farm down the road. Their daughter I mapped out our route and Jen hand- Gouda today refers more to a general style wanted to farm for themselves, “but married a neighbouring dairy farmer. picked the cheesemakers while the ’tweens of cheesemaking rather than to a specific Holland is really, really crowded,” says The first Gouda, made from same-day, Nerf-gun demolished my living room and kind of cheese, the taste varying greatly Adam. There just wasn’t enough land, and, non-homogenized and unpasteurized milk, Photography • dawn matheson the pizza burned in the oven. based on age. My neighbour, Jen, explains: too many cheesemakers. was ready for the public in July of 2012. Mountainoak Cheese But I didn’t care. Soon I’d be devouring lots A young Gouda can be described as buttery In the back of his mind, he had hoped to Today they make 16 varieties, from a soft and lots of luscious cheese produced virtually with a slight mild nutty flavour, while the one day bring the tradition of fine Gouda to and crunchy Aged Cumin Gouda to a zesty County, eating cheesemaker Shep Yssel- just down the road. more mature cheese has a complex and Canada. Wild Nettle. stein’s Brigid’s Brie from Gunn’s Hill.” subtle sharpness with hints of butterscotch In 1996, at 45, he bought a farm in Their aging room holds about 3,000 My neighbour is a cheese snob; there is that can take on an almost whisky-like Alberta. “It was December,” Adam said, wheels, each turned by hand every other day. no nicer way to say it. And her life mission MOUNTAINOAK CHEESE is to make snobs of us all. Jen has booths 3165 Huron Rd., New Hamburg at the Guelph Farmers’ Market year round mountainoakcheese.com and in Rockwood at the seasonal market, en suggests we go Old World traditional selling artisanal cheese – cheese produced Jfirst and visit a true family farm, one in small batches by hand, using traditional where the whole process happens in-house: craftsmanship. By night, Jen curates cheese, the farmer grows the feed that feeds the beer and chocolate tasting events with her cows, and milks the milk that makes the company, Taste of Craft, run with local beer cheese. That means Mountainoak cheese connoisseur, Karyn Boscariol. isn’t only artisanal but also farmstead, Jen’s timing in the market couldn’t be where the only milk used for cheese more perfect: Canadians are craving local production is from animals raised by the specialty cheeses over the giant producers where Bright Cheese still produces cheddar maker. of the manufactured processed brands. on the same land where their cows were “Farming is not an occupation. It is a way Don’t get me wrong: Kraft Dinner still milked 142 years ago. In 2015, four Oxford of living,” says Adam van Bergeijk, as he reigns supreme with my kids. It is pretty County artisanal cheesemakers were welcomes us to his handsome 200-acre well Canada’s national dish: James Lewis nominated for the Canadian Cheese Grand dairy farm. Kraft grew up on a dairy farm in Ontario. Prix, and three came home with an award. For van Bergeijk, who has farmed most of Until about a decade ago — other than “It isn’t just the amazing quality and his life since he took over the family dairy cheddar, which was once Canada’s second range of flavours in artisanal cheese that farm back in Holland in 1976, it’s always largest export — the great variety of artisan consumers are looking for, they want the been about the cow. cheeses you found in the cheese shops were stories behind the food: where it comes “I love my Holstein. They are really sweet from Quebec or imported from Europe. from, who makes it and how,” Jen says. animals. When I walk in the herd, they Today, there are 40-some artisanal Hence, Oxford Tourism’s smart marketing come up to me. They know me and I know producers throughout Ontario — the con- move with The Cheese Trail in Ontario’s them by name,” says van Bergeijk, who centration sprouting up in Oxford County, Dairy Capital – tourismoxford.ca/cheese- oversees a herd of 200. about 30 kilometres southwest of Kitchener, trail – launched in 2015. “Everything that you do with the cows is

