A Nation? Must be if there is raw milk cheese! [Food/Vendor]
2008 Aug 1
Does this mean that we'll have to go across the river to purchase counterfeit cheese? How exciting!
When my fiancée and I were in Switzerland in May friends of ours fed us the most fantastic Camembert I've ever had. If the use of raw milk in Québec cheeses leads to that level of flavour boosting, I will be one happy panda.
Of course, raw milk cheese isn't for everybody: I wouldn't suggest the very young, the very old, the pregnant, or the immunocompromised eat it. But it should be fair game for everybody else.
Despite this, though, I'm not sure if it's accurate to say that "Europeans have been consuming such products with no ill effects." I think it's more likely that "Europeans have been consuming such products, and accept a food-borne illness or two with a Gallic shrug and an uttered, 'c'est normal.'" ;)
When my fiancée and I were in Switzerland in May friends of ours fed us the most fantastic Camembert I've ever had. If the use of raw milk in Québec cheeses leads to that level of flavour boosting, I will be one happy panda.
Of course, raw milk cheese isn't for everybody: I wouldn't suggest the very young, the very old, the pregnant, or the immunocompromised eat it. But it should be fair game for everybody else.
Despite this, though, I'm not sure if it's accurate to say that "Europeans have been consuming such products with no ill effects." I think it's more likely that "Europeans have been consuming such products, and accept a food-borne illness or two with a Gallic shrug and an uttered, 'c'est normal.'" ;)
2008 Aug 1
This is a victory for us all. Will we see similar legislation in Ontario...I am sadly doubtful.
What makes me laugh is that it is well documented that exposure to bacteria and viruses can be beneficial to the human immune system. Anyone who has lived (or vacationed) abroad has undoubtedly experienced how ineffective our surgically clean stomachs are in dealing with unusual protozoa that people of other cultures have no problem with.
Other examples include the evidence that children who have parents who spray down the entire house with antibacterial/antiviral cleaners are actually more susceptible to getting sick, and get "sicker" when they do contract something.
I am reminded of Bourdain's book where he mentions that all his staff had their GI tract tested ...all his perfectly healthy foreign cooks were hosting all kinds of bacteria/viruses and parasites...with no ill effect on their health whatsoever.
Long story short: we can go too far in our regulation of the "sanitary", "hygienic" and "clean"; to our own detriment.
What makes me laugh is that it is well documented that exposure to bacteria and viruses can be beneficial to the human immune system. Anyone who has lived (or vacationed) abroad has undoubtedly experienced how ineffective our surgically clean stomachs are in dealing with unusual protozoa that people of other cultures have no problem with.
Other examples include the evidence that children who have parents who spray down the entire house with antibacterial/antiviral cleaners are actually more susceptible to getting sick, and get "sicker" when they do contract something.
I am reminded of Bourdain's book where he mentions that all his staff had their GI tract tested ...all his perfectly healthy foreign cooks were hosting all kinds of bacteria/viruses and parasites...with no ill effect on their health whatsoever.
Long story short: we can go too far in our regulation of the "sanitary", "hygienic" and "clean"; to our own detriment.
2008 Aug 7
How exciting indeed!
I for one love the current offerings of cheeses by Quebec artisan cheese makers, and "The Man" and I have been considering a trip to the Eastern Townships and the Charlevoix Region... evidently both areas are becoming real foodie havens. I say bring on the additions... but I would like to see info printed on the packages stating the possible health risks, afterall not all consumers are educated consumers... and no doubt someone will become sick (most likely a child, elderly person or someone with a compromised immune system). For myself, I am wise enough to weigh the risks (and taste will win out, LOL). I will just make a point to consume in moderation.
I for one love the current offerings of cheeses by Quebec artisan cheese makers, and "The Man" and I have been considering a trip to the Eastern Townships and the Charlevoix Region... evidently both areas are becoming real foodie havens. I say bring on the additions... but I would like to see info printed on the packages stating the possible health risks, afterall not all consumers are educated consumers... and no doubt someone will become sick (most likely a child, elderly person or someone with a compromised immune system). For myself, I am wise enough to weigh the risks (and taste will win out, LOL). I will just make a point to consume in moderation.
medicinejar
Raw cheese lovers rejoice!
From the Globe and Mail:
www.theglobeandmail.com
MONTREAL — Quebec has taken a new step toward culinary uniqueness: It will allow its cheese makers to produce the kind of stinky, oozing, unpasteurized bries and camemberts that are illegal in the rest of North America.
The government has modified regulations to allow the production and sale of raw-milk cheeses that have been aged for less than 60 days.
Elsewhere, such young cheeses are verboten due to health concerns. But producers in Quebec, which leads the country in raw-milk cheese consumption, have been lobbying the province for years to change the rules.
They believe such raw-milk cheese is not only healthy, but pasteurization destroys microbes that give their product a deep, palette-pleasing flavour.
“We are very pleased by what is being put on the table. It will bring about a new wave of soft cheeses and raise them to a completely new gustatory level,” said Nancy Portelance, who represents 17 artisan cheese makers in the province.
Cheese lovers maintain that certain soft cheeses like camembert reach their peak ripening point at 21 to 30 days. “At that point, the cheese is creamy, a lot more flavourful and more complex at the level of aroma,” said Ian Picard, master cheese ripener at La Fromagerie Hamel in Montreal.
Cheese ripening has proven a sticky matter between Quebec and the federal government, and an Ottawa attempt in 1996 to ban the sale of raw-milk cheese raised a political stink in the province. Gastronomes pointed out that Europeans have been consuming such products with no ill effects.
Quebec's new initiative appears to place it at odds with those in English Canada, where raw-milk products remain controversial. Quebec Agriculture Minister Laurent Lessard hailed his new regulations as “a veritable revolution” and a North American first. Yet Jean Dalati, a microbiologist at the Quebec agriculture department, says he discussed the changes with counterparts from the rest of Canada and those from the West balked.
“It's as though it's taboo,” Mr. Dalati said on Thursday. “I find it bizarre, because this is common in Europe. But when you talk about it [in Canada], they're afraid.”
(Mr. Dalati said Health Canada was open to Quebec's initiative when he raised it this year. The federal agency said Thursday it would not comment.)
The province's change is accompanied by strict new rules to ensure the safety of the raw-milk cheeses, including monthly quality checks of producers' milk and veterinary inspections of cattle herds.
Until now, regulations required cheese makers using raw milk to ripen the product at least 60 days on evidence it eliminated harmful bacteria in the milk.
Mansel Griffiths, a dairy microbiologist at the University of Guelph, says the 60-day limit has become arbitrary, since it is no longer a guarantee of destroying pathogens. Still, he believes raw-milk cheese continues to pose health-safety issues over potential pathogens.
With the cheese-making overhaul, the province is gaining one distinctive gastronomic trait as it loses another: Beginning this week, Quebec is also ending its ban on yellow margarine.