Inside the cheese factory, two workers dressed in white uniforms and tall, rubber boots stir a cauldron of milk with wire paddles, called harps, until the grains reach the size of corn kernels. As the men pour the liquid into moulds covered with cheesecloth, they sing French-Canadian tunes. In 60 days, the white cheese rounds will mature into soft, aromatic Pied de Vent cheese. While Vincent created a new business, the Arsenau brothers of Pointe Basse reopened their family's traditional smokehouse, Le Fumoir d'Antan, as a working heritage museum. Smoke curling out of smokehouse windows was a familiar sight on the Magdalens 20 years ago, but over-fishing caused the demise of this island industry.
Museum exhibits describe herring fishing and the smoking process.
Holding their breaths, adventurous visitors step inside the hazy smokehouse long enough to discern rods of herring from rafters and the red glow of wood-chip fires. Within seconds, the oily smoke permeates their clothes. The company currently sells packaged fillets, roe and whole herrings to the local market. His signature creations are glass orbs in which colourful jellyfish seemingly swim. Near the furnace, an apprentice forms one of them using five layers of vibrant hues.