Attention all cheese lovers – the master of all cheeses has been chosen and it’s… Olavidia – a soft goat’s cheese from Spain. It won first place at the World Cheese Awards (yes, that exists) on Wednesday, besting an entire field of 4,079 entries from more than 40 countries on five continents. Olavidia is made by an artisan cheesemaker using the commercial name Quesos y Besos (Cheeses and Kisses), and it received 103 votes, besting second place finisher from France.
A British judge, Jason Hinds, described the cheese before the rest of the panel, saying that it had a ‘rich, seductive, creamy texture’ and a ‘flavour that was round and warm’. ‘I just wanted to go to bed with it’ he claimed. Sexual innuendos aside, owner of the winning cheese producer Silvia Pelaez said that they are a small humble cheesemaker in Jaen, and that daily labour has its reward.
The goat’s cheese has a noticeable black stripe in the middle, something the judges highlighted. The product was described as matured with penicillium candid and olive stone ash (with the latter probably accounting for the black stripe). With some 250 judges ranging from food scientists and chefs mingling with each other and the cheeses, the Spanish product managed to outrank all its competition.
#MaltaDaily
Photo Source: CNN