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The highly coveted prize was awarded to a raw cows' milk farmhouse cheddar. Made with animal rennet and matured for 14 months, this cheese wowed the judges at the Pavilhão Multiusos de Viseu, in Portugal during an intense day of judging on Friday 15 November. Tom Burgess, who produces the award-winning cheese in West Wicklow for twenty years, says: "The milk we use to make Coolattin Cheddar is special for a number of reasons, we process in the summer months when the cows are grazing fresh clover-rich pasture only which is the ideal diet for cheese processing milk.
"We use early morning milk which is high in melatonin which aids relaxation and sleep. It is pumped directly to the cheese vat, not stored or pasteurized, this natural goodness and flavor is preserved by our traditional cheese-making process. Sign up to IrishCentral's newsletter to stay up-to-date with everything Irish! "We add beneficial Lacto-bacilli & Rennet to our milk, the curd is cut, scalded, drained & pitched the cheddar, milled, salted & mixed by hand.
"Following this, we place in 40b molds and press for 2 days. It is the matured over a year at 10°C.” Other notable wins for Ireland included 2 Golds, 6 Silvers, and 6 Bronzes.
Organised by the Guild of Fine Food, the World Cheese Awards is the world’s largest cheese-only event of its kind, 4,786 cheeses from 47 countries were entered into the 36th iteration of the competition. A total of 240 judges from 39 countries were split into 104 teams to undertake the mammoth task of determining which entries were worthy of accreditation. The panel was made up of experts with a broad spectrum of disciplines from across the industry, including technologists, graders, buyers, chefs, producers, retailers, industry professionals, journalists, and influencers.
The cheeses were meticulously evaluated on factors such as the appearance of the rind and paste, aroma, body, texture, and most notably, flavor and mouthfeel. To ensure a completely fair competition, the assessment is judged blind, the judges were given a brief description of each entrant, but no indication of origin or their producer. All the cheeses were entered through one of twenty consolidated shipping points located around the world to ensure that every competitor was delivered in the best possible condition for judging.
The Guild of Fine Food worked with the Portuguese authorities to apply for special licenses, allowing the smallest artisan cheesemakers from across the globe to compete with bigger and better-known producers. Sign up to IrishCentral's newsletter to stay up-to-date with everything Irish! John Farrand, managing director of the Guild of Fine Food, the organization behind the World Cheese Awards said: “World Cheese has established itself as a unique event. “Not only because it brings together a panel of experts who carefully assess and award each cheese on its own merits, but in the way in which it imparts the culture of a city and region to its audience.
“We have loved bringing our judges as well as hundreds of dairy industry professionals to Viseu, right at the heart of cheesemaking in Portugal, so they too, can absorb the wider culture, terroir, and generous hospitality. “It provides a one-off forum to share views, and opinions and to establish personal and working relationships across borders. Something we are proud to promote.
” This year’s competition was the biggest yet with 1,032 companies from across the globe entering. The judging took place over just one day, with Bronze, Silver, Gold and Super Gold awards being allocated in the morning and the Super Golds being reassessed by a Super Jury of experts in the afternoon to find the 14 top cheeses, from which the absolute winner, was selected. Queijo de Ovelha Amanteigado, a soft, raw ewes' milk cheese.
Made with cardoon thistle rennet and matured for 6 weeks to 3 months by Portuguese producer Quinta do Pomar. The World Cheese Awards 2024 trophy for Best Irish Cheese is sponsored by Horgans Delicatessen Supplies. Sign up to IrishCentral's newsletter to stay up-to-date with everything Irish! * This article was originally published on BusinessPlus.
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