If you love cheese as much as we do, then you are in the right place! Whether you’re newly vegan, thinking about going vegan, or just love cheese, then you need to check out Fauxmagerie Zengarry!

Fauxmagerie Zengarry is a Canadian company located in Alexandria, Ontario. Don’t live in the area? Fear not, because their delicious cheeses are sold across Ontario and Quebec. They have 7 dairy-free, vegan cheeses that are all equally delicious. We hard a hard time picking our favourite!

If you’re not hungry yet then read on because we promise you will be – their cheese flavours are:

Garlic & Fine Herbs – so yummy!

Sun Dried Tomato & Basil – Mmmmm!

Double Creme – Wow, just wow!

Smokey Jalapeno – our first favourite (of many)!

Aged Cumin – so addictive, we warned you!

Creamy Swiss – you can put this on anything!

Ale Aged (made with Beau’s beer!!) – the perfect final touch to any charcuterie board

Fauxmagerie Zengarry just launched their Ale Aged Cheddar and honestly it was love at first bite! It’s made with certified organic beer from Beau’s Brewing, another Eastern Ontario local, and if you haven’t tried it it’s a must!

As part of their cheese launch we had the pleasure of interviewing the company founder and brains behind the operation, Lynda Turner. Lynda is a scientist turned cheeseologist, who quit her job working for the government to start Zengarry. We came up with 11 questions to get to know Lynda a little bit better and of course finished our interview off with our traditional Rapid Fire Q&A.

Getting to know Lynda, President of Zengarry

Q: Do you have any pets?

Lynda: “Yes – one dog and two cats. Luna, Ricky, and Simba.”

Q: How long have you been vegan? And why did you decide to do it?

Lynda: “It’s been eight years since I first went vegan. It started for health reasons. After doing a lot of research I came to realize that eating a plant-based diet was much healthier and the decision seemed like a no-brainer. I had actually been vegetarian for years before going fully vegan, so it was really an evolution. Aside from just health reasons the environment has always been important to me, and I love animals. It just feels like the right choice.”

Q: How did you find the transition from being a scientist to being a cheesologist? Was it challenging?

Lynda: “It was a steep learning curve – I had a lot to learn. [Things like] how do you make a website? How do you get nutritional labels made?

It started as a passion project so it didn’t feel like a lot of work, it was solving little problems over and over again. I started making cheese in my spare time, and it evolved and grew to a point where it made sense to leave my job and do this full time.”

Q: It seems like there is an increase in people moving to a plant-based diet, what do you think of this trend and do you think it will continue?

Lynda: “There’s a lot more information out there so people are learning more, and as they learn more they’re making better and more conscious choices. I also believe being vegan today is much easier than being vegan eight years ago. There are so many options and resources out there. People understand it more, they know what vegan is. Eight years ago you could say you were vegan but people didn’t actually understand what that meant.”

Q: What’s the number one myth you’d like to bust about living a vegan lifestyle?

Lynda: “That it’s hard. I don’t think it’s hard, it certainly doesn’t have to be. People believe being vegan is limiting and I don’t agree that it is. We eat such a varied diet that it really isn’t hard today. People believe vegan cheese is going to taste bad and they don’t want to try it, but it isn’t like that anymore. It’s come a long way and it’s so delicious.”

Q: What’s your favourite meal?

Lynda: “That’s a hard one. I’d have to say its a restaurant in Montreal called Sushi Momo – they make the BEST vegan sushi, I think I have dreams about it.”

Q: Of all your cheeses, which is your favourite?

Lynda: “My personal favourite, is the one that people don’t buy as much, the Aged Cumin flavour. It’s just so delicious – it’s got such a unique flavour.”

Q: Other than making delicious cheese and eating vegan, what other impacts does being vegan have on your life?

Lynda: “I just feel like I’m living in alignment with my beliefs. I’m living the life I’m meant to be living. It’s comforting knowing I’m making decision that are better for my health, the environment, and animals. I never really cooked before, and now there’s just so many flavours and delicious recipes to try it’s made me enjoy cooking a lot more.”

Q: Any social causes Zengarry supports?

Lynda: “We support a lot of different causes! We donate cheeses to different university events. We donate proceeds to Child Haven which is a local charity that has opened orphanages in India and a number of different countries overseas. We do a fundraiser every year at the end of November in which we choose a different animal charity to raise funds for. Last year we held our event to raise funds for Penny Lane Farm Sanctuary and this year we’re looking to work with We Animals. For these events we invite local wineries and serve an array of cheese spreads with a goal to collect donations for whatever charity we are focusing on that year.”

Q: People say all that time that they would go vegan if it weren’t for the cheese! We even felt this way in the beginning. What advice do you have for those people are looking to start their vegan journey?

Lynda: “Try our cheese, it tastes so good! Once you find that alternative it makes the transition so much easier!”

Q: If you weren’t running Zengarry, what would you be doing?

Lynda: “I guess I would still be working at the government, doing what I was doing before. But I can’t even imagine what my life would be like doing that. Every day is an adventure now and I love it!”

Rapid Fire Q&A

After we got deep with Lynda, it was time to do one of our favourite activities – Rapid Fire questions! The rules were simple. We asked Lynda a question, and she had to answer with the first thing that came to mind!

Q: Favourite season

Lynda: Summer

Q: Favourite colour
Lynda: Blue

Q: Favourite person dead or alive
Lynda: Ghandi

Q: Favourite place in the world
Lynda: Paris

Q: Most inspiring quote you know

Lynda: “Be the change you want to see in the world.”

Q: Any final thoughts?

Lynda: Ale-Aged cheese is coming to stores! It’s so delicious, it’s my second favourite. It’s so versatile and easy to cook with. Put it on burgers, cheese sandwiches, everyone should try it!”

We had so much fun speaking with Lynda and sampling all of these cheese that Fauxmagerie Zengarry sent us! If you haven’t tried their cheeses before we highly recommend it, they are definitely some of our favourites!

Below is a list of all of the places that you can purchase their cheeses. If you visit their website you’ll see them all, as well as a bunch of recipes you can make with their cheese!