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Canadian Giants

Giant Cheeses

When it comes to Canada, our cheese stands alone! Weighing in at over 57,508 pounds (about 26 tonnes), Canada holds the record for the world's largest cheese. This chubby cheddar made by Agropur of Granby, Quebec on September 7, 1995 contained over 540,000 pounds (245,000 kg) of milk. Canada has a history of making giant cheeses. The Dominion Experimental Dairy Station in Perth, Ontario, made a mammoth cheese for the Chicago World's Fair of 1893.

Photograph of the Mammoth cheese made at Ingersoll, Ontario, 1866

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Mammoth cheese made at Ingersoll, Ontario, 1866

Photograph of the Mammoth cheese leaving Perth en route to Chicago, April 17, 1893

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Mammoth cheese leaving Perth en route to Chicago, April 17, 1893

Although this cheddar cheese weighed less, at 22,000 pounds (9,900 kg), it was perhaps a greater feat of cheese making when you consider that it was made before the days of refrigerated trucks. Cheese making is a science that requires ingredients to be kept extremely clean and at stable temperatures. The milk to make this cheese had to be transported by horse and wagon from various dairy farms, making it an amazing display of orchestration. In cheese-making terms it was definitely the big cheese!

Text of a poem by James McIntyre entitled ODE ON THE MAMMOTH CHEESE, 1884

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Poem by James McIntyre entitled "Ode on the Mammoth Cheese", 1884, considered one of the worst poems in Canadian literature

Photograph of a poster advertising the Mammoth Cheese made for the World's Columbian Exposition at Chicago, 1893

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Poster advertising the Mammoth Cheese made at the Dominion Experimental Dairy Station, Perth, Ontario, for display at the World's Columbian Exposition, Chicago, April 1893

Photograph of the Mammoth cheese on display at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, 1893

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Mammoth cheese made at the Dominion Experimental Dairy Station, Perth, Ontario, on display at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, 1893

References

Spencer, Bev. Made in Canada: 101 Amazing Achievements. Toronto: Scholastic Canada, 2003.