Since January, the 1608 cheese found on the shelves of the best cheesemakers and on the menus of the most renowned restaurants is now made with milk from Holstein cows, the most common dairy breed in Canada.
It will now be rarer to see Canadian-bred calves grazing in the fields of Charlevoix. (Pascale Lévesque/Le Soleil)
“I haven’t had any customers come back because they noticed a difference,” assures William Latreille of the Aux petits délices counter at Halles Cartier. “Perhaps discerning palates would note the subtlety, but for me nothing has changed.”
Fine palates like that of the chef at the Champlain restaurant at the Château Frontenac, for example? “I haven’t seen anything at all, noticed anything as a change since we started working with the “Holstein” version of the 1608,” says Gabriel Molleur-Langevin, who offers dishes based on 1608 on the bar and room service menus.
It is also this same version which was submitted and selected for the Caseus Selection, the Oscars of Quebec cheese, as its predecessor was in 2015.
Reflection of the complicated situation among farmers
Still, the news reported in the agricultural weekly Our Earth Last week caused a surprise among lovers of fine cheeses. Because much more than a question of taste, this change reveals a story of wear and tear, of succession and of difficulty in making the valorizing terms well known.
The Hengil Farm herd, which supplied Laiterie Charlevoix, left the region in October. Steve Tremblay, owner of the farm, had to part with his Canadian cows after 15 years, due to health problems and the lack of a replacement.
The last herd of Canadian breed cows in the region left for the South Shore last fall, forcing the Charlevoix dairy to abandon the prestigious name “Canadian breed cow’s milk cheese”. (Charlevoix Dairy)
“All of this required a lot of thought,” explains Bruno Labbé, co-owner of Laiterie Charlevoix in an interview with Soleil. From the moment there was no longer a supply of milk nearby in the region, it became difficult for us to maintain the model with the name “Canadian breed cow’s milk cheese”.”
Pretty but not very productive
With its proportionate physique, its pleasant features, its coat with red, brown and black reflections, the Canadian cow would certainly have its chances in a beauty contest. But if “Miss Cow” suits our heritage bovine, dedicated as such by the Quebec government in 1999, to the Milk Production Olympics, the Holstein imported here at the end of the 19th century wins hands down. A Holstein gives almost twice as much milk as a Canadian.
Which explains why the rustic cow of Breton origins that came here with the first French settlers – hence the name of the cheese 1608, the year Quebec was founded – was quietly abandoned from dairy farms as subsistence agriculture took hold. room for a more commercial vision of breeding.
The Holstein cow is the most common dairy cow in Canada. It represents more than 90% of the herd because it is appreciated for its high milk production capacity. Up to 50 kilos per day. (Pascale Lévesque/Le Soleil)
So much so that today, as Justin Veilleux, continuing education advisor for the food sector at the Institut de technologies agroalimentaires du Québec, reminds us, the Holstein cow with its “Ding and Dong” coat represents 93% of Quebec dairy cows.
The “Champlain cow”, which ensured the survival of the French Canadian pioneers as they shaped our territory, almost disappeared.
Heritage is all well and good, but…
After noting its heritage value, the Quebec government recognized the specific designation “Canadian cow cheese” in 2016, under the Act respecting reserved designations and valorizing terms. Basically, this is what gives companies the right to designate their products by reserved designations: Neuville corn, Charlevoix lamb or all organic products.
“The objective, at the beginning, was to save the cow,” argues Bruno Labbé. It’s not all about consecrating it as a heritage breed. More is needed. Producing cheese with its milk, for example. We did it with a business model that could perhaps hold water at the very beginning, but over time, the increase in costs, the transport aspect, it became more and more difficult.
Bruno Labbé, co-owner and general manager Laiterie Charlevoix is proud of the new version of the 1608 cheese, now made with Holstein cow’s milk, which is in the running for the Caseus Selection. (Pascale Lévesque/Le Soleil)
Bruno Labbé says he has worked with three different breeders of Canadian cows since the first production tests of his cheese, at the end of the 1990s, and understands well the choice of his latest collaborator, Sylvain Tremblay, whom he saw devoted to his herd morning and evening.
Better promotion of specialty milks would be desirable in his opinion. “The mandate to promote valuable terms or names is not that of Laiterie Charlevoix or any other similar company,” complains the boss of the family dairy that has been promoting his region for 75 years.
Valuation too expensive for Quebecers?
Bruno Labbé acknowledges that there is a long way to go before this notion of a valorizing term becomes part of the culture and DNA of Quebecers as it is in France. “Over there,” he continues, “each region has its own particularity and people recognize it. They are ready to pay a little more for valorization.”
Because yes, appellation products come with additional costs given that they must follow certain very specific requirements — called specifications.
“This culture must be developed, it must be made known, but that is the mandate of the State, not that of a private company alone.”
— Bruno Labbé, co-owner and general manager of Laiterie Charlevoix
Raise your paws towards the South Shore
Fortunately, the heritage cow did not lift her legs; instead, she put them down further away, in Chaudière-Appalaches. And we may soon see a cheese made from her udder emerge on the market.
The team of Patrick Soucy, co-owner of Ferme Phylum in Saint-Nicolas and new curator of the heritage herd of Canadian cows, is recognized for developing very special cheeses, adapted to the specificities of their milk and their terroir.
It should also be remembered that other cheeses such as Pied de vent in the Magdalen Islands have been working for a long time with this breed of cow to produce a popular farmhouse cheese.
The quality of the milk is worth all the challenges it faces. “They say it’s a good ‘cheese-making’ milk,” says Justin Veilleux of ITAQ. Canadian cows have milk with a higher fat and protein content than Holsteins.”
The training advisor points out that the breed has little or no influence on the taste of the cheese, but that it is rather the diet, the type of ferment used, the heating of the milk and other stages of the manufacturing process which have an influence. The final result is the sum of the know-how of the dairy producer and the cheese maker.
“And the more you have a certain proximity with your producer, the more the producer and the manufacturer will be sensitive to each other’s cause,” says Justin Veilleux. “They can help each other with the quality of each of their products.”
Good milk cheese…which doesn’t need advertising!
This is undoubtedly reflected in its popularity. Bruno Labbé – knock on wood – will often repeat how his cheese does not need advertising. And if the Caseus Selection is flattering for its product, the quantities remain limited.
“The 1608 stands out in the way it behaves when melted; it does not separate,” explains Gabriel Molleur-Langevin, chef at the Champlain restaurant. It’s really good quality. It also makes a nice “gratinage” as we say in French.
“You can also use it for sauces, gratinated onion soups, cromesquis, or even pizzas. Its texture and rich taste add depth to dishes.”
Cheeses from Laiterie Charlevoix in the ripening room. (Archives The Sun)
“We also asked ourselves in our thinking to what extent the consumer eats 1608 because it is good and he likes it or because the cow arrived at the same time as Samuel de Champlain? We focused on the quality of the product, which we were able to adapt with Holstein milk.”
— Bruno Labbé co-owner and general manager of Laiterie Charlevoix
“We already had the basic technique with Hercule, a slightly firmer cheese which is made with this milk and which is very similar. We think the product is good and appreciated for its taste values.”
We will know on September 25 at a gala organized at the Musée de la Civilization if the 1608, like two other cheeses from the same cheese factory — Emmental and Triple Crème de Charlevoix — will delight the taste buds of the Caseus Selection jury and make the National Capital shine. Twenty-five experts evaluated more than 197 local cheeses to determine the 63 cheeses and 29 finalist companies.
