Len's News, Notes, and Stuff

Upper Canada Cheese Company’s Artisanal Comfort Cream vs Supermarket Brie

Cheese is cheese, isn’t it? Not necessarily. There is an obvious difference in taste and experience between artisanal cheeses & run-of-the-mill mass produced cheese. Yes, there’s definitely a price difference, but the dollar difference is reflected in the experience when you try the cheese.

I dropped by the Upper Canada Cheese Company yesterday. It’s a small, artisanal cheese operation located in Jordan Station, Ontario – basically along the way if you are traveling from the Toronto area to the Niagara region. In fact, if you’re on a winery tour of the Niagara region, it’s on the western edge of wine country – real close to two real gems of the region, Creekside and Rockway Glen. I got to try two of their cheeses: Niagara Gold, and Comfort Cream.

I’m going to tell you about the Comfort Cream camembert-style cheese. If you are familiar with brie cheese and camembert cheese, you know what this class of cheese is all about. It’s about creaminess, richness, and full, soft flavor. It’s not just about creamy richness, though – there’s a blend of subtle and enjoyable flavors. Comfort Cream is not one-dimensional – there’s a deep richness up front that I wasn’t aware of at the time (but definitely am right now by comparison with regular supermarket cheese), and it’s followed by a nice, mellow nuttiness and earthiness. It’s a darn fine cheese.

When I tried the cheese, I was told by the charming lady behind the counter that the cheese I was sampling was, in fact, not quite aged to its peak.  It was about 2 weeks short of reaching its peak – and even so, it was full of fantastic flavor. It also wasn’t as ooey-gooey creamy as it would be at its peak, but I had no issue with that at all. It was certainly a winner already in the taste department.

I sit here right now with a small wheel of Ziggy’s brie cheese. Yes, I know, I’m comparing a brie versus a camembert-style cheese. Still, it’s the closest comparison I have right now, and if I don’t tell you about this today, I’m not going to remember quite as clearly what the Upper Canada cheese was like!

The Ziggy’s cheese is enjoyable. I wouldn’t turn my nose up at it, no way. However, it is very linear and simple by comparison. There is an initial creaminess, followed by a moderate bitterness & roast nut flavor that disappears about 8 seconds later. It’s nice, but now that I’ve tried the Comfort Cream, I know that it could be so much better!

Artisanal cheese isn’t cheap. Figure on paying two or three times the cost by weight that you would for mass-produced supermarket cheese. However, for pure enjoyment and as a learning experience for your palette, I think the cost is justified – even if it’s just every once in a while!

Of course, there’s also the added benefit of supporting a local business, supporting sustainable agriculture and ethical treatment of animals, and the preservation of foodmaking artistry. Those are probably ideals that only the fortunate and privileged can really espouse on, but really, the vast majority of us in North America are fortunate and privileged enough to give some thought & consideration to these things.

If you really enjoy supermarket cheese but wish to continue learning more about the pleasures and complexities that cheese can offer, be sure to check out artisanal cheeses – and then compare against the regular cheeses that you’ve already been enjoying. I promise you it’ll be a worthwhile experience.

In the meantime, I’ll tell you more about other cheese experiences later. In fact, by the end of the week I’ll probably be able to tell you how Upper Canada Cheese Company’s Niagara Gold cheese compares to something like Oka Classic … and Oka Artisanal.