Seven blue-ribbon winners on one plate. Am I fantasizing or what? Thanks to a little help from my friends, it happened. Guests in last night’s World Cheese Tour class got to taste not only a hand-picked selection of first-place finishers from the recent American Cheese Society competition. Among those seven were the Best of Show, the first runner-up and another cheese that finished in the Top Ten overall. For us cheese lovers, that’s a Grand Slam.
Read moreAll Eyes on Canada
Left image courtesy of Morgan Mannino/Formaggio Kitchen
For the second year in a row, a Canadian cheese has taken Best of Show at the American Cheese Society’s prestigious annual judging. More astonishing, the winner was the same creamery. Québec’s Fromagerie La Station won with a different cheese this year, but still. It’s back-to-back victories for this fourth-generation family business specializing in farmstead cheese from organic raw milk. What a validation for traditional practices, and a reminder of how much we are losing by not having freer trade with our northern neighbor.
Read moreAmerica’s Newest Cheese Gems
(l to r) Withersbrook Blue; Jake and Sylvia Stoltzfus of Jake’s Gouda; Shabby Shoe
American Cheese Month is a time for celebration and optimism. So here’s my toast to several new (or newish) domestic cheeses that make me especially proud of our artisan producers and hopeful for their future. In alpha order:
Read moreKeeping it Raw
No longer raw: Buttermilk Blue from Roth Cheese
International Raw Milk Cheese Appreciation Day is Saturday, October 19. But as our former President might say, “So what?” If nothing else, the occasion is a reminder that the freedom to make and sell raw-milk cheese is not guaranteed. This election year, especially, we’re hyper-aware that laws can change and restrict or retract rights we’ve had forever.
Read moreBlue Ribbon Worthy
When it comes to Brian Civitello at Mystic Cheese, I’m a fan girl. Civitello is a student of history who finds inspiration in cheeses of the past. He’s a risk taker. But most important, he is exceptionally skilled. Everything I’ve tasted from his Connecticut creamery has been captivating, unusual and memorable, including the newcomer pictured above. It won a blue ribbon at the American Cheese Society competition this year.
Read moreCanada Rocks the Cheese World
Winning wheel: Raclette de Compton au Poivre/Photo: ACS and Valerie Tobias Photography
For the first time in its 38 years, the American Cheese Society competition’s Best of Show is Canadian. Not only that, but the runner up is, too. Both winning wheels were made in Quebec, by different creameries, and they topped 1,600 other entries from North America. Fortunately, a Washington State cheese placed third to prevent a Canadian sweep of this prestigious annual judging.
Read moreThat Slippery Slope to Cheese
It’s not the first time I’ve heard that buying a pet goat was the prelude to owning a cheese business. Goats are adorable; we know that. But if you take home a pregnant goat, which is what India Loevner did on impulse (actually, she bought two), there is goat milk in your future. And probably more goats. A decade after Loevner introduced the prize-winning pair to her small Pennsylvania family farm, the herd numbers about 140 and the family’s cheese is racking up awards. The cheese pictured here is the breakout star, for good reason. Shave it with a plane and you’ll think you’ve never tasted a creamier cheese.
Read moreTough Calls in Cheese Land
Do plant-based products belong in a cheese competition? As we cheese lovers learned in January, a plant-based entry was a finalist in the Good Food Awards’ cheese category. That’s a first. Many people, including me, weren’t even aware that non-dairy foods could compete in the category, which specifies that the entries be “made with milk from animals raised using good animal husbandry.”
Read moreHot Takes from Cheese Camp
Every year, I return from the American Cheese Society (ACS) conference with my brain spinning from all the conversations and ideas. I’m still trying to process everything I heard, observed and tasted at this packed three-day meeting, which a lot of attendees liken to summer camp. It’s certainly as fun as summer camp (if you’re a cheese nerd) but with less fresh air, more alcohol and way more food for thought. While I mentally unpack from the recent meeting in Des Moines, I wanted to share a few hot takes from the gathering, including a surprising statistic I heard about goat cheese.
Read moreMeet America’s Top Cheeses
As usual, the winners’ circle at the recent American Cheese Society awards included several repeat victors who almost always land ribbons. They’re just that good. A few new creameries won blue ribbons, but the top honors—the Best of Show and four runners-up—went to long-established producers. These five winners, from five states, had at least one common feature. “What struck me, standing on stage, was that it was all independent cheesemakers,” said Andy Hatch of Wisconsin’s Uplands Cheese. In an industry that constantly grapples with the meaning of “artisan cheese,” it is indeed worth noting that the five winning wheels are all made by hand.
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