Written by the Tidings Staff | 25 March 2011

Mark your calendars. The Great Canadian Cheese Festival will make its debut on June 4-5 at the historic Crystal Palace in Picton, in the heart of Ontario's Prince Edward County. For the first time in Canada, the Festival will bring together cheesemakers from coast-to-coast so cheese lovers, foodies and culinary tourists can meet to learn, talk, taste and buy the best in artisan, farmstead and specialty cheese. Visitors will have an opportunity to sample wine, craft beer and artisan foods.  More than 100 different Canadian cheeses will be available for tasting and purchase at the Festival's Cheese Fair & Artisan Food Market on Sunday, June 5.

Some 30 cheesemakers will be represented, as will wineries, craft brewers and producers of artisan foods. Additionally, the 2011 Canadian Cheese Grand Prix winners will be presented in a tutored tasting by Dairy Farmers of Canada.  A full day of tasting seminars led by experts will take place Saturday, June 4, starting with a keynote presentation on the future of artisan cheese in Canada. Six to nine cheeses will be tasted in each of the nine sessions alongside pairings with wine and beer. Topics include Taste of Québec, Artisan Cheeses of Ontario and Blue Canada (as in cheese). Leading the tastings will be cheese educators such as Julia Rogers of Cheese Culture and Deborah Levy of Dairy Farmers of Canada, cheese sommelier Vanessa Simmons of Savvy Company, and Gurth Pretty, author of The Definitive Guide to Canadian Artisan and Fine Cheese. A buffet lunch is included in the all-day program. The first day culminates in the Cooks & Curds Cheese Gala where eight leading chefs will use Canadian cheeses to create tasting dishes that will be paired with Canadian wine, craft beer and cider. The evening will conclude with sweets, icewine and coffee.

Participating chefs will include Jamie Kennedy, Jamie Kennedy Kitchens, Toronto; Anthony Rose, Drake Hotel, Toronto; Michael Blackie, National Arts Centre, Ottawa; Michael Howell, Tempest, Wolfville, Nova Scotia; Craig Flinn, Chives Canadian Bistro, Halifax; and Andreas Feller of Blumen Garden Bistro, Picton, Ontario.  

For those interested in seeing cheesemaking at first hand, cheese-plant tours will be offered to nearby Black River Cheese and Fifth Town Artisan Cheese with stops at cow and goat dairy farms. Tours will run Friday and Saturday, June 3 and 4.  Chef Michael Potters of Angeline's Restaurant & Inn will offer a cheese-themed dinner on the eve of the Festival, June 3, the first restaurant to commit to what will be billed as the Great County Dine Around.  A portion of Festival proceeds will benefit the Canadian Cheese Society/La Société des fromages canadiens and a Cheese Technology Scholarship at the University of Guelph to encourage young Canadians to pursue careers in cheese.  

Tickets to the Festival are only sold online at www.CheeseFestival.ca. Early-bird ticket prices are Cheese Fair & Artisan Food Market, $30, including 10 sampling tickets, wine glass and cooler bag for hauling purchased cheese home; All-Day Tasting Seminar Program, $150, including tote bag, keynote presentation, cheese, wine, beer and lunch; Cooks & Curds Cheese Gala, $95.

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