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VILLAGE CHEESE A CUT ABOVE
By Leanne Ritchie
Armstrong's Village Cheese beat out the big cheese at this years Royal Winter Fair.
The micro-cheese plant took eight firsts and two seconds, including the Grand Champion Cheese Award for the highest scoring cheese in the show, at the Ontario fair last Tuesday.
"It shows the versatility of the plant," said Ivan Matte, master cheese maker.
The company took first place for its mild, medium, and aged cheddar with the medium cheddar taking the Grand Champion Award.
The company also picked up five firsts in the specialty categories for its Monterey Jack, Smoked Cheddar, Parmesan, German Butter and Goat's milk cheese.
The Royal Winter Fair is held each year in Toronto and is considered one of Canada's biggest cheese competitions.
Victory is all the sweeter when Matte considers the size of their competetitors,
"It's nice to beat out the big guys," he said.
He explained the larger producers use a lot of milk and produce a lot of cheese so they have a wider selection to choose from for show.
The Village Cheese Co. produces artisan hand crafted cheese in small batches using traditional production methods. "Those guys probably spill more milk in a day than we produce," said Matte. "As a small company you have to make it all good."
Matte explained cheese entered in the show is sent in 40-pound blocks for cheddar and 10-pound blocks for specialty cheese. It takes about an hour of preparation to square and wrap each block. Then the blocks are shipped across the country by refrigerated truck.
The judges, mostly former cheese makers, sample the product at 16 degrees Fahrenheit
slicing into it to check flavour, texture and consistency.
The Village Cheese Co. has won numerous awards since it opened three years ago.
Matte is already gearing up to enter 15 blocks in the British Empire Cheese Show in Bellville, Ontario, Canada's other big cheese competition.
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