HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1980-07-17, Page 20•
,
(Editor's note: Don Melatly. sOn Of Mr. and
isfra- Ted Mehidy of Str' Columbanhas
spent the past year study g Prance.
This summer he worked on a dairy farm in
his host country, Following are seine of his
impression%)
BY DON =LADY
After spending a year of' studYing French
at the Universite de Besancon, I decided it
would be Interesting to see how a French
fatmitig community compared to its Can-
adian eounteipart. Through a series of
happy coincidences I am now spending
several weeks working on the dairy farm of
Jean Chopard near the tiny village of Le
Chauffaud. Looking out my window across ,
Abe Alpine meadows and fir forest, I can:
see the Swiss border just one kilometer
away.
As everywhere, the type of farming is
ngly-inarked-by the-ge„ograPhy -of-the-
Ottiuroii
region, the principal influence here being
1,10T. MR DffialK4es
U Jura Mountains , gie$noderately hi h As °limed Canadians, the French
range of French mountains which, 200 km
further on, melt inte the Swias Alps. For.
example, -the farm of 30
hectares (75 acres) is at an altitude of 1100
metres (3600 ft.) very mountainous, sel-
dein hot, and often damp. The result is that ,
no cropping nesOible and even garden
vegetaoles have to struggle In the 31/2
month, growing season (as of the first of
July, the lattice is still just a thie
disccairaged green line in the cold soil). ,
Therefore, the only farm- produce pos-
sible is the milk of the hardy Mont beliard
cows, bred and raised only, in this region.
The big -bodied chunky cows, red and
white with pure Whitt legs and head, are
fed only hay with very little mineral
supplement and, of course, no grain. The
average production is 21 kg/day (50 lb.) of
-3 5-70-milk-which_is marketed at S15/,ci,vt,
(fxpositor
SgAFORTH, ONTARIO, THURSDAY, JULY 17, 1980
[Second Section Pages 1A -- tiA)
Pam Carnochan
Artist, 16, continues
education on her own
BY AM BEER
Art education is new to Seaforth District
Ffigh School and still in its growing stages.
Three years ago, levels one and two art
classes became available to students fof
the first time, Last Year, a level three class
lasted until half the class dropped out, or
rather one of the two students attending
dropped out. resulting in the Class being
cancelled.
For 16 -year-old Pam Camochan, (half
the class that remained), no high school art
class meant looking to alternatives to
continue development of a growing art
interest.
Her first step was the Ontario Board ,of
Educations Correspondence Courses,
where Pam continued level three art
instruction through the mail. She said,
however, she soon found correspondence
courses too time consuming, causing her
regular school work to fall behind. The only
remaining alteenatives would be expensive
private lessons or simply .developing the
art base she had already learned in her
high school classes on her own she chose
the latter.
"I would like fo have kept uprthe
• correspondence course, but I like working
on my own," she said.
Although working on her own has meant
less critical evaluation by teachers, the
young artist has not gone without recog-
nition.
e
This summer. for the second year in a
row. Pam will be exhibiting watercolor
paintings at the Blyth Centre for the Arts.
Last year, with two watercolors on display.
Pam made her first sale.
"Last year 1 had no intentions of telling
any paintings because 1 had no idea how to
price them. But, this woman front London
wrote and asked if 1 would please sell one.
so 1 did."
This year exhibiting three of her
Viatercolors. Pam has already sold one,
although they have only been in the new
gallery at Blyth's Memorial Hall for a
week. •
• WATERCOLORS •
Working with watercolors is what Pam
enjoys most, using soft pastel shades to
paint mostly landscapes and farm scenes.
"It's quick; 1 like the way you can blerrd
and mix the colors," she said.
Spending an average of three to four
hours a week on her art work, Pam can
often be found parked on a lonely country
road sitting on the hood of her burgundy
Honda sketching the scenic Huron Country
countryside.
"1 like to sketch and paint reality," she
said, adding that "up to now she has been
doing a lot of farni scenes, something she
hopes to get away from in the future.
LEARNING PROCESS
Pam describes art as a continual learning
(Continued on Page NA)
drink very little milk (who would, with all
that good Wine?) Thus as in most regions ef
France, the milk, from this far nl Boes
entirely to the production of one of the'099
regional cheeses. In this area, his COMte,
the cream-coloured cheese with the large
holes which Canadians naiVelY
"Swiss." But I assure you, the rich, '
flavoured, meticulously hand prepared
Comte, bears little resemblance to the
glue -like often tasteless Kraft product one
buys in Canadian supermarkets!'
The nine dairy farmers of this small
community are grouped together to Orin
an association of cheese producers. They
own a small "froinagerie" (cheese factory)
and employ a professional cheese maker.
Because My.eMployer is'a- part owner of
this small plant, I had the rare gesod fortune
tahave._ugui4ed tour and thus could follow
the course of the milk from when it leaves
the cow to, almost one year later, when the
finished product is marketed in the form of
a 100 lb. circular lilock of delicious cheese.
REFRIGERATED
The milk of the Mont beliards is picked
up at the gate, after every milking. The
evening milk is refrigerated at the from-
ageriuntil the nexii morning's production
arrives. The cheese -master, a friendly
bearded man with the muscles necessary to
throw around 100 lb. blocks of cheese,
explained to me that he has to work every
day the Cows do: in other words, he hasn't
taken a day off in the 10 years he has
worked there!
At 7:30 a.m., after the 500 1 (125 gall tif
milk have been put inte 2 huge brass vats,
the natural curdling agent (from the
stomach of milk -fed calves) is added. This
product causes the milk to curdle And
draws out the butter fat in the form of curd.,
The_milk is then heated to 70°C for 2 hours
- the "cooking" process which gives the
Comte its identifying solid body.