108 GRAND JULY I AUGUST 2017 JULY I AUGUST 2017 GRAND 109 listed on the Cheese Trail. This is Ruth an easy business, especially the politics of markets across Ontario per week, talking in balsam ash, and Bliss, a spring sheep’s Klahsen’s Monforte on Wellington eatery in food production.” and tasting cheese. If you work for me, you cheese rolled in tarragon that tastes of neighbouring Perth County in downtown In 2004, Klahsen mortgaged everything sell at markets.” liquorice and lavender in a creamy velvet. Stratford. she owned to start Monforte. She called it That’s how she rolls. Klahsen doesn’t rely Much like her business style, her food is “She is known for doing things differ- her midlife crisis. She couldn’t understand on marketing, doesn’t use any distributors, all about relationships — each cheese has ently,” says Jen, “she is a force of nature. how a province with so much agriculture only sells direct. She’s not worried about its pairing — ours are honey, a mustard Anyhow, her cheese can’t be missed.” produced no artisanal cheese. Right before not being on a cheese trail. Heck, the and, of course, beer, which Jen calls “the The products from her dairy (a processing she was set to launch, she says she and her restaurant we met at didn’t have a sign for perfect cheese beverage.” plant in town), the first operating artisanal cheesemaker and business partner had a the first six months, yet still drew a crowd We follow up with the required cheese cheese company to launch in Ontario, are falling out. Klahsen became the cheesemaker. and top stars on Trip Advisor. comfort foods: a divine sharp mac and wildly popular, especially in markets and Originally renting space, she has since Jen and I talk and taste with Ruth over cheese, “Monforte KD,” made with Provi- high-end boutiques – she has a Toronto reinvented Monforte’s model, raising a ploughman’s lunch sitting on up-cycled dence Aged Cheddar created in partnership outpost on a trendy strip in Liberty Village $500,000 to build the current cheese plant. chairs at tables surrounded by handcrafted with the Bright dairy, plus a mandatory – and in 30-plus restaurants, such as Subscribers supported the dairy by buying artsy décor. The menu features a rotating gooey grilled cheese dipped in local apple Toronto’s high-end Royal York and Cava. shares, repaid in cheese. selection of Monforte cheeses, charcuterie, butter. “People die when they can’t get the Monforte Now they make more than 25 unique preserves, pickles and other signature “I always wanted to be a midwife or a Toscano,” my neighbour says, referring to a cheeses — all ingredients sourced locally specialties. doula,” says Klahsen. We laugh. beloved intense, earthy sheep’s cheese. and ethically — most sold in person by Our cheese board samples Waltzing As the Monforte matriarch, she is the The restaurant, which bills itself as an someone who works for Monforte. Matilda, a soft, Camembert-style cheese midwife of cheese now, her hand guiding Six of those wheels won awards at the osteria — a small, simple eatery — is a “We sell at roughly 25 to 30 farmers’ made with rich water buffalo milk swathed every aspect of the business. “Food should 2016 British Empire Cheese Awards. perfect showcase for Monforte products, Van Bergeijk is his own best customer. and for Klahsen as an entrepreneur. He samples each cheese. “It is about the Where van Bergeijks is rural — his subtlety – you don’t overpower the gouda relationship with the land and animals with the flavours.” paramount — Klahsen is urban. She grew I ask him the question most producers up a city Mennonite in London, Ont., and hate: What’s your favourite? “Today, Black her connections with “the right people has Truffle,” he says, referring to the sublime made for the best ingredients.” earthy mushroom flecked in tangy buttery Her life revolves around food: she eats cheese. out almost nightly and is intimate with all Photo • MONTEFORTE DAIRY VISIT ONE OF OUR SHOWROOMS AT: Van Bergeijk hands us a paper hat, booties Ruth Klahsen, cheesemaker, Monforte Dairy the food trends having worked longtime in and gloves. We get to tour the facilities the culinary industry, as a chef in Stratford 888 GUELPH ST. and the barn. In the processing plant, I’m and at its festival, plus as an instructor at KITCHENER, ON 519.579.3810 taken aback by the sophisticated technol- including a calf just a few hours old. Stratford’s famous chef school where she ogy – nothing looks Old World. And, oh, so Van Bergeijk’s son Arjo hops off a tractor graduated in the inaugural class in 1983. 