Tag: cheese

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Student Life

Embracing cheesy alternatives

Sheena Swirlz, the Concordia Greenhouse services programming coordinator, hosted a workshop on how to make plant-based cheeses.

Concordia Greenhouse workshops teach students how to make plant-based cheeses

From creamy cashew cheese to silky nacho dip and crumbly parmesan, students can learn how to make plant-based cheeses on Jan. 19, a workshop hosted by Sheena Swirlz, the services and programming coordinator for the Concordia Greenhouse.

“Cashews, lemon juice, salt, water and a bit of herbs, and that’s all you need to make animal-free, gluten-free parmesan,” Swirlz said at her most recent workshop, held at the greenhouse.

Since becoming vegan 16 years ago, Swirlz has created a website and hosted workshops to share easy recipes for vegan alternatives to many people’s favourite foods. At her workshops, she goes through the steps it takes to make all sorts of flavourful cheeses using simple ingredients. Among the recipes she has shared are a blue cheese dip, parmesan, nacho cheese sauce, cashew cheese and tofu ricotta.

Making each type of non-dairy cheese involves only four or five easy steps. Ingredients such as almond milk, cashews, nutritional yeast and spices can be used to create dips and cheeses that are spreadable, meltable or grateable—all without dairy. Rich in vitamins, cashews add a creamy and nutty flavour, Swirlz explained, while nutritional yeast helps give the cheese its “cheesy” taste and yellowish colour.

According to Swirlz, the only downside to homemade, plant-based cheese is the same as dairy cheese—it requires patience to properly ferment and develop the cheese’s smooth texture.

“Some vegan cheeses are sold for around $13 at the store, but if you make it yourself, it will cost you about $3,” she said. Swirlz explained that some people are skeptical about veganism because they think it’s costly, while others are unwilling to sacrifice the foods they love, although she insisted they don’t have to.

“You can find all of these ingredients right next door at Le Frigo Vert, the anti-capitalist food store,” Swirlz said. With veganism growing in popularity, she reassured those at the workshop that healthy eating has never been as simple and cheap as it is today.

“I chose to be vegan for animal ethics, and I honestly find it very simple because it just becomes a way of living, a lifestyle,” said Stephanie Plamondon, an organizer of the Montreal Vegan Festival, who attended the workshop on Jan. 12. “Once you have the vegan staples in your pantry, you’re good to go.”

“I’m probably the last person in this room to turn vegan, but this cheese is pretty damn good,” said Carl Bérubé, a workshop attendee, as he sunk a second nacho chip into the nutritional yeast cheese dip. Swirlz’s recipes seemed to please the crowd, many of whom said they heard from others that the cheese tasted delicious and were encouraged to attend the workshop, despite their varying palettes and diets.

Regardless of whether attendees were lactose intolerant, animal lovers or cheese fanatics, the takeaway was the same—homemade vegan cheese is not only delicious, but good for you, your pocket and the environment.

“I want to encourage a more sustainable lifestyle through diet,” Swirlz said. “For the environment and for the treatment of animals in Canada.”

For full recipes and information about upcoming workshops, check out Swirlz’s Facebook page or visit her website.

Photo by Sandra Hercegova

Categories
Student Life

Fondue…or fun-due?

Photo Andrew Sun

The love for cheese is something Montreal has happily inherited from its French heritage – and its fondue is a testament to this. Creperie Chez Suzette gives a wondrous array of inventive fondues for both the casual and dedicated cheese lover.

Photo Andrew Sun

Tucked into St-Paul’s St. in the Old Port, Chez Suzette is the very meaning of the word cozy, inside and out. Lace curtains let in lots of light and a peek at the cobblestone street. Furnished with wood in the interior and decorated with potted plants, it feels like somewhere between a stop off at grandma’s and a visit to the turn of the century – especially during the summer with the carriage rides clopping by.

Bringing the eyes back to the menu, it becomes apparent that the decision between fondues is going to be a tough one. Each is served with a cubed but baguette, olive bread, and Italian herb bread, as well as a bowl of diced green apples and sweet red grapes.There is of course the original cheese fondue, but if you’re feeling adventurous, the sundried tomato, pesto and olives, as well as the pepper and three cheeses fondue are good choices.

The former comes bubbling hot with whole chunks of tomato stewing in the molten dairy. While the cheese doesn’t have a particularly exciting flavour, and has at first, a vaguely alcoholic aftertaste, the texture and added spices of the tomatoes and herbs quickly make up for it. Combined with the cool sweetness of the grapes, the fondue is absolutely delicious.

