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Oka cheese
Oka is a semi-soft washed rind cheese that was originally manufactured by Trappist monks located in Oka, Quebec, Canada. The cheese is named after the town. It has a distinct flavour and aroma, and is still manufactured in Oka, although now by a commercial company. The recipe was sold in 1981 by Les Pères Trappistes to the Agropur cooperative.[1] It was also manufactured by Trappist Monks at the Our Lady of the Prairies Monastery, located 8 miles southeast of Holland, Manitoba. A small Manitoba producer learned the process from Brother Albéric, but stopped making unpasteurized Trappist cheese in 2019 because of the cost of provincial regulations.[2] Brother Alphonse Juin arrived at the Notre-Dame du Lac Monastery in Quebec in 1893 with a recipe for Port-du-Salut cheese. He "tweaked and adjusted" the recipe, and Oka was born.[1] Since that time, Quebec has become a major producer of Canadian Cheese. Oka cheese has a pungent aroma and soft creamy flavour, sometimes described as nutty and fruity.[3] The cheese, which is made from cow's milk, is covered with a copper-orange, hand-washed rind. Its distinct flavour sets it apart from more common cheeses such as colby and cheddar, and does not go through a cheddaring process. There are four types of Oka cheese:[3]
HistoryOka cheese was heavily influenced by the work of the monks of the Cistercian Abbey of Notre-Dame du Lac (fr. 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 Trappist monastery became well known for its Port-Salut cheese, made from a Breton recipe brought with them from France. See also
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