I'd like to know more about cheese curds & which Canadian cheese companies best make them & how to contact them.

A cheese maker here in Australia is really keen on starting up a poutine restaurant after I told him about it. He's googled poutine but needs more info.

I've had it twice in Montreal whilst on a short visit. "La belle province" was not that great as the little restaurant that I was taken to.

Also the gravy - is it vegetable based or any gravy will do?

Most cheddar producers in Canada make curds--often there won't be a brand name. However, in Québec the business is dominated by Agropur, the dairy farmers' giant co-operative, and Saputo. Here in Eastern Ontario, a big producer is St. Albert Dairy. You can get information on all of them from their websites.

Not just any gravy will do. Some vendors have their own special recipes, but most use a commercial poutine gravy made by Berthelet. It's also sold by the St. Hubert BBQ chain.

Thanks for that info. It's a start & I'll pass it on.

'Curds ain't curds if they don't squeek'-that is, freshness is an issue. Surely any cow's milk cheese-making process that separates curds from whey must produce them? So here is a question (and pardon my ignorance) does Australia produce cow's milk cheese?

And although the commercial gravy that chain poutine maker's use, if just fine, the best is made from beef gravy.

Hmm..we produce dairy products fr cows, goats & sheep as well as unhomogenised milk which I love as it has the "curd level" floating on top.

I'll have to pass this one on to the cheese maker who is interested....

Basically, I can't see the diff btw Canuck cows & Aussie cows if we can produce a similar range of dairy products & meat.

I'd suggest the cheese maker, if at all possible, to spend a week to a month in Quebec sampling poutine so he knows exactly what he's getting himself into. Not that poutine is rocket science, but I figure if you're going to start up a business selling a food you've only known by second hand experience, wouldn't you want to discover it for yourself in its original context?

Carmanah...true...too true! The economics as well, but I'll pass it on.

What LJ said about squeaky curds. No squeak, no good.

The Wilton Cheese Factory's a personal favourite.

http://tinyurl.com/369vgz

HTH
Knick