The pepper three cheeses, however, is the best of the bunch. Where the sundried tomato is clearly made-up of just one variety of cheese, the three cheeses in this one are delicately balanced and distinct. The pepper gives a nice kick to it, and between the sweet apples and the baguette, the gustatory experience is one to impress.

Should you run out of dipping materials, the attentive and warm-spirited waiters will happily bring fruit and bread refills free of charge. With that said, this meal is not one for casual second helpings. It is rich and so filling that even room for dessert can easily become a faint, unrealistic desire.

But for the fondue enthusiasts, the fun doesn’t stop at the cheese. The regular chocolate fondue, as well as the deluxe Baileys and Grand Marnier, are there for indulging in a sweet tooth.

While an appreciation for cheese can be an expensive taste, Creperie Chez Suzette offers one of the most affordable dinners of the sort in Montreal. The cheese fondues range from $18.95 to $20.95 per person, while the chocolates go for around $17.95 to $24.95, depending on the type and if you decide to share.

So before finals, start boiling away your time, take a well-earned break in the Old Port for some cheese – you won’t be sorry.

 

Creperie Chez Suzette is located at 3 St-Paul St. East.

Categories
Student Life

Cheese lovers rejoice

Cheese Festival - by Writer
The seventh edition of Montreal’s Festival of Our Cheeses came back with a bang after a one-year hiatus. The event, free of charge, welcomed hundreds of visitors enthusiastically rejoicing in the deliciousness and pungent smell of Quebec cheese. (Photo Anne-Darla Lucia D.)

The term foodie is widely considered to be an informal way to describe food and drink aficionados—and Montreal is just crawling with them. Although society attempts to shove us all under the same banner, take note, there are sub-categories and we are not all the same. Some enjoy seafood over meat, some beer over wine and others, the best kind, cheese over anything and everything.

Needless to say, as cheese lovers, we can sometimes feel like a fairly marginal group lost in a large culinary world. However, on Feb. 20 at Place Desjardins, in light of Montreal’s four day Festival of Our Cheeses, I discovered that we are far from being alone.

The seventh edition of Montreal’s Festival of Our Cheeses came back with a bang after a one-year hiatus. The event, free of charge, welcomed hundreds of visitors enthusiastically rejoicing in the deliciousness and pungent smell of Quebec cheese.

The festival’s atmosphere was vibrant and bustling. Visitors and producers alike seemed genuinely excited and happy to be a part of the event. Cheese producers were standing behind their designated booths in their signature “Fromages d’ici” aprons and hats with large welcoming smiles.

“It’s a really fun and convivial event,” said Francis Boivin, a representative for Fromagerie Île-aux-Grue, after he jokingly asked his wife of 40 years if he could have permission to speak with me.

Although the festival is similar to a trade show, the joyful and talkative cheese artisans were neither aggressive nor seemingly competing with each other to push sales.

“Most of us are actually friends here,” said Christian Barrette, founder and producer of Le Fromage Au Village. “Cheese producers in Quebec are part of a very small community and many of us share the same distributors. Because of this, you quickly learn that it’s in everyone’s interest to cooperate. At the festival we joke around with each other. It’s a lot of fun.”

The event, I quickly learned, meant much more to these small cheese producers than simply having fun. Montreal’s Festival of Our Cheeses actually provides regional cheese producers with the rare opportunity to gain visibility and interact with people outside their predominantly rural communities.

“If it weren’t for Fromages d’ici organizing the event and inviting us here, as a small cheese company, we could never afford to be an exhibitor at a festival this size,” said Hélène Lessard, Barrette’s wife and business partner.

Benoit Robitaille, a die hard cheese fan, has been coming to the festival every single year since it began.

Aside from his love of cheese, the main reason he keeps coming back is to show support to small Quebec producers like Barrette and Lessard. “I find it deplorable that supermarkets offer very few Québécois products,” he said. “Because we really have some of the best cheeses here.”

In between talking to producers, visitors and making pit stops at the wine & cider booths to cleanse my palate, I tried every single cheese at the festival. The best ones, in my opinion, were “fleurs d’ail”, a firm cheese with garlic flower seasoning by Le Fromage au Village and La Famille Migneron’s “la tomme d’elles”, a firm surfaced cheese made with sheep’s milk.

All in all, if you love cheese, make sure not to miss next year’s festival. It was delightful and quite an experience for my taste buds.

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