Goats are Great

If A. and I ever start a farm on the outskirts of Ottawa (as conceptualized while driving around Nova Scotia a few weeks ago), I told her that I want to have goats, in part because I would like to learn to make goat cheese. Over the course of this year, I have found it to be reliably good as you may have gathered by reading the many posts I've made about the stuff (particularly during my summer salad days).

The latest one to cross my plate comes from the good folks at Alexis de Portneuf: Paillot de chevre is a soft surface-ripened cheese whose name comes from the straw that's used traditionally in the transport of goat cheese.

I've tried two of this fromagerie's products in the summer—Do Re Mi, their halloumi, and Capriny, one of their chevres—but didn't write about them, though both were good. However, I am frequently seduced by Alexis de Portneuf's labels at the grocery store: have a peek at the website and see how lovely they are (and award-winning it turns out).

Anyway, I bought the mini-round of Paillot for $5.77 at Whole Foods after trying a most delicious cheese that was out of my price range. Even though the cheaper cheese was not the same, it still hit a couple of the same notes:

• Creamy
  
• Strong-flavoured
• Somewhat stinky
  

Much of the flavour of this cheese is in the rind (remember it's "surface-ripened") and that flavour totally recalls blue cheese (which is why B. didn't really like it when I gave him some to try) but slightly more sour (the website uses the word "acidulous"). In any case, it pairs nicely with rye crackers (followed maybe by a bit of jam or fruit paste) and the cheesemakers recommend eating it with Saumur red wine ("Saumur Champigny are among the best red wines in the Loire Valley").

Saint Morgon vs. Cheap Feta

Saint Morgon: $6.99/200g at Fiesta Farms

One of the reasons I went nuts and bought three kinds of cheese yesterday was that it was pay day and I suddenly had a bit of money in my bank account (hooray for direct deposit!). Before most of it was funneled towards my VISA bill, I felt like treating myself and spending a bit of hard-earned cash on cheese -- especially in light of my last cheese purchase: a 123-gram piece of sub-par feta bought at the ultra-budget No Frills near my house for $2.18 (which may have been the cheapest piece of cheese for sale in the entire store) because I couldn't bear the thought of not eating any cheese for a week.

So what's the difference between cheap cheese and not-so-cheap cheese? It's probably not fair to compare these two particular cheeses since the two types are vastly different but I've been thinking about the price of cheese ever since laying eyes on the super-tiny tubs of $12.95 Salt Spring Island Chevre at Whole Foods and then seeing the $9.95 Buffalo Mozzarella yesterday at Fiesta Farms. I'm all for paying more to get a higher quality product. If there's anything I've learned reading food books and Gourmet magazine all summer it's that it's all about the ingredients. Case in point: the basil pesto I made with high-end, Whole Foods-purchased parmesan reggiano while housesitting for C. was one of the best pestos I've ever made (I was so proud of it that I made T. and W. try spoonfuls of it fresh out of the food processor).

Anyway, the cheap feta I've been eating in salad all week was fine - it was crumbly and salty and went well with my sweet, garlicky homemade dressing - but it didn't blow my mind. Since starting this cheese project, there have only been two cheese that have done that (metaphorically, of course): one was the anonymous pecorino I had back in May and the other was a free sample of a soft cheese I tried at Whole Foods while purchasing the aforementioned expensive parmesan. Both had overwhelming flavour and you didn't need to eat much to get a sense of that. The cheese I popped in my mouth at Whole Foods (straight because it was the last bit on the tray and there were no more crackers) was like a meal in a mouthful. That's worth paying for.

Desiring a similar treat, I shelled out $6.99 for Saint Morgon at Fiesta Farms and bought an Ace Bakery demi-baguette to eat with it. Even wrapped up in plastic and wax paper, it smelled mildly stinky (like sweaty socks, actually) and the labelling on the bottom of the package assured me that it was "affiné" (ripened). I tried some smeared on the bread after I'd squeezed all the fruit in the fridge. What I noticed first of all was that it was salty. The flavour was mild at first, then started to get stronger but was never overwhelming in the way I wanted it to be. No aftertaste, though, which is a good thing, and though it's a full-fat soft cheese, it wasn't too creamy-tasting either.

But was it worth the cost? I mean, I will eat it and enjoy it (I had some more this morning) but I probably won't buy it again. When you're cheese-shopping on a budget, as I am, I think you want better R.O.I. (return on investment). Which has made me think that I need to sample expensive cheeses before purchasing them. If my "cheap feta" had turned out to be crappy, which it wasn't, it wouldn't have mattered because I spent so little on it but I can't help but feel a little ripped-of by the Saint Morgon...

Note #1: that's not a real ant in the feta picture, it's plastic

Note #2: Maybe the Saint Morgon just isn't meant for eating on bread. The Juniper Grill & Wine Bar in Orangeville uses it in a cooked appetizer: "Escargots, mushroom & Saint Morgon cheese perogy with sorrel sauce" (only $9 if you're willing to make the drive out of town and the rest of the menu looks good, too)

My fridge is all fromage & fruit

Went raspberry-picking at Spring View Farms in the hamlet of Leaskdale yesterday afternoon with B. Very cute "chemical-free" farm about 80km north of Toronto that does U-Pick strawberries, blackcurrants, and raspberries. (I'd tried to go there two weeks ago with S.W. and M. for strawberries but they were sold out so had to pick at Twinkle Berry Farm down the road.) We didn't have much time for picking because we only had a car co-op Yaris until 5:30pm and we didn't get to the farm until almost 3pm but we still picked 9 pints! And the berries are delicious. After I returned the car (and broke my cellphone by dropping it!), I walked up to look at a room for rent near Dupont & Christie, along the way picking up the cherries, strawberries, and blueberries I'd left in the fridge at work on Thursday.

The room for rent was cute and little red house on Clinton had potential (lots of room, cheap rent, a designated "sewing room", backyard, basement with laundry...) but it didn't feel quite right for me. However, it was just a two-minute walk away from one of my favourite Toronto supermarkets: Fiesta Farms (which, if you remember, is the place I spent nearly $75 as a pre-birthday present to myself) . This store is a sort of Italian/organic grocery-store heaven: they have an entire aisle devoted to pasta & sauce, their selection of olive oils and balsamic vinegars is amazing, they have great produce, tonnes of reasonably priced organic "staples," and a not-bad selection of cheese. So, not only do I have a tonne of fruit in my fridge, I also have 3 new kinds of cheese to taste this weekend:

• Saint Morgon: a soft ripened cheese from Choisy Le Roi, France (website in Norwegian)
  
  
• Capriny: a soft unripened goat's milk cheese from Saint-Raymond de Portneuf, Quebec
  
  
• Doré-Mi: a semi-soft unripened cheese from Montreal, Quebec*

* labelled as "The Perfect Cheese to Grill," which means I will be calling up B. (once I have a phone again) and asking if we can grill it on her rooftop-deck BBQ...

A Shopping List for St. Lawrence Market

- Saint-Andre (soft, triple cream)
- Epoisses (stinky)
- Pecorino di Pienza (semi-soft, aged)
- Applewood Smoked Cheddar (smoked)
- Gruyere (hard)
- Fleur du Maquis (fresh and mild)
- Oka (semi-soft, ripened)