In London, England, Michael Finnerty became an apprentice at Mons Cheesemongers. Six years later, Finnerty still works at Mons part-time when he is in England.Francesca Jones/The Globe and Mail
In 2019, when long-time CBC radio host Michael Finnerty found himself feeling a bit blah – a feeling he likens to a giant wheel of Comté that has lost its brightness – he decided it was time to embark on a six-month unpaid work sabbatical in London, England.
For the past 13 years, his job as a morning show host in Montreal had involved a 3 a.m. wake up call and eating “lunch” by 8:30 a.m. One day, while watching a movie in theatres, he had an epiphany: Watching someone else’s life onscreen had been the best two hours of his week.
“I loved my job, and the show was going really well, so I don’t ever call what happened to me a burnout – it was more languishing,” Finnerty told The Globe last month.
Francesca Jones/The Globe and Mail
After arriving in the expensive English capital in April, 2019, his savings quickly drained. Finnerty realized he needed a change but wondered what else a radio host could do. Wandering through the narrow aisles of London’s historic Borough Market led the successful journalist, who had previously worked at BBC and The Guardian, down an unexpected path as an apprentice at Mons Cheesemongers. There, Finnerty said, at that stall, he ultimately found community.
“I don’t make the cheese, I care for it,” he explained.
“There’s something about the fellowship of cheesemongers that is very nourishing. We are in the business of delight.”
His six-month sabbatical extended into nine, and eventually evolved into a split arrangement between London and Montreal. Finnerty now co-presents a weekly show on Ici Radio-Canada Première and continues to work part-time as a Mons cheesemonger when he is in Britain.
“I have been learning with Mons for six years, and in many cases, people half my age have patiently taught me from scratch.”
Finnerty chronicles this journey in his new memoir, The Cheese Cure: How Comté and Camembert Fed My Soul, out on Oct. 21, inviting readers to not only learn on the job with him, but also glimpse the lives of retail workers who run the storied stalls.
When I met Finnerty at the bustling London market, he donned a cream apron, looking relaxed and full of life as he shared how the sabbatical sparked a fresh new outlook and helped him rediscover joy.
When you first became a cheesemonger, did you think you would learn as much as you did about people?
Not at all, but you can’t sell anyone cheese unless you try to understand the person. There will be empirical data about a cheese, like its pH level, that you can’t really argue about. But some things are a matter of personal taste, like whether or not you enjoy funky, mushroom-y tastes. Then there’s a whole other level of connection to food, which is about associations, moments in their life and great loves. If you don’t try to understand those things, I don’t think you can become an exceptional cheesemonger.
When you started as an apprentice, did your ego ever get in the way?
It did, a lot. There was a job down in the basement of the shop, which included cleaning the staff toilet. I remember thinking: ‘You don’t have to do this at the CBC.’ I could feel myself rebelling inside; kind of rolling my eyes and thinking, ‘I’m not sure I can cope with another of these tasks.’ Now, I surprisingly look forward to most of them – transforming things from a mess to neat as a pin is really therapeutic.
Every cheese is different, but do you have any general storage tips?
Cheeses are so fussy and they’re so individual. Storing cheeses in plastic can be tricky because they can’t breathe. There are some advantages in that it’s not exposed to the air, so it doesn’t oxidize. But the moisture has nowhere to go, so the cheese will start to age funny. I usually wrap mine in wax paper. The No. 1 thing is to eat it relatively quickly; instead of buying big chunks of cheese, buy a little, more often.
If you were to put together a cheese board that reflected your journey, what would it feature?
Saint-Félicien is a double-cream cow’s milk cheese that is really accessible. It has bitter notes but is also fabulously creamy, and if you get it at just the right stage, it’s nothing but enjoyment.
There’s an alpine cheese called L’Étivaz, which has an astonishing mix of flavours: it’s slightly acidic, has some smokiness and this really strong pineapple tang at the end. To me, it represents both the mystery of cheese and the mystery of the journey.
I really struggled with Sainte-Maure throughout my apprenticeship because I couldn’t figure out why it kept doing strange things every time I went into the fridge. Some days, it was as though all the bones had left its body and the cheese was just a splat, and other days, it was super hard. For a long time, we were frenemies, so it deserves a place on the board.
Lastly, Pérail, which I initially disliked so much that I had asked my boss why we even stock it. He sat me down and said, “Maybe the problem is not the cheese; maybe it’s the cheesemonger.” So I did some research on the cheese, took it out for a date with a £5 Chilean red, and cracked it. Now, I love it.
Francesca Jones/The Globe and Mail
What advice do you have for others who may be at a crossroads in their career and life?
Cheesemongers spend so much time trying to figure out how a cheese is doing. I certainly wasn’t thinking that way at CBC; I was just ticking things off the list. I was doing my job without stopping to assess.
In the book, I use the metaphor of the cheese iron, which is a tool that cheese makers and cheesemongers use to extract a cylinder of cheese from a big wheel. I would get that cheese iron out and have a real think about how you’re feeling. The power of sabbatical is formidable; not everyone can take time off, but it is such a gift. It took four full weeks to start breathing again, to let the tension leave my body. I could think new thoughts and see things in different ways.
What were some of the compromises you had to make?
I used to take nice holidays and buy what I wanted, and that is not where my life is now. When I was a radio presenter, I wasn’t a rich man, but I made a comfortable living. Now, I have a tight weekly budget. I am unquestionably happier – that doesn’t mean that I’m not struggling to figure out my financial future. I asked myself how much money I need to be happy, and what that pursuit is really doing to the quality of my life. I’m so glad I took that step.
Do you think that sense of languishing you felt at the beginning has subsided?
I found a balance between home in Canada and home in England. I spend winters in London when the cheeses are at their best and people are really hungry for them.
Five Canadian cheeses that Finnerty loves
La Magie de Madawaska
Fromagerie le Détour, Témiscouata-sur-le-Lac, Que.
“It’s a washed-rind beauty with a moreish tang. This is a terrific gateway cheese to introduce newbies to the mysterious pleasures of smelly cheese.”
La Magie de Madawaska.Supplied
La Bête-À-Séguin
Fromagerie de l’Île-aux-Grues, Isle-aux-Grues, Que.
“Séguin’s aptly named ‘beast’ is a bloomy-rinded, brie-style cow’s milk cheese that delivers the complete, gooey French cheese experience. It draws you in with a brown butter paste, while showing off its big, farmy, grassy notes, which are increasingly brassica with age.”
La Bête-À-Séguin.Supplied
Wildwood
Stonetown Artisan Cheese, St. Marys, Ont.
“Wildwood has a creamy, bright paste that manages a neat trick: it’s both pleasantly moist and crisp at the same time. This cheese is a wonder – packed with flavour – that Canadians can be proud of.”
Wildwood.Supplied
Zacharie Cloutier
Fromagerie Nouvelle France, Racine, Que.
“This is a smashing cheese with notes of toasted brioche, caramel and coconut, aged just long enough to develop a dense paste with a pleasant crunch from the presence of tyrosine crystals.”
Zacharie Cloutier.M M Trudeau/Supplied
Romelia
Salt Spring Island Cheese, Salt Spring Island, B.C.
“Romelia is a washed-rind goat’s milk cheese, meaning that it gets a saline wash as it matures, leading to deeper, meatier notes and some solid funk. The paste is fudgy, coating the mouth, and it has a pleasant chew.”
Romelia.Supplied