It is in 1989 that Ian Picard began sharing his student schedule with his job at La fromagerie Hamel, behind the counter. It is then during this time that cheeses charmed Ian Picard: the have awakened his curiosity, they have lightened a fiery passion in his gourmet soul. From specialised dictionary to documentaries and fine cuisine magazines, young Picard read everything, watched everything in order to satisfy his intellectual appetite, in vain. To appease his hunger, he needed to become fromager apprentice, so he needed to envisage a journey in France.
With his hotel management diploma in hand, Ian Picard flew towards the Jura mountains in the Hexagon to study cheese, to get the perfect training. It is therefore at Industrie laitière de Poligny that the apprentice turn out a master, but also under the education of renown affineurs from Paris, Dijon and Alsace, with who he refined his techniques, his knowledge, his love for cheeses. Back in Québec, Ian Picard had aging cellars built so he could ripened, as he pleased, cheeses he would have selected in France, Québec or in his native land, Switzerland.
Hours after hours, years after years, the young employee behind the cheese counter aged himself to become vice-president of La fromagerie Hamel, a family enterprise established in 1961 by Fernand Hamel. Today, La fromagerie Hamel has five boutiques in Montréal and Repentingy and benefits from the talent and passion of over than 80 employees to satisfy its precious and curious clientele. The counters of this cheese merchant present over 450 fine cheeses reflecting the flavours of Europe, but also unique ones from the terroir of Québec. This is a great pride for the young vice-president, master affineur, knight of Taste-fromage and master fromager.
