The Rural Voice, 2002-09, Page 12FIRE
PROTECTION
with the all stainless steel
Sent mc
Chimney
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Complete
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6", 7" and 8"
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Sale ends Nov. 16, 2002
SENTINEL, a ULC listed to
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WELBECK
SAWMILL LTD.
Mun. to Fri. 8 am to 6 pm — Sat. 8 am to 4 pm
Friday 7 to 9 p.m.
RR 2 Durham ON NOG 1R0
519-369-2144
8 THE RURAL VOICE
Robert Mercer
More varietg on the local food front
Robert
Mercer was
editor of the
Broadwater
Market Letter
and
commentator
for 25 years.
One thing I do miss living here on
Vancouver Island is the fresh farm -
picked sweet corn at this time of the
year. We just don't get the heat units
to mature the fully satisfying flavour
of good, large kernel sweet corn like
that available in southern Ontario.
What local farmers here are good
at, and what we are getting now, is
the arrival of local specialty cheese
makers. These small local businesses
are winning consumer approval and
national awards. Natural Pastures
Cheese Company from the Comox
Valley won three gold awards for
their specialty cheeses at this year's
Canadian Cheese Grand Prix,
sponsored by Dairy Farmers of
Canada.
On a more personal note this past
month I came back from a successful
deep-sea fishing trip and was able to
eat seafood fresh from the sea. There
again, that had a very different taste
to the store-bought product. An added
flavour, tried later in the week, was
some home -smoked salmon that a
friend "cooked up" with the aid of his
home -built smoker. He used some
apple and hickory chips to give the
very distinctive west coast smoked
salmon flavour. Excellent on a
cracker with a little mayonnaise and
green onion garnish.
All areas of Canada have their
own specialty products that garner
their following and help support the
local economy. Rural Canada needs
this support as market pricing and
crop failures are working against
commodity sales and the
sustainability of the family farm.
Another local cheese maker has
started up business here with a dairy
operation based on 20 cows and
selected specialty cheeses sold at the
farmers' market and through retail
outlets. As the owners say this is not
a 9-5 business. It is 16 hours a day
and often 7 days a week. Now, just
one year old, Little Qualicum
Cheeseworks has nine varieties and a
popular cheese curd for those who
like their 'poutine'.
What is different here also, is the
background to the Gourlay family
who run this farm -based business.
They are not from a farm
background. Most recently they were
missionaries in such places as
Kosovo, Chechnya and even
Afghanistan. Nancy Courlay did take
a dairy production course and now
the rest is hard work.
The specialty cheese that we like
from this local business is their
Raclette. A very distinctive taste,
based on a Swiss variety, that may,
over time, replace some of the old
Ontario cheddar we enjoy with our
B.C. gala apples.
We also enjoy the Verdelait
cheese when eaten with warm, crispy,
white bread. This specialty product
comes from Natural Pastures Cheese
Company. The company is aligned
with Beaver Meadows Farms and the
cheese is only made during the
months when the cattle are on pasture
— usually March through December.
The management of the cheese -
making process on this farm starts
with the pasture, and they use only
milk from their own cattle. It is here
where the flavour begins. The pasture
mix is rye grass and clover as the
base, with a proprietary herbal mix
added to give the subtle tastes that
make these cheeses national award
winners.
This approach must be good as the
company had only been in business
for a year at the time it submitted
samples to the national awards
competition where well established
companies large and small were also
represented.
Well back to that fishing story ... I
would like to say that I landed a
monster of a fish, but it was a very
satisfactory 10-12 pound spring
salmon, a first ever for me!0