Boston, August 2003 – The Great Cheeses of New England swept category after category at the premier American Cheese Society’s (ACS) 20th Annual Competition in San Francisco this month. The New England region walked away with over 25 top placements. These winning cheeses are the result everything that makes up New England: the salt in the air, pure mountain water, tender native grass varieties on which the cows graze and even New England farmers and cheesemakers strong Yankee dedication to be the best of class.
A cheesemaking revolution is underway in America. “I have been struck by the veritable flood of new domestic cheeses…(Cheesemakers) are supplying the increasingly sophisticated American palate with fabulous-tasting cheese,” says Laura Werlin, cheese expert and author of The All American Cheese and Wine Book (Stewart, Tabori & Chang). Previously, at the ACS Competitions, the number of new American cheeses and cheesemakers grew only by a few dozen each year. In 2002 there were approximately 400 cheeses for judges to taste. This year, the number jumped to 600 cheeses. Werlin and other trendspotters mark the rising tide of American cheeses as a result of Americans’ quest for locally produced quality food, a highlighting of cheese on upscale restaurant menus and a true love for good cheese. A recent survey by an industry group found that Americans crave cheese more than chocolate.
The Great Cheeses of New England are a collection of cheeses made by local companies in Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Maine. Many of the cheeses are made by small family-run businesses that produce outstanding artisanal European-style cheeses. No longer do cheese-cravers have to look across the Atlantic for fine Camembert or cave-aged Tomme. Instead, many local cheeses winning international recognition are readily available at local supermarkets, cheese shops and on www.newenglandcheese.com.
Following are the highest-ranking cheeses by category:
Fresh Unripened Cow’s Milk -
American-Made International Style, Category, Cow’s Milk -
Fresh Goat’s Milk Cheeses, Flavor added- spices, herbs, seasonings, friuts -
Cultured Cheese Products, Cultured Sheep’s Milk -
Flavored Cheeses, Open Category, Cow’s Milk -
Cheddars, Aged Cheddars (aged between 12 and 24 months) -
Cheddars, Cow’s Milk (aged less than 12 months) -
Italian Type Cheese, Fresh Mozzarella Types, Ovalini, Boccocini, Ciliegiene Sizes- All Milks -
Feta Cheese, Goat’s Milk -
Low Fat/ Low Salt Cheese, Open Category, All Milks -
Smoked Cheeses, Open Category, Cow’s Milk -
Smoked Cheeses, Open Category, Goat’s Milk -
Farmstead Cheeses, Open Category, Cow’s Milk -
Farmstead Cheeses, Open Category, Goat’s Milk -
Farmstead Cheeses, Open Category, Sheep’s Milk -
Marinated Cheeses, Goat’s Milk -
Butters, Cow’s Milk -
Aged Goat’s Milk, Open Category -
Washed Rind Cheeses, Cow’s Milk -
A little more about a few of the winners:
For 50 years, we have been making the cheeses of my childhood in Italy, right here in America,” says Fiorella Cutrufello of Calabro Cheese. That Italian cheese-making tradition came up strong in several categories this year. East Haven, CT.
Jon and Kate Wright are modest about their success with Taylor Farms. In business only four years, Taylor Farms has won at the ACS Competition every year. Their winning cheeses include Maple Smoked Gouda for two years in a row, their Farmstead Gouda and this year their Garlic Gouda got the prize. You can find these Dutch-style
Goudas at local farmers markets, or help yourself from the refrigerator on the farm … and please drop some money in the honesty box sitting beside it! Londonderry, VT.
The Cheddar Cheese Category is probably the most competitive category at ACS. Cabot Creamery has been a champion year after year. This year, the farmer-owned company won again. For much of the rest of the country, Cheddar is orange, but here in New England, we keep it the creamy white color that it is naturally. And most of us already know that Cabot’s Cheddar is best of the best. Cabot, VT.
“Oh, now I can bake like my mother did in Germany,” said a local woman after discovering Vermont Butter and Cheese’s Vermont Quark. She told of trying for forty years, since immigrating to America, to find a substitute for the traditional German cheese. The yogurt-like product and a variety of other artisanal cheeses and products like mascarpone and crème fraiche are made to perfection by Allison Hooper and her company. Websterville, VT.
An aged alpine raw milk cheese, Tarentaise is handmade on Thistle Hill Farm from organic milk of grass-fed Jersey cows. The cheese is made in the tradition of Beaufort and Abondance cheeses of the Tarentaise Valley in the Savoie region of the French Alps. Tarentaise cheese is made in a copper vat using traditional methods. The cheese is smooth-textured, subtly nut-flavored and naturally rinded. It melts well. North Pomfret, VT.
Peter Dixon grew up helping his mother make cheese and sell it out of the back of her stationwagon. Today he is a bit of legend in the New England cheese world and has helped several cheesemakers in the area develop a cheese recipe most suited to them and their terroir. Now he is once again making his own cheese at Livewater Farm, owned by Bill Acquaviva. Peter makes Italian and French style cheeses at Westminster Dairy on the Farm and uses organic farmstead milk. Westminster West, VT.
Cindy and David Major made their first batch of cheese over a decade ago and pronounced it ‘poor.’ So they went to Europe and traveled from mountain to mountain and cheesemaker to cheesemaker soaking in the artisanal art. They returned home and built the Vermont Shepherd cheese cave and now produce award-winning cheeses. Their Putney Tomme is handmade of the unpasteurized cow's milk from a neighboring farm. Putney, VT.
Dawn Morin-Boucher makes three blue cheeses, among other cheeses, on the land that has been in her husband’s family for twelve generations. She makes Green Mountain Blue cheeses using unpasteurized milk from her Holstein herd and aging it at least 90 days. Morin-Boucher says some have told her making cheese especially blue cheese is very difficult. However, she says, compared to farming, cheese is easy! Highgate Center, VT.
Using Jersey cows milk from neighboring farms, Grafton Village cheesemaker Scott Fletcher crafts the cheese in 40 pound blocks. The ACS-winning cheese is aged for one to two years in a cave-like environment. The cheese tastes strong and sharp, but remains moister than most aged Cheddars. Meant to be crumbly in texture but creamy on the tongue with much depth and character. Grafton, VT.
The Great Cheeses of New England program is managed by the New England Dairy Promotion Board that conducts advertising, sales promotions and marketing programs on behalf of local dairy farmers. For more information, go to www.newenglandcheese.com.
The American Cheese Society is an organization that encourages the understanding, appreciation and promotion of America’s farmstead and natural specialty cheese. Unlike other competitions, where cheeses are judged on their technical merit only, the American Cheese Society’s goal is to give positive recognition to those cheese which are of the highest quality in all aspects—flavor, aroma and texture, as well as technical evaluation. American Cheese Society ribbons are one of if the highest honors awarded nationally to cheesemakers.
Contact: Serena Ball 617-734-6750 sball@newenglanddairy.com
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