MONTREAL — Local food is perhaps the most important trend in Canadian restaurant cuisine today, but the culinary team at Montreal’s Fairmont The Queen Elizabeth has taken it to a new level, recently adopting a goat, affectionately named Blanche Neige (Snow White), to make the hotel’s signature cheeses for its restaurant The Beaver Club.
A registered “show goat” with an impressive pedigree, Snow White was adopted from the local Fromagerie du Vieux St-François as part of the hotel’s ongoing commitment to support local cuisine and small artisan producers. While living at the fromagerie, Snow White will produce cheese for The Beaver Club and the Fairmont Store.
“Before adopting Snow White, our culinary team decided that we wanted to create a unique and exclusive experience for our guests, while also promoting local, artisan cuisine,” says Michel Busch, director of Food and Beverage. “With Quebec’s reputation for award-winning cheese and the growing demand for locally-produced food, working with an artisan fromagerie here in Montreal was a natural choice.”
The Beaver Club’s chef, Martin Paquet, will be using the goat cheese in a variety of dishes from entrées to desserts, including asparagus bundle with goat cheese and confited cherry tomatoes; Snow White iced nougat and Snow White cheesecake with red berries.
The cheese is exclusive to The Beaver Club and the Fromagerie, and will include varieties such as La Tour Saint-François, the Peau d’ours and l’Ilot de Blanche Neige. The cheese will also be available alongside a larger selection of Quebec cheeses as part of the gourmet cheese cart.
And, Snow White will not be the lone goat. She will be joined by a goat-in-training, also named Snow White.