• At 9:45,. after the now -solidifying mass
has been agitated to separate the curd frem
the remaining liquid, the crucial and
fascinating, "drawieg off" process -begins. -
Stripped to the waist. the cheese -master
holds a 4 ft. square piece of porous
material ("cheese -cloth") in his hands and
teeth. With a siegle movement, he plunges
his arms up to the shoulders into the curd
and, using ,the cheese -cloth as a scoop:
draws out 100 lb. of the dripping cheese.
Relying only en his sense of :weight, he is
never more than 2 or 3t. off. He repeats
this process 3 times tri, te, 500 1 of milk
• giving on the average 4140 kg cheeses. As
• the milk' must be slightly skimmed to
produce the 45% butterfat content of the
Comte, the surplus is used to make
delicious whipping eream and home-thurn-
ed, unsalted butter -
A MOLD
After the curd is drawn off, it is packed
into a 2 ft. mold and put in a press to get
out excess moisture. It is turned several
-.times and finally receives the date.and
stamp of the manufacturer before resting
- in the presses for the rest of the day. The.
- next morning, When the cheese -master's
day begins at 5:30, the already solid but
still -white cheeses are transferred to the
"warm cellar": a large room kept constant-
• ly at 27°C with shelves of cheese stretching
to -the -ceiling. The cheeserests-here_for_one
month to ferment and to allow the hard
crust to form. It is here that I found- the
answer to everyone's favorite question:
what forms the holes? The irregularly -
spaced and sized holes are the propict of
trapped moisture in the cheese which
expands and evaporates as the cheese is
5•2.,
left in the Wernith,
THE IMMO STEP ,
The lest and longest step in the milk's
progress to "cheese hood" is its stay in the
"cold -cellar." Salt Is rubbed into' the
surface to preserve and flavour the cheese
and it can stay here as long as 9,months, It
is said that a cheese master's quality Hes in
his hands, It is at this stage, relying only on
texture, weight, and Consistency, th-arBE
must guide . and judge the cheese's
progression to perfection.
And so that's how the dairy industry
works in this small corner of France.
Although their produce is still converted
according to the 014 methods,,:the farms
themselves are quite automized, with most
having a pipeline milker and a silo
unloader, although complete automation is
not yet the rule. Another tradition -which
is dying quickly in the area is the hoUse and
barneombined-in-one-buildingalled-th
"Maison comtoise" (aftee this region,
s Franche-Comte), it is a concept which
flourished up until 20 years ago. Like
everywhere in France, and in the world,
the agricultural scene is changing, adapt,
ing to new demands and markets but
retaining the best of the old ways.
c�D
BUDGET PACK
zehrs
fine markets...of fine foods
1.
SMOKED SAUSAGES
SCHNEIDERS e,
SMOKIES 3" g PKII•OY
SCHNEIDERi VAC: RACKED
RING
BOLOGNA __Le_$1.69
SCHNEIDERS SKINLESS
POLISH
LINKS 300 g PKG $1.19
PRIDE kis an
BURGERS :c!_ v,.0 7
MAPLE LEAF
GOLDEN FRY pA
SAUSAGE._ 74_1'1., Y
MAPLE LEAF
nEC. COARSE O CREAMY
LIVERWURST1!t. 17
SWIFTS SLICED
LAZY MAPLE e„.
,SIDE BACON_69.0C
T,0
SWIFTS SONELESS FULLY COOKED
412
SUGAR PLUM
DINNER HAIN!(.4 2..19%
SLICED
SCHNEIDERS
THURIia
S2 69 Li3
ER21/
SAUSAGEBPYI ETCHEE•
SQUARE JEIUE0
RN to in
BEEF SLICE° "PREPAREO
if
SHOPSYS no
COLE SLAWL270
BLUEFISH
FILLETS
169.
FRESH FNMA
• THE ATLANTIC
BONELESS FAUN
3 CENTRE CUT CHOPS
3 RIB PORTION CHOPS
3 TENDERLOIN PORTION CHOPS
FRESH LOIN
PORK CHOPS
FRESH ONTARIO
CENTRE CUT
LOIN
P,04 CHOPS
SCHNEIDERS
REGULAR 175g. PKG
COOKED HAM
BROKEN SLICES
FRESH PORK LOIN CENTRE CUT
BONELESS
ROASTS
OR CHOPS 119
SCHNEIDERS SLICED
PREVIOUSLY FROZEN
BEEF st
LIVER -4'‘
TRY OUR OWN BRAND
FOR VALUE
ZEHRSipgs
WIENERS
SCHNEIDERS
END SLICES
SIDE I A
BACON 1:32.9 c27
9
SCHNEIDERS FRESH
PORK & BEEF
SAUSAGE .• I 9
ENGLISH $,IP
SCHNEIDERS
6 VARIEITIES - 250 g.
SANDWICH
,MEAT ROLLS
PRICES IN EFFECT UNTIL CLOSING TUESDAY -JULY 22, 1980
EA.
EX TRA SA TOP INSIDE
• ,
t BONELESS
ROUND STEAK ___,B*2.69
OUTSIDE BOTTOM ROUND ROAST
(EYE REMOVED) OR BONELESS
RUMP ROAST 18
BONE IN
FULL SLICE
ROUND STEAK • "
41
• A TENDER STEAK
$2 88
BONELESS
R LESS FAT
sipLoiti T1PB
23% •
Si 78
MEDIUM
GROUND BEEF 18 •
3