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On Oxford County's Cheese Trail, All Roads Lead To the Ingersoll Cheese Museum

30/10/2015

 

The Ingersoll Cheese Museum will inspire you to new poetic heights. It's the perfect thing to do in Oxford County, Ontario!

Our visit to the Ingersoll Cheese Museum was facilitated in part by Oxford County Tourism and we thank them for their support. This post contains affiliate links, which means if you make a purchase, we may be paid a small commission.

Ingersoll Cheese Museum: Staff stands next to old fashioned farm suppliesPicture
Stepping back in history at the Ingersoll Cheese Museum.
In Oxford County, Ontario, all roads on the cheese trail lead to Ingersoll. The cheese trail isn't just my personal list of delicious spots, it's an actual real thing that anyone can experience! Restaurants, food producers, farms,  inns, and gift shops all come together to honor the area's heritage as one of Canada's leading diary and cheese producers. 

Of course, to REALLY appreciate the awesomeness that is Oxford County cheese,  you have to do more than sample it (or, in my case, inhale it). You have to follow the cheese trail all the way back to the beginning and pay a visit to the Ingersoll Cheese Museum. 
Antique farm equipment Picture
The Ingersoll Cheese Museum (okay, its full name is the Ingersoll Cheese and Agricultural Museum) is a replica of a 19th century cheese factory. Local dairy production in Oxford County was so abundant that cheese factories, many set up as community cooperatives, dotted the landscape. Some were but just a few miles apart, such was the demand from local farmers. 

Just how much cheese was produced in Oxford County? Well, in 1866 a wheel of cheddar weighing more than 7,300 lbs was produced by the James Harris Cheese Company in conjunction with three local cheese factories, like the kind represented by the Ingersoll Cheese Museum. Created as part of a promotional campaign to market Oxford cheddar to England, the famous mammoth cheese went on a world tour. The tour was a smash success (though perhaps not for the gigantic cheese, which was festering with ripeness by the time it reached England) and it solidified the region's place as a global cheese leader. 
Antique farm equipment Picture
If the idea of a gigantic, 7,300 lb wheel of cheese is apt to make you swoon and break into verse, you aren't the only one. A certain James McIntyre, well known to Oxford County residents for his oratorical skills, wrote a poem inspired by the occasion entitled "Ode on the Mammoth Cheese Weighing Over 7,000 Pounds".

Now, as a writer, I'm somewhat opposed to criticizing other artists of the written word but there seems to be ample evidence to support the claim that The Chaucer of Cheese was Canada's worst poet and "Ode to the Mammoth Cheese" its worst poem.  I'll be merciful and share just the first few opening words....

We have seen thee, Queen of Cheese,
Lying quietly at your ease,
Gently fanned by evening breeze;
Thy fair form no flies dare seize.
Outside the cheese museum Picture
If McIntyre has inspired you, you'll be pleased to know that Ingersoll has an annual poetry competition, including a category just for cheese related poems! But if you're a little more reticent with regards to your cheese related emotions, the Cheese Museum will still understand. The Cheese Museum will be there for you! It will walk you through over a century of cheese production, letting you appreciate your favourite food like never before. It won't be long before some inspired verses emerge!
Vanessa stands next to giant cheese wheel replicas Picture
Farming and dairy production has been at the heart of Oxford County for centuries and, while there might not be a cheese factory every few miles today, cheese is still as important to communities like Ingersoll as ever before.  You can see the influence of this fine food throughout every industry in town - museums and poetry alike - and the Ingersoll Cheese Museum is the perfect place to commence your own cheese trail experience. 


Do you have a favourite food that has inspired your travels?

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If you enjoyed this article, you'll also like:
Small Town Sweetness in Ingersoll
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Stefan link
31/10/2015 09:53:09 am

A wheel of cheese weighing 7,300 lbs??!! Yikes! Asian food inspired our big trip around the continent - but travelling with a Frenchman, that was 17 long months without much cheese ha ha ha

Vanessa
2/11/2015 08:57:05 am

My friends traveling in Asia tell me this all the time - it's an amazing destination for all food except cheese ;-(

Lois Alter Mark link
31/10/2015 11:11:36 am

Food is an excellent reason to travel! As a cheese lover, I would be all over this place!

Vanessa
2/11/2015 08:57:32 am

It's a foodie's paradise.

Karilyn link
31/10/2015 11:14:10 am

A cheese trail?! awesome. I would be all over that. I love cheese, I mean who doesn't!! My travel food used to be Mexican food. I was always on the hunt for mexican food wherever I went. Now after a decade in India, it's indian food! It's a fun thing to search out no matter where we go

Vanessa
2/11/2015 08:58:14 am

It's definitely Indian food for us too. Spicy, creamy, it hits all the right buttons.

Lesley Carter link
31/10/2015 02:34:12 pm

This reminds me a Friends episode. hahah

My daughter would be in heaven.

Vanessa
2/11/2015 08:58:52 am

Anytime I can conjure up a Friends memory, it's a good day. LOVE that show and so much foodie fun too!

Jackie link
1/11/2015 12:03:26 pm

Cheese is one of my favorite foods so the cheese trail is right up my alley. I'm a food lover who enjoys foods from many different countries, which is perfect for a traveler like me!

Vanessa
2/11/2015 09:00:14 am

Cheese is such a traveler's staple, isn't it? Nothing like some nice cheese and bread - and maybe some wine - to compliment your day.

Monica link
1/11/2015 02:21:59 pm

cheese sampling? Sounds like something I would absolutely love to do!

Vanessa
2/11/2015 09:01:44 am

You and me both! Our grocery store had samples of applewood smoked cheddar on display the other week - I ate 12 of them. 12! No shame!

melody pittman link
1/11/2015 08:11:23 pm

Love cheese, though doubt i could eat the 7,000 pounds of it. LOL Looks like a fun place to visit and educational as well. Yum!

Vanessa
2/11/2015 09:02:19 am

I think when it comes to cheese, quality over quantity wins every time.

himanshu link
1/11/2015 11:40:26 pm

I love trail of anykind. This is an awesome way to explore a place or places. Cheese Museum looks awesome. Thanks for this travel inspiring post.

Vanessa
2/11/2015 09:04:20 am

I too love trails or themed day trips and there are so many interesting ones all around the world.

Scott link
5/2/2016 11:35:42 am

Thanks for the great write-up about the Ingersoll Cheese & Agricultural Museum. We will look forward to welcoming your readers anytime, and especially now that we have a life-size replica of the mammoth cheese on display!

Vanessa
5/2/2016 12:29:05 pm

Thanks Scott!! People really do seem fascinated by the mammoth cheese - there's just something about it that captures the imagination. It would be so cool to see a replica!


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