New Zealand cheesemaking is on
a roll, judging by the number and diversity of entries in the 2009 Cuisine NZ Champions of Cheese Awards.
More than 400 cheeses have been entered in this year’s
awards, showing that a year of controversy over the cost of cheese and
increasingly gloomy economic news has not been able to dent industry growth,
says awards organiser Vikki Lee Goode.
“The diversity of this year’s entries reflects the
growing sophistication of Kiwi tastes in cheese and the increasing maturity of
our industry,” says event organiser Vikki Lee Goode.
“For example, for the first time this year we have two
entries of Georgian-style cheeses – sulguni and inguli – from Colchis, a small
artisan company set up in Aucklandby Georgian immigrants.
“As well, we’ve seen an increase in the number of
entries of boutique styles such as buffalo milk and sheep milk cheeses.”
The CuisineNZ Champions of Cheese Awards, now in their sixth year and the only awards of
their kind in New Zealand, are
being held from March 1-4 at Auckland’s
SKYCITY Convention Centre. Entrants range in size from New Zealand’s largest business,
Fonterra, right down to one- or two-person artisan cheesemakers.
At the very small end the cheesemaking spectrum, the
hobbyist category has attracted 10 entries, nine of them from new cheesemakers.
“The sophistication of cheeses in this category is
very encouraging,” says Diana Hawkins, chairwoman of the NZ Speciality Cheese
Association. “They are all quite complex and require real cheesemaking skill –
they are not just simple fresh cheeses.”
Another encouraging trend is for cheesemakers to
graduate from hobbyists into commercial cheesemakers, showing how the awards help
to develop the industry, says Goode.
“A great example of this is Waikatocompany Cloudy Mountain, and cheesemaker Cathy Lang,” she says. “She entered in
2007 as a hobbyist, entered two cheeses in the main awards last year and this
year has entered five cheeses.
The hundreds of cheeses in the Cuisine NZ Champions of Cheese Awards will be judged in 19
categories, covering all milk and cheese types, best cheesemaker and even
packaging. They will culminate in two supreme awards – the Cuisine Artisan Award for small boutique producers and the Yealands
Estate Champion of Champions for larger producers.
The team
of 25 judges will be led by master judge Neil Willman, Australia’s only fulltime cheese educator and trainer who has, for 26 years,
been responsible for all the cheese education and training programmes at Gilbert Chandler College, Australia’s only dedicated dairy
college. Judging
for the 2009 Cuisine NZ Champions of Cheese Awards takes place on March 1, with
the awards announced at a gala dinner on March 3.
The public will be able to sample the award winners,
and many other of New
Zealand’s best cheeses, at Cheese Fest, from
5-8pm on March 4.
Ends
Prepared on behalf of
the NZ Specialist Cheesemakers Association by Goode PR, Auckland.Prepared on behalf of the NZ Specialist Cheesemakers Association by
Goode PR, Auckland.For
further information, images or interviews: please contact Vikki Lee Goode on
(09) 480 9948 or vikkilee@goodepr.co.nz or Stephanie Lowe on (09) 480 9948 or stephanie@goodepr.co.nz
2009 Cuisine NZ Champions of Cheese Awards
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