Global Cheese in Kensington Market opened in 1970. The store has built a solid reputation in Toronto (rated 4.8 out of 5 on Facebook, 4.5 out of 5 on Google, and 4 out of 5 on Yelp). Blue and white paper signs advertising cheeses and two cows, one in each of the front windows, hint at the milky goodness inside.
I’m here with a group for a food tour of Kensington Market with Local Food Tours. At this stop we get to try two different types of Ontario cheeses and an Italian salami.
Our food tour guide, Mike, tells us, “these two cheeses will actually be from our province. So, you’ll get to taste a little bit of our terroir, and some of the local cheese being produced here.”
The Store Layout at Global Cheese in Kensington Market
Cheese counters run the length of the store at Global Cheese in Kensington Market, in a large ring. Expert cheese mongers help a steady stream of customers from inside the ring. They hand out bits of cheese, as tasting the cheese helps clients decide which to choose.
Here you’ll also find cured meats, olives, jams, sauces, mustards, crackers and other accompaniments which make for a perfect cheese board.
Trying Cheese from Ontario Cheese Makers
Mike takes us past glass cases of cheese (and refrigerators and shelves of so many gourmet treats I’d like to bring home) to the back of the store where a tray with toothpicks is piled with pieces of cheese and sliced Italian salami washed in rose wine.
Our first cheese, from Gunn’s Hill Artisan Cheese in Huntsville, is the 5 Brothers cow’s milk cheese. It’s a cross between a Gouda and a Swiss Appenzaler, aged on cedar planks.
The second cheese, from Blyth Farm Cheese, in Blyth, is Honey Bee. This one is a distinctive goat’s milk cheese. It’s another Gouda style cheese whose sharp flavour is mellowed by the addition of honey mead.
Both of these cheeses are popular among our group. There’s more than one piece per person, so Mike encourages the group to finish all the cheese and salami on the tray. The group obliges.
Enjoyed July, 2019
Global Cheese
76 Kensington Ave, Toronto, ON M5T 2K1
+1 (416) 593-9251
