A Day At Monforte
We started our day in Stratford at the Monforte on Wellington prepping the lunch that we would be sharing with our classmates and the Monforte crew later on in the afternoon. It was a little bit rough start in the kitchen as we all tried to feel our way through our new environment with the added stress of a preparation list in the back of our minds. Chef Michael quickly made us feel like we were right at home, directing us toward whatever needed and before long, we were all rolling out our doughs, caramelizing onions and things were moving along quite nicely.
11:30 am came in the flash of an eye and before I knew it we were being bussed over to the dairy to try out hand at cheese making. We were welcomed with a hair net and booties to cover our shoes and then brought right on the production floor to get on with our cheese. It was really neat to be in a cheese production facility in Canada and compare the production process to what we saw in Italy on our many tours. One of the major things that I took from this experience was that our regulations make it difficult for small to medium sized cheese producers to have viable businesses.
We learned about the intricacies of making cheese and how subtle factors in the environment can have significant impacts on the final product. These intricacies can cost an artisanal cheesemaker up to $ 30 000 in product in addition to the labour and resources needed to begin the entire process. What I took most from this experience was the amount of dedication, hard labour, and attention that goes into making this cheese.
The highlight of my day at the dairy was when Ruth came onto the shop room floor while we were waiting for the milk and rennet to coagulate and set. Ruth is an intelligent woman with a no-nonsense attitude. She was direct and to the point. You couldn’t help but respect her perspective on government regulations affecting the industry and food security issues. She believes in her work and that was made clear by her dedication to continuing with this despite the challenges she faces.
Once the curds and whey were set, Ruth left us to our work and we quickly began to fill perforated plastic containers to the brim with the warm curds. It was a great experience to get my hands into that vat of curd and whey. It was a not so great experience for my lower back however. If you thought that producing hundreds of pounds of cheese was going to be a walk in the park, I can assure you that you have been misinformed. It was not easy but it was super rewarding. I can only imagine that taking a cheese through an entire journey of aging and flavouring would be a uniquely rewarding experience
We had the opportunity to check out the aging and storage fridges at Monforte before headed back to the restaurant to eat our lunch. It was really neat to see the different cheeses and learn a little bit about the techniques used to transform the curds and whey I was recently elbow deep in.
Even though I was having a great time at the dairy, all that cheese exposure was making me hungry. I was excited to see our bus pull into the dairy to bring us back to the restaurant for our late lunch.
We were quickly feasting upon the finished product of our morning prep. Hats off to the rest of my class mates for putting out a great lunch. Monforte on Wellington has the home-y vibe that was absolutely for the eclectic locally sourced smorgasbord of food that we have the privilege of enjoying in this space. At the end of the day good food is about the ingredients and the company you get to share it in. This day delivered on all fronts. The food was amazing, the learning was impeccable, and the company as is always when you are hanging with the George Brown crew, perfect.
