Blessed are the cheese makers, according to Monty Python's Life of Brian, and that happy state can also be ascribed to the burgeoning B.C. cheese industry. Although locally produced Cheddar and Gouda have been on the shelves for years, one of the fastest growing product categories is goat cheese, and following hot on its heels is a niche market of sheep's milk products.

According to a February 2006 Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada profile of the dairy-goat industry, it "remains a developing sector in Canada". Alice Spurrell, co-owner of Les Amis du Fromage (1752 West 2nd Avenue), has closely observed the industry's changes. "There's always been a fair bit of cheese made, not such a variety as we have now," Spurrell said in a phone interview with the Straight from the store. "Goat cheese was never a big thing. There's now a lot of it made here. I think people here are very interested in locally made things, and we sell a lot of all of our locally made cheeses.

"Goat's milk is very distinctively flavoured," she added. "But there are a lot of people out there who can't eat cow's milk, so this really appeals to them." The goat cheese that Les Amis carries ranges from fresh punnets with flowers and seasonings, including natural, pepper, chili, basil, garlic, sun-dried tomato, and truffle ($7.99) from the Salt Spring Island Cheese Co.; a goat Caerphilly by The Farm House Natural Cheeses in Agassiz ($5.50 for 100 grams); and from Happy Days Goat Dairy in Salmon Arm, one-kilogram fresh goat logs ($32.50), which are good for cheesecakes, salads, and hors d'oeuvres.

There can be a taste barrier for the uninitiated. Jody Benson, former manager of Forster's Fine Cheeses (now closed, but a new cheese shop, Benton Brothers Fine Cheese, will open in November at the same location, 2104 West 41st Avenue), noted the differences by phone back in September: "Generally, in the shop, I tend to describe it as cow's milk being salty, goat's milk being sweet, and sheep's milk being earthy, similar to flavours of things like tarragon, rosemary, things that bring out the earthy flavours."

Some people are switching to goat's milk products for health reasons too. The Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada report notes that goat's milk has 13 percent less lactose than cow's milk, making it easier to digest; many people who are allergic to cow's milk have no trouble consuming it. Jason Dykstra, cheese maker at Goat's Pride Dairy (30854 Olund Road, Abbotsford)–which has been making goat cheeses for more than six years–agrees. In a phone interview with the Straight, Dykstra said: "We have a lot of customers who come in and say, 'You know, I've been allergic to dairy for so many years. It's been 20 years since I've had cheese.' They've just found out about us, and they're so happy."

In a smaller corner of the market, sheep's milk is the basis for some of the classic European cheeses, such as the Pecorino varieties from Italy, and Spain's Manchego. Mountain Meadow, from Chase, is B.C.'s main producer of sheep's milk cheese. The feta ($5 per 100 grams) is softer, smoother, and richer than the goat's milk kind you come across in the standard Greek salad, and also lacks the usual briny tang, making it a fine stand-alone cheese. The Brie ($36.40 per kilogram), too, is sensuously creamy but, inside a soft rind, is still firm in all the right places.

Local goat's and sheep's milk cheeses differ from their Old World forebears in France. David Wood, owner of the Salt Spring Island Cheese Co., believes that B.C. makers tailor their products to suit. "The French taste is for a more assertive taste," Wood said by phone. "In general, the Canadian palate is quite mild mannered, and doesn't like anything too assertive. The French are quite the opposite. Canadians acquire a taste for stronger flavoured cheeses as time goes by, but now they tend to like mild flavours. So we have tried to make cheeses that are mild flavours."

Links: Les Amis du Fromage
Benton Brothers Fine Cheese map location
Goat's Pride Dairy