309 EXETER RD. clean and shiny. There is a slight aroma of and joins us for a photo. “This is the next Klahsen does not own her animals, she LONDON, ON 519.652.1677 smoked apple wood from the Chili Pepper generation right here,” says Adam. “He is partners with local farmers who do, and not Smoked Gouda made the day before. the van Bergeijk boss of the cows now.” just cows — sheep, goat and water buffalo, 1112 MARCH RD. Van Bergeijk lets us in on a secret. Rick Adam tells us the English translation too — using only seasonal milk from KANATA, ON 613.592.9111 Mercer, the comedian behind CBC’s popular of the Dutch family name is “from the humanely treated animals. Rick Mercer Report, was about to feature mountain oak.” Aha. “Next I want to try cheese made from Mountainoak. We joke about Mercer horse’s milk, like they do in Mongolia,” swimming in the vats of curds and whey, MONFORTE DAIRY Klahsen says. juggling the discs of Gouda, and tossing monfortedairy.com It’s easy to detect that she has a nonstop cow patties in the barn. (You can see what Monforte on Wellington mind that runs on innovation, originality happened at www.cbc.ca/mercerreport > 80 Wellington St., Stratford and risk-taking. “Hey, I’m just trying to LO C A L LY M A N U FAC T U R E D S I N C E 1 9 6 1 1 . 8 0 0 . 2 6 5 . 2 2 9 0 episodes > Nov 29, 2016.) ur next visit is not to a farm or a cheese- keep the wolves from the door,” she says S A L E S @ G O L D E N W I N D O W S . C O M Out at the barns, we meet the cows, processing plant, nor is it a stop even when I ask her about her hustle. “This isn’t O W W W. G O L D E N W I N D O W S . C O M

110 GRAND JULY I AUGUST 2017 JULY I AUGUST 2017 GRAND 111 of five brothers working on his parents’ 5 Brothers is a handcrafted, washed rind girlfriend, now wife, Colleen Bater, ran the Harvest sheep cheese and Elgin Buffalo Gouda huge dairy and beef cattle farm. He never cow’s cheese that combines traits from company with him, in addition to her job is made by Gunn’s Hill on their behalf. really thought he’d farm himself. In fact, he Gouda and Appenzeller. It is creamy with a as a teacher. A business mind herself, she Now with cheese in more than 300 went off to do a business degree in Iowa. touch of sweet and zing. looks after the marketing end with an active locations across Ontario, Ysselstein and “I wanted to be far away from the farm so Handeck is produced using the same Facebook page: “How many cheese wheels Bater are busy, to say the least – especially I couldn’t get called home to milk on the methods as a typical Swiss mountain style in our aging room!? Lori Chesney guessed now that they have a child, Willem. weekends.” cheese and is a nod to Ysselstein’s early 10,500; the actual number is 10,399! She Ysselstein divides his day in three: baby In his last year of school, he went on a training. The firm nutty cheese is named wins a wheel!” time all night; cheesemaking in the early road trip with roommates to Thunder Bay after the alp in Switzerland where Ysselstein Not all those wheels are strictly Gunn’s morning – sometimes with baby onboard; where he happened upon Thunder Oak learned his craft, and it just won Best Hill’s. Ever the smart businessman, “I and running the booming business in the Cheese Farm. He recalls thinking that if Farmhouse Cheese at the Canadian Cheese wanted to maximize capacity at the dairy so afternoon – also baby onboard. it can work in Thunder Bay, it can surely Grand Prix. started making cheese for other people.” In the shop, you can peek into the dairy work in southern Ontario. The third is a young buttery cheese called In 2012, local farmers had an excess of through the viewing windows. Ysselstein Yet, school ended and Ysselstein returned Oxford Harvest, modelled after a little- sheep milk and no one to buy it. With invites us to taste a bit of his current home to milk cows. “I did that for two known Swiss cheese called Mutchli. To keep no cheese-making experience, they asked favourite. “Last night I ate a whole wheel of years, by myself, just me and the cows, and up with customer demands