Photo: Yulia Chalova / Pexels
East 2021 the title for the best cheese on the planet at the World Cheese Awards goes to Olavidia, a Spanish goat cheese made by Quesos y Besos. 4 participated in the competition, 079 cheeses from 45 countries.
The cheese Olavidia is mold-ripened and has a distinctive olive stone ash coating . It has a square shape. Its texture is soft and creamy, with a mild flavor in the mouth, although being made from goat’s milk, when it is eaten it leaves a certain intense taste on the palate.
We are the proud importers of # Olavidia cheese, just chosen best world cheese! Congratulations @ quesosybesos _ !! @ cheesefest 2021 # worldcheeseawards 2021 pic.twitter.com/OVWTGanrON
– Mevalco (@mevalco) November 4, 2021
Jason Hinds, one of the judges of the final stage, he said: “I loved this cheese and stole my heart.” He added: “This is unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. Its appearance is so original and it did not disappoint. It is unctuous, seductive, padded, warm and comforting. ”
The Oladivia de Quesos y Besos is made by hand. It is fermented in an ancient way with the lactic bacteria present in goat’s milk, degrading the lactose to convert it into lactic acid, in the central part a fine line of ash.
The cheese of Cheeses and Kisses obtained 103 votes, while second place with 98 votes was for a soft cheese manufactured by Fromagerie Berthaut in France washed with Marc de Bourgogne liqueur.
Selection process of the best cheeses
The best cheeses were selected by a team of 103 experts from 38 countries that were distributed in 80 tables. The venue for the World Cheese Awards this year was the Spanish city of Oviedo.
Inside the Super Gold judging. But which cheeses made the final 16? 🧀 # WorldCheeseAwards @ InstitutoQueso @ cheesefest 2019 @ alimentparaiso @ aytoviedo pic.twitter.com/XEDfKHLZYs
– Guild of Fine Food (@guildoffinefood) November 3, 2021
The judges considered the appearance, touch, smell and flavor, scoring aspects such as the appearance of the crust and the pasta, as well as the aroma, body and texture of the cheese, with the majority of points awarded for flavor and mouthfeel.
The cheeses received a Gold, Silver, Bronze or no award, while each panel of judges nominated a Super Gold cheese to pass to a final evaluation with a jury of 16 experts from different parts of the world, including United States, United Kingdom, Italy, India, Brazil, Sweden and Japan.
Finally, each member of the jury chose a cheese to defend in a final tasting and scoring session who had a face-to-face audience and also remotely who were able to observe the event through World Cheese TV.
The awards celebrated their number edition 33 after an absence of two years, and that on this return they had a record number of entries. The previous winner (2019) was Rogue River Blue, an organic American blue cheese.
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