Serious Eats
Results of the 2008 American Cheese Society Awards
Photograph from mjkmjk on Flickr
Carr Valley Cheese won big at this year's American Cheese Society competition, held in Chicago last weekend. The renowned Wisconsin company, family-owned for more than a hundred years, won Best in Show for their Snow White Goat Cheddar, along with 17 other awards including third runner-up overall. Second place went to Virginia's Meadow Creek Dairy for their incredible washed-rind Grayson, a cheese similar to Taleggio or Livarot.
Down a bit from last year's record-breaking 1,209 entries, this year saw 1,149 cheeses in the competition. Thirty tireless judges tasted each one, evaluating aesthetic criteria (taste, texture and aroma), and technical criteria (how well the cheese is made).
Cheesaholics though they may be, the judges can't possibly polish off all the submitted cheeses. That's why, at the close of the competition, the Cheese Society holds a gigantic yard sale with all entries sold for bargain basement prices. The picture above is from this year's sale, as is this entire photoset. I love seeing those people walk away with three-fourths of an entire wheel of cheese.
The list of winners is available here on the Cheese Society's website. Also, check out this wonderful firsthand account from Anne Saxelby of Saxelby Cheesemongers, a judge in the competition. Congratulations to Carr Valley and the rest of the 2008 winners!
About the author: Jamie Forrest publishes Curdnerds.com from his apartment in Brooklyn, New York, where he lives with his wife, his daughter, and his cheese.