Caillé au fromage

There’s a handful of thriving dairy farms in North Canaan, others are scattered around the Northwest Corner, but this can hardly be called farm country in comparison with the Eastern Townships of Quebec, around Sherbrooke and extending to Montreal.

The province’s agricultural and zoning laws are farmer-friendly:  keep farms farms, not sub-divisions. Montrealers looking for a weekend home can buy an old farmstead, but they can’t build an additional house (unless they really intend to farm) or turn the old pastures and fields into building lots. Working farms sport new houses and new barns and new equipment. Many families own several old farms — one I was told about has at least 600 milking cows and not quite as many young stock and beef animals.

On a vacation trip to Canada to visit several cousins — my parents both grew up on small farms in the aptly suited town of Barnston, Quebec  — Donna and I saw field after field with tractor-drawn tedders spreading newly cut hay to dry. Cousin Merle told me it was the third cutting. Cousin Zack said in very good years, farmers squeeze out four or five cuttings.

Aside from the ultra-green landscape, we were well aware we were in farm country when we stopped at a convenience store. On the counter (resupplied every morning) was a basket brimming with small plastic bags of cheese curds. Caillé au fromage, s’il vous plaît.

Around here, you may find cheese curds in a specialty store, but likely not in a Patco. Donna couldn’t resist a fresh offering from Laterie de Coaticook Ltée. (Kwa-ti-cook, as it’s pronounced, is a town.)

The cheddar curds are made daily. Cousin Michael said if you visit the creamery in person, the fresh curds are one price, the day-olds another. Fresh, they squeak; refrigerated, they lose their squeak.

Why do you want the fresh curds? For the squeak as you chew it.

As the package says, the curds are “non-affiné à pâte terme,” or firm, unripened cheese. It’s the first stage in making cheese, just before the whey is drained.

As the company explains on its website: “Transmis depuis des générations, notre savoir-faire vous permet de déguster des fromages élaborés avec les mêmes procédés qu’autrefois.”

They use old methods, in other words: “Transmitted for generations, our know-how allows you to taste cheeses made with the same methods as in the past.” 

I sampled one, but restrained myself until we reached Montreal to visit Cousins Melanie and Alan. On our own for lunch, Donna ordered a giant salad at La Belle & La Boeuf and I asked for the Poutine B.O.S., a bowl of french fries with cheese curds smothered in gravy and decorated with smoked bacon, sautéed onions and sausage slices. All locally sourced.

Where can you find that around here?

The writer doesn’t often eat poutine. But when deep in dairy country, why not?