Kazen Schockaert

A cheese board with Bourgondiër from Kazen Schockaert

Behind the Kazen Schockaert shop and under St. Rumbold’s Cathedral, 220 artisanal, raw-milk cheeses are ripening. And among all those wheels lies a fantastic newcomer: Bourgondiër. A creamy triple crème cheese with a filling of figs and coriander seeds, inspired by the golden Renaissance era in Mechelen.

Bourgondiër

Tastemaker Sophie Schockaert: ‘For Mmm ... Mechelen, I have teamed up with Dongé: an artisanal cheese maker from northern France. Their raw-milk triple crème cheese, Le Barisien, has a filling of dried figs, coriander seed, roasted buckwheat and mascarpone. Coriander was grown in every herb garden 500 years ago. It was the citrusy taste of the seed that was especially popular in late medieval cuisine. The mascarpone ensures the smooth, creamy mouthfeel, the figs give the sweet note and the coriander seeds provide a fresh acidic element. The result is an accessible cheese with a rich taste. A must-have on your cheese board.’

‘Did you know that brie was around in the time of Margaret of Austria? Although the cheesemakers did have a problem during Lent. Because people would not eat meat or dairy during this period. So cheese was out of the question. Since the cheesemakers could not sell anything, the city granted them authorization to sell nuts and dried fruit. To the frustration of the fruit vendors in the city, of course.’

 

Jeroen Van Vaerenbergh, The Food Archaeologist

Where does the expression ‘figs after Easter’ come from? Anyone who came along with a basket of figs after Easter, when people were allowed to eat dairy and meat again, was too late. Those were the figs after Easter.

Cheese maturer becomes cheesemaker

‘As cheese maturers, we don’t make cheeses. We mature them until they have reached the perfect flavour. You can also see some of our cheeses ripening behind glass in the 16th-century vaulted cellars under a former chapel at St. Rumbold’s Cathedral. The nice thing about Mmm ... Mechelen is that this time I got the chance to develop a cheese myself.’

Unique cheeses since 1915

Great-grandfather Schockaert started in 1915 with a small business in milk, eggs, butter and a little cheese. He travelled around the city by horse and cart, making home deliveries. Almost 110 years later, Kazen Schockaert is still a culinary household name in Mechelen, with Ann and Sophie Schockaert as fourth-generation cheese masters. They continue the life’s work of their father Harry, who travelled around Western Europe in search of the best raw milk farm cheeses, usually from smaller producers.

Sophie Schockaert: ‘In cheeses made with raw milk, the typical microflora of the region is preserved and these help determine the taste. These flavours also change depending on the ripening phase. That’s what’s so great about our product.’

A breath of fresh air in Mechelen

‘In my spare time, I go paddle-boarding on the Eglegemvijver in Hombeek, just outside Mechelen. There are several water sports clubs there. Or I walk around in Vrijbroek park. If you prefer to soak up some culture, Cinema Lumière is the place to go.’