Smoked Boerenkaas, one of Natural Pastures Cheese Company’s three finalist cheeses, was announced as winner in its category of ‘Flavoured Cheese with Added Non-Particulate flavouring’ at the Gala awards ceremony for the 2011 Canadian Cheese Grand Prix held in Toronto.
This premier cheese competition presented by Dairy Farmers’ of Canada is held every two years and showcases the excellence of Canadian cheese in 18 different categories. Smoked Boerenkaas, Comox Brie and Comox Camembert were finalists in their categories.
“I had high hopes for all three cheeses, as both the Comox Brie and Camembert have won awards in the past, and the original Boerenkaas won in the 2002 Grand Prix," stated operations manager Doug Smith. "I am ecstatic about the Smoked Boerenkaas winning, as it is one of our newer cheeses.”
Now Natural Pastures has a CFIA approved smokehouse at its Courtenay production facility and is used exclusively for smoking cheese. The winning cheese is a 100-per-cent naturally smoked cheese that starts with the award-winning Boerenkaas, crafted by cheesemaker Paul Sutter, using high-quality milk from selected farms in the Comox Valley.
After aging, the Boerenkaas is then carefully smoked using a blend of local hardwoods by Ken and Kelly Hueston of Victoria’s Smoken Bones Cookshack.
To see the full range of cheese, go to www.naturalpastures.com. Cheeses produced by Natural Pastures are available at many fine restaurants and grocery store delis throughout Vancouver Island, and southern B.C.
— Natural Pastures Cheese Co.