For many years now I have been waiting for Ontario to start catching up with Quebec and other regions in the artisan cheese making business. Of course we have a solid foundation in Cheddar, but it has seemed like there are few cheeses beyond this core. Slowly, the artisan cheese maker ranks have been growing – early on Monforte, Back Forty, Ewenity and Milky Way and then Upper Canada, Best Ba, Fifth Town and Glengarry and there are some others – but it does not seem to be fast enough!

Then, I met up with Nissin Avarim of the Dairy Farmers of Ontario the other day and we got to talking about fresh and ethnic cheeses. And while we were talking, it became clear that there is a whole range of ethnic fresh cheeses already being produced here in Ontario that are not stocked by that forward-thinking cheesemonger in your neighbourhood. In fact, you will probably never see these gems unless you go to the right ethnic markets in outlying suburbs and cities outside the downtown core. Toronto prides itself on multiculturalism in neighbourhoods and restaurants and yet we are somewhat monocultural in the cheeses and style of cheeses that we eat.

In many cultures around the world, fresh cheeses are a staple of cooking. Fresh cheeses have a total life span of two to four weeks and many are best within days of production. When I think back to cheese counters in France or the David Jones Food Hall where I used to work in Australia, there would almost always be a section of fresh cheeses. Day old Ricottas in a basket, mozzarella, spreadable cream cheeses, cottage cheese, clotted creams, crème fraiche, fromage frais and fromage blanc, feta and more. Many of these cheeses are produced right here around Toronto, but are only marketed to the ethnic markets. There is a whole world of cheese that we are not using, and is available, produced in our back yard. I predict that that the addition of fresh cheeses to cheesemonger counters will be the next big trend in Toronto’s cheese world.

Fresh cheeses often work wonderfully for very simple recipes that showcase summer produce – think salad Caprese or Greek salad or summer tomatoes. Don’t hold back – this is the season to give it a try.

Nissin took me to visit one of these producers located in an unassuming commercial plaza somewhere in the heart of Mississauga. You would never find it. Kajmak Dairy is a few months old and there are no signs on the window or outside. It specialized in Serbian fresh cheeses. There is a tiny sales room, just big enough to turn around in – there is no sales staff. We knock on the door of what must be the production room (there is a large tray on the floor in front of this door filled with a half inch of sanitizing water – you have to step in it before entering) and we are greeted in Serbo-Croation by a man, hair netted and white robed. Through sign language, we are invited into the production room – a gleaming white and sterile room. On a table there are several tubs filled with a rich looking bubbly cream. Our host picks up a knife and slices through what turns out to be a quarter inch layer of clotted cream floating on top of what looks like milk. It turns out that it takes 17 litres of milk and cream to produce one kilogram of this heavenly looking substance. It's a Serbian specialty called Kajmak Domaci. Unlike clotted cream, Kajmak is salty and later that evening I spread it over steaming new potatoes: it was just as heavenly as it looked. Almost as thick as butter, a little sour and salty at the same time, with underlying deep dairy, buttery notes. This is a product that is begging for adaptive uses.

Remember that I said that there was all that milky liquid under the cream? Well, it is put to good use, creating two other products. A cream cheese and a grainy yogurt drink.

Sir Za Mazanje Domaci – cream cheese. Somehow it is lighter and more spreadable than many other cream cheeses – even right from the refrigerator. Be sure to pair with summer tomatoes and cucumbers. Lightly tangy, vaguely granular with deep dairy flavour.

Yogurt drink – this is tangy and acidic like you would expect yogurt to be. It separates easily in the refrigerator with whey floating to the top. But it is not smooth, perhaps a cultural preference. While I would not drink it by itself, it worked beautifully in my morning smoothies with fresh strawberries and mangos.

White Diamonds, Kajmac Dairy 905-624-6026 There is no website but they are in 52 stores around Ontario. Give them a call and find out where you can get your sample and most of all have fun finding and experimenting with these treasures, pairing them up with gorgeous summer produce.

Andy Shay is a Toronto-based cheese expert and consultant. Learn about Andy's tutored tastings at www.andyshay.com