Quality cheese comes from quality milk, and dairy farmer Jeroen Schalkwijk comes from a family of artisan cheese producers. His parents, Jan and Janneke, emigrated to Canada in 1995 to join him on his farm near Sylvan Lake. Drawing on their traditional knowledge - Jan’s mother was awarded a medal for best Gouda in Holland in 1952 – they started Sylvan Star Cheese and began creating prize-winning products of their own. As they neared retirement age, in 2022 they handed the reins to another Dutch immigrant, Art Loek, himself a sixth-generation cheesemaker. Art continues to use milk from Jeroen’s herd of Holsteins to create delicious Gouda. Having control over the cows’ diet is essential to achieving the complex flavours of the finished product – apparently, feeding them Alfalfa makes for the tastiest milk!
You can enjoy the melty delights of Sylvan Star Gouda in our Grilled Cheese. And if you want to sound like a real cheese expert, try out the Dutch pronunciation – how-da.
