Fresh and News April 15th

At Foragers there have been positive changes in the past few months and some even better changes to come going forward. For example, next week we will start opening everyday with the exception of Tuesday.
As well you will see the smiling faces of Bayfield natives Bill Crowley and Jeremy DeMers behind the counters more often as a result of the new “brother” store Olliffe in Toronto, as Sam will be there during the week. This summer you can expect to see Sam, Bill and Jeremy at the store brainstorming up ideas on prepared food recipes, providing new local products and creative options for the grill.

In Store Contest
You may remember Bill from TV as a Jeopardy champion! On the next two Saturdays we are having a contest (April 18 & 25). The first person to stump Bill on an American history trivia question wins a Forager Foods $25.00 gift certificate. One winner will be picked this Saturday and the other on the 25th.

New & Re-Stocked Cheeses
We have two new cheeses from Quebec this week for you to try; Madawaska and Clos St Ambroise. Made with cow’s milk, the Madawaska is from the same cheese makers as the Clandestin we carried at Christmas. You may remember the cow/sheep milk Clandestin as having a distinct pungency, the Madawaska has similar characteristics although even softer and more delicate.

The Clos St Ambroise is a beer washed rind made of cow’s milk. The beer used for the semi-firm cheese is from one of Quebec’s micro-breweries, Macausland Brewery. The beer gives a terrific aroma yet yields subtle flavours at first and lingers with a big finish.
We are now re-stocking the Evanturel Cheese from Thornloe Dairy we discussed last week. As well, the Ile Aux Grue Five Year Raw Milk Cheddar is back for you to enjoy.

Sausage of The Week
The forecast is good for this weekend and our Sausage Making Team can’t wait for summer grillin’. In this spirit we are making a Mediterranean Style Pork Sausage stuffed with feta, fresh oregano and kalamata olives. Get out the tzatziki, see you this weekend!

News From Ruth at Monforte Dairy

April 14, 2009
You are the first to hear our fantastic news. Monforte Dairy has a new home!
Monforte is thrilled today to be able to say that we now officially have a home in Stratford and a building that will be started this year. Monforte’s new facility will be built at 211 Lorne Ave. and we start production as soon as the milk starts to run in 2010. In the meantime, as soon as the dairy is built we are anticipating a school for cheesemaking.

The most important thing I can say today is thank you to Tom Melanson and Perth Community Futures. This morning I had four meetings with different banks, including leftwing, government supported institutions as well as conventional banks and credit unions only to be told by each and every one of them that my debt to ratio was not appropriate and even with the offer of my pregnant Clydesdale I didn’t have enough security against my business. This with five years of sound financials.

All I can say is thanks heavens for grassroots movements like CSAs and Perth Community Futures, and of course to all of you who have supported Monforte with money and passion.

Fondly,
Ruth Klausen
Monforte Dairy Company


Keep Foraging,

Sam, Sara, Bill & Jeremy
www.foragerfoods.ca 519.565.4866

Fresh & News March 11th

Our mission at Foragers is to continually source out (forage) foods from the best growers, processors and cheesemakers from Huron County and beyond. In this spirit of striving to source the best, Forager Foods is pleased to announce the acquisition of Olliffe Fine Meats of Toronto.

Olliffe is Toronto’s premiere butcher, caterer and prepared food provider located on Yonge Street bordering Rosedale at Summerhill. Stay tuned, in future newsletters we will discuss how Olliffe and Forager Foods will be working together to continually deliver the best Ontario has to offer. Be sure to stop in this weekend to either shop and say hello to Sam Gundy (at Foragers) or Ben Gundy (at Olliffe).

Glengarry Fine Cheese
Foragers has taken a supply of a pasteurized cows milk cheese called Big Brother from Ontario’s newest fromagerie located in Lancaster, Ontario.

Big Brother is a semi-firm washed rind cheese that has a very distinctive mineral flavour. Its crumbly texture is betrayed by a creamy and sweet mouth feel. Savoury and slightly salty, Big Brother would be well served with a selection of stone fruits and honey from Ferguson Apiaries available at Foragers of course!

Sausage of The Week
This week we are really experimenting with your palates. If the blueberry/maple and the lamb/mint/stilton was not enough (as it clearly wasn’t since we sold 50lb in 12 hours last weekend) then how about this weeks feature; Asian Style Red Chili and Cilantro Pork Sausage. With a little heat inherent, during recipe testing these sausages were an excellent accompaniment with rice or rice noodles and asian vegetables.

Monforte Dairy

Below is a Letter From Monforte Dairy, March 4, 2009

To Monforte’s business partners,

Thanks so much for supporting Monforte Dairy. You’ve been such an important part of our success. By now you may have heard a lot of rumours.

But here’s the inside story. We are taking a breather – the French say “réculer pour mieux sauter”—gather yourself for the next leap forward.

That’s exactly what we’re doing in 2009. We’re taking a breather, to focus on an immense new enterprise. We’ are building a new dairy – we haven’t signed the deal yet, so I can’t say more right now – and we’re going to micro-finance the new dairy on the principle of Community Shared Agriculture.

Our customers will become our investors. We’re calling it Monforte Renaissance 2010.
The goal is to create a sustainable micro-producer/dairy, with a school for cheese making and new local products to complement our cheeses, beginning with new production launching in January 2010. While that means there’s no cheese this year, each and every farmer shepherd who’s supplied Monforte with milk has committed to supplying the new dairy.

We have a new website at www.monfortedairy.com that details all the changes going on, tracks the funds raised, and announces the events we’re hosting and participating in.

This move has gained serious momentum both through the media and by word of mouth. We’d love to build on that, by linking to your website, offering you beautiful Monforte Renaissance 2010 postcards for takeaway, and easy-to-read info on our CSA model. Let us know how you’d prefer to help.

If we’re successful – and we’re confident we will be – we’re hoping this model will be repeated again and again, creating a new food culture in Ontario.
I’m truly excited about Monforte’s next stage and I’m looking forward to your support – no one knows our strengths and weaknesses better than you do.
With warmest regards,

Ruth Klahsen
Monforte Dairy Company
519.272.2193 work/home
519.721.8162 mobile
www.monfortedairy.com
twitter.com/monfortemo

Keep Foraging,

Sam, Sara, Bill, Jeremy, Ben & James
www.foragerfoods.ca