>
I have been a big fan Fox Hill Cheese House for 4 or 5 years now. I have an issue with commercial milk products. Something in the processing causes me to have itching on my hands and I get stuffed up. I thought I was reacting to dairy products which was really strange because it was never an issue for the first 30 years of my life. Being a cheese freak I could not stop eating cheese and when I heard about Fox Hill I drove right up the next weekend for some cheese. The first thing I noticed was that I did not react. I decided to test it out and went back and bought some gelato and some cheese curd and consumed it all in one night (the sacrifices we make). No reaction at all. I was thrilled. I have been a customer ever sense.
When I was visiting them I heard the story of how they graze, and care for their cows. How much care they take to ensure there are no antibiotics in their milk and how they use their own milk to make their products. The level of pride they show in their business and the food they produce shows through. You can tell that pleasing their customers is the priority of Fox Hill.
When they came out with bottled milk I had to try it and ran down to the Halifax Seaport Farmers Market to get my bottle (ok, 3 bottles, oh yeah got 5 more…). The milk is pasteurized so no fear there but except for that and the Vitamin D they have to put in it is unprocessed. You have to shake it because the cream will rise to the top but when you drink it, wow, fresh cold milk, you can taste the cream and natural sugars. It is amazing. I had my first glass of milk & cookies for the first time in years. It is by far the best milk I have ever had. And no reaction at all. Factory milk essentially has the crap kicked out of it, they separate off all the cream using a centrifuge, high temperature pasteurize it, then pump in milk fat to the prescribed percentage, add back vitamins they destroy in the processing of the milk and homogenize the milk. Of course this allows them to use the cream in other applications, make modified milk ingredients and allows dairies to make more profit off their raw material. The final product is not however whole milk. As with most things produced in factories you end up with a poor copy of the real thing.
At 3 dollars a liter the milk is cheaper than the organic milk sold in the factory food outlets and is a far superior product. I am very excited to have this available to me and I encourage you to go try a bottle (just leave one or three for me). If you have a chance go up to their Port Williams location and take the time to talk to them about their operation. You will be impressed by the level of pride and commitment to quality that they have. You will also get some of the best gelato available. If you don’t want to take the trip to the valley then visit them at the market and you can get a sample of their milk (and gelato).
Tim's Kitchen Table 