Oka cheese

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Oka is a Canadian cheese named after the small village of Oka, Quebec where it originated in 1893. Since that time, Quebec has evolved as an epicenter of quality artisan cheeses. Indeed, many small-scale producers now market some fairly impressive selections.

Oka cheese has a pungent aroma and soft creamy flavour, sometimes described as nutty and fruity. Oka is covered with a copper-orange, hand-washed rind. The consistent high-quality of care lavished on this distinctively fragrant cheese options it as an excellent substitute for many semi-soft ripened cheeses in any dish -- or as a component on cheese platters.

There are four types of Oka cheese, 'Regular','Classic', 'Light' and 'Providence'. 'Regular' Oka can be made from both pasteurized and raw milk. It is a pressed, semi-soft cheese that is surface ripened for some 30 days. The 'Classic' is ripened for an additional month. Aging is done in refrigerated aging cellars. The cheese rounds are placed on cypress slats and the cheeses are periodically turned and washed in a weak brine solution. 'Providence' Oka is of a much more creamy and soft texture then either 'Classic' or 'Regular, while 'Light' is similar to 'Regular', but with a lower percentage of fat.

[edit] History

Following the seizure of the Cistercian Order's Abbaye de Bellefontaine in Bégrolles-en-Mauges, Maine-et-Loire, France by the army of the French Third Republic, in November of 1880 the Trappists members of the Order living at the Abbaye were expelled from the country. After receiving an invitation by Father Victor Rousselot of the Grand Seminary of the Sulpician Order in Montreal, Canada, eight Trappists' Monks emigrated to Quebec in April of 1881 to establish a new foundation. From their vast Quebec holdings, the Sulpician Order offered the Trappists a parcel of land at their property on the Lake of Two Mountains at Oka, Quebec. (Situated northwest of Montreal in the region of Deux-Montagnes.) Naming the property La Trappe after Soligny-la-Trappe in France where the Order had been founded in 1662, the monks established the Abbaye Cistercienne d'Oka. Within a few years, through an affiliation with the Université de Montréal, the monastery created an agricultural school.

Frequently called the Abbaye Notre-Dame-du-Lac, the Trappists' monastery became well known for its Port-Salut cheese, made from a Brittany recipe brought with them from France.