Mark cheese day with East Coast favourites
It may not be the most famous holiday on the calendar, but for cheese lovers, National Cheese Day brings a reason to celebrate the food they love.
“Every day is National Cheese Day for us,” said Lisa Leshane, owner of the gourmet Newfoundland-based grill cheese business Oh My Cheeses.
Oh My Cheeses started at the St. John's Farmers' Market in 2014. Two years later, it expanded with a food truck and a second location at the brewery in Port Rexton, and business is booming. On the last weekend of May, the food truck in Port Rexton served up more than 200 orders on a single Saturday.
Leshane said that while customers have the option of the tried-and-true grill cheese, more people opt for bolder, unique flavours, like the Coach Bombay grilled cheese.
“It featured some sesame duck breast, blueberry jam and two-year-old smoked cheddar with pickles. It's definitely a wild grilled cheese,” said Leshane.
“And generally speaking, we do have a plain cheddar grilled cheese, but that one does not sell anywhere near the quantity of our more fancy grilled cheese.”
For National Cheese Day — on Friday, Leshane is working on two new recipes: a sandwich and a poutine.
“We are working on a new grilled cheese for that day,” said Leshane. "So, we have over 100 grilled cheese that we cycle through right now, but in Port Rexton, we've been doing fries for a while so we'll probably try to have a new poutine for that day.”
As for her own favourite cheese? Leshane prefers sharper flavours.
“I tend to like extra old cheddars — the ones that kind of make you smack your lips they're so strong. Cheddars are my favourite to build sandwiches out of — although no stretch is quite like mozzarella — but the cheddar is my personal favourite. My favourite grilled cheese that we have has dill pickles, red onions, garlic mayo and old cheddar. And the way the tang works together in all the ingredients is just wonderful.”
NEW WAYS
Located in Dartmouth, Blue Harbour Cheese opened in 2013 and specializes in blue cheese. For owner Lyndall Findlay, there's a blue cheese — and the right food pairing to accompany it — out there for everyone.
“It's beautiful with everything, I have to say. Blue cheese, traditionally, if you read magazines and recipe magazines, they're always pairing blue cheese with sweet honey. That can work and sweet drinks can work,” said Findley.
Blue Harbour Cheese is available at its Dartmouth location but is primarily sold at grocery stores.
“We've reinvented a lot of the ways we sell now,” said Findlay. “Primarily wholesale — selling to grocery stores and distributors, direct to restaurants. Now we are involved with three different online farmers markets, which is direct to retail.”
Findlay said that local tastes are evolving and people are more inclined to seek out more than the cheeses of the past.
The growth in consumers' tastes has also meant growth for Blue Harbour Cheese. Eighteen months ago, the company expanded its Dartmouth operation and is now selling to distributors across Canada.
“Apart from the standard imported offerings that are always available in supermarkets, people are now really interested in locally produced,” said Findlay.
For those who have previously experienced blue cheese as a strong flavour that just wasn't for them, Findlay said Blue Harbour Cheese specializes in blue cheese varieties that even the most timid of palettes can try.
“They're very approachable,” said Findlay. “Deliberately designed to, you know, to win people over. And subsequently, they go with anything. They're very nice with pepper jellies and things like that. You can eat milder blue cheeses with just some crackers by themselves.”
With the trend of locally sourced food continuing to grow, support from local customers matters even more now, as companies recover from the downturn caused by COVID.
“Small businesses are the ones that are struggling the most,” said Lyndell.
Blue Harbour Cheese is one of eight cheesemakers in Nova Scotia, each with its own distinct product.
“We're all making different kinds of cheese,” said Lyndell. “So we really complement each other — no one's really competing.”