The cheesiest: Quebec has announced the province's best cheese

Sweet dreams are made of cheese and Quebec has announced the best in the entire province.

The Sélection Caseus: Concours des fromages du Québec is an annual government-run cheese award, in partnership with the province’s Ministère de l’Agriculture, des Pêcheries et de l’Alimentation du Québec (MAPAQ).

Are you ready? In a press release on the Government of Quebec’s website, the province has announced that Sélection Caseus has given the Caseus Or, “the highest symbol of excellence,” to the Zacharie Cloutier cheese from Estrie’s Fromagerie Nouvelle France.

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The firm cheese uses unpasteurized sheep’s milk and has a washed, mixed, and natural rind.

Sélection Caseus says the Zacharie Cloutier cheese has a tight dough and salty “mini-crystals that crackle under the tooth.” Tasty aromas also include a golden brioche, caramel, maple sugar, and a coconut finish.

The firm Zacharie Cloutier cheese also won the province’s best cheese award in 2011 and 2018 and was the runner-up in 2012 and 2017.

The cheese is available online in blocks or shredded and can be ordered in a six-month aged ($15.25 for 250 grams) or 12-month ($16.75 for 250 grams).

You can also get the entire wheels of the Zacharie Cloutier for $220.

The Quebec government says 210 kinds of cheese were registered for this year’s awards, spread out across 31 different factories across the province. “At the end of a rigorous evaluation process carried out by a jury of 22 experts, the top three cheese producers distinguished themselves in the different classes of the competition,” says the press release.

Created in 1998, Sélection Caseus highlights the excellence of Quebec cheeses and the “know-how of those who make them.” The competition aims to introduce consumers to the creativity of cheese makers, which is expressed in a multitude of innovative products of exceptionally high quality.

Sélection Caseus is the only competition dedicated to the recognition and promotion of cheeses produced in Quebec. It is open to all cheese makers, regardless of the size of their business, the type of cheese they make, or the type of milk they use.

The Silver Caseus was awarded to Bleu d’Élizabeth from the Fromagerie du Presbytère (Centre-du-Québec) and the Caseus Bronze was rewarded to Chemin Hatley, produced by Fromagerie la Station in Estrie.

And for those of you wondering, Sélection Caseus says the best cheese of 2022 is paired best with Quebec’s Léon Courville red wine or Hemmingford’s Verger Hemmingford The Orange Cider.

A holiday gift, mayhaps?

A bag of shredded Zacharie Cloutier costs $31.