The world of cheese in awards

There were a lot of people eating cheese in Bern, Switzerland last Thursday. With a selection of 5,244 cheeses from 46 countries being looked over by 265 judges on 110 tables, the scale of cheeses and people was remarkable. The top winner was a Le Gruyère AOP, Gruyère AOP Vorderfultigen Spezial, produced by Bergkäserei Vorderfultigen in Switzerland. As one commentator noted, it is the sixth time a Gruyère has won the awards. However, it was no doubt well deserved.

It was a pleasure to take part in this event. I am always impressed by the variety of cheeses, along with the many different judges, the Guild of Fine Food manages to get onto the tables to taste cheese. Australia, Colombia, Spain, Switzerland, US… these were just a few of the many people there from all the cheese global community that were examining the 45 cheeses placed in front of them.

I was one of those judges this year, along with Peter Kurmann of Bertsch Foodtec in Germany on our table. It’s good when you get a judge you agree with, and we seemed to be of one mind for the cheeses on the table. A large portion of judges are very knowledgeable about different cheese types, and Peter definitely knew about Swiss cheeses. It was very handy, as over 900 Swiss cheeses were in the room.

I also note that Marcus Brigstocke, a British comedian and one of the authors of “We are History,” a series of spoof British history documentaries (we can’t go by Naseby now and not bellow, Naaaaseby! It’s on YouTube if you’d like to examine them) was at the show, also judging.

It is not the first time we’ve had someone from another sphere in the cheese world (Alex James of Blur springs to mind) and it does go to show how universal and interesting cheese is. There is a joy in examining, judging and eating cheese, and you learn new things from your fellow judges and meet such interesting people at the show. It feels like a greatest gathering of international cheese knowledge, every year. Thanks again.

• Suzanne Christiansen, editor, Dairy Industries International.
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World Cheese Awards