for “always Ysselstein for help. Crossroad Farms Sheep this for dinner,” he says. thought, I don’t want to do this forever.” He something new,” Ysselstein blends this Milk Gouda was born as a partnership That’s Brigid’s Brie, the very one my had the entrepreneurial spirit. He enrolled cheese with cumin in one version, garlic product. neighbour, Jen, brought over that night in a few cheesemaking courses at the Uni- and chives in another. Every Friday it’s Curd Then, Ysselstein started producing cheese in my back porch. Named after his wife’s Photography • dawn matheson versity of Guelph and then at the University Friday at the dairy storefront with cheddar for an Amish co-operative, Hope Artisan mom, Brigid is the patron saint of dairy Shep Ysselstein, Gunn’s Hill Artisan Cheese of Vermont. curds offered in bulk. Poutine tonight! Dairy Co-op in Alymer. Due to strict beliefs farmers. Jen says it is the best Ontario Brie As a placement during school, Ysselstein From the beginning, Ysselstein’s then around the use of electricity, Shepherd’s she has had. be beautiful in every way.” farm dog running up to greet us. had worked in a dairy in upstate New York. Klahsen is a textbook perfectionist: “You Shep Ysselstein, 34, is the next-generation They needed an extra hand so he returned know, I really can’t enjoy my own cheeses cheesemaker. He grew up on his grand- to help them out. As luck would have it, because I’m always thinking of how to parents’ farm right next door, run by his through a farmer there he learned of a make them better.” parents now who still milk the cows he uses cheesemaker in Switzerland who wanted an It is time for us to go, and Ruth tells us so. for his cheese. apprentice. “I have to go yell at the cooks,” she says. Ysselstein is a perfect combination of “I got to make cheese the same way they I think she’s joking, but maybe not. “Food business prowess, youth enthusiasm, did 500 years ago. Milking cows when wasn’t good enough. Crackers weren’t tradition and craft. they are out in pasture in the alps. Making evenly salted. The bread in the grilled “It’s interesting with Gunn’s Hill,” says cheese by hand,” Ysselstein says. The cheese was stale.” Jen. “The consumer witnessed no growth romance of it all struck him. All things I didn’t notice in my cheese period. Ysselstein made three cheeses He lined up a job with Vancouver Island’s DELICIOUS BY DESIGN inebriation. Though, Klahsen is my kind his first month. Right away they were all Natural Pastures cheese company to learn of powerhouse woman: she put the curse excellent, and he still makes each one the the ropes at the factory before coming home CHEF DRIVEN LOCALLY words all in the right spots. And, damn, she same.” to Oxford County to commit to a business SOURCED DISHES WITH makes good cheese. One of those cheeses, 5 Brothers, took of his own. He bought 12 acres of land the gold for best firm cheese at the 2013 right beside his family’s farm and began A GLOBAL INSPIRATION Gunn’s Hill Artisan Cheese Canadian Cheese Grand Prix just in Gunn’s practising his recipes. 445172 Gunn’s Hill Rd. Hill’s second year. The next year, Ysselstein With a $250,000 loan from a community Woodstock won the 2014 BDC Young Entrepreneur development fund, Gunn’s Hill Artisan 110 Erb Street. W. Waterloo gunnshillcheese.ca Award $100,000 grand prize for his small Cheese opened its doors in 2011, offering 519-208-3333 en and I were meant to visit three more business. With it he built a 2,000-square- three cheeses made in the Swiss Alpine proofwaterloo.com Jcheesemakers, but we were already two foot, climate-controlled curing and aging style. Two of them do have the signature hours behind. Too much talking and tasting. extension to his current building so he holes we associate with Swiss cheese –called 110 Erb Street. W. Waterloo Gunn’s Hill would round out our day. could double his annual production of “eyes.” You can see the cheese being made 519-208-3333 The drive up the lane is all fairytale: cheese to 60,000 kilograms. through the large picture windows in the proofwaterloo.com BRUNCH. LUNCH. DINNER. LOUNGE rolling green pastures, even the friendly Ysselstein grew up milking cows as one cheese shop.

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