And the award for Best Cheese in South Africa goes to….
A farm from Cape Winelands was delighted this week to have its cheese named the best South African cheese at the prestigious World Cheese Awards in London.
Dalewood Farm won the trophy as well as the ‘Super Gold Trophy’ for its Huguenot cheese, entering into an intense day of judging of an incredible 2 500 global cheeses, all competing for the crown of world’s best.
The Huguenot cheese is known as “the largest head of cheese produced in South Africa” and is “dedicated to our colourful heritage.”
It is extremely limited in availability, known for its nutty overtones and must slow mature for a minimum of six months to unlock its flavours form the pastures of the Cape, home to Dalewoord’s own Jersey herds and world class vineyards.
Basking in the glow of the award, which was announced last week on Friday, a comment on the farm’s faecbook page read:
“Really good news from the 2014 World Cheese Awards in London: The Dalewood Huguenot has won a SUPER GOLD MEDAL – we are rated in the WORLD’S 62 BEST CHEESES! We also won the Trophy for the Best South African cheese on the Show! Dalewood Boland achieved a bronze medal.”
The artisanal farmstead, which makes several varieties of cheese including local camembert and ‘donut’ brie, is now a six times award winner at the long running World Cheese Awards for its Huguenot brand alone. It returned this year after being unable to compete in 2013 due to EU legislation which prevented importing samples of cheese to the UK for judging.
The Huguenot went through a tough selection process to win the Super Gold. Around 250 cheese experts – including the notorious taskmaster Monica Galetti from British Masterchef – worked in teams of four to add their preferred cheeses onto shortlists. These were then tasted a second time by a different jury to arrive at the ultimate top 50 ”super gold” varieties.
Dalewood Fromage beat off competition from 16 other South African cheese producers to win best the title Best South African Cheese.
The results were played before a packed audience and on World Cheese TV, a station dedicated to the event and streamed live. Those at the event, at Olympia London in the heart of upmarket west London, watched with baited breath as the judges selected the overall “champion cheese” of the world. This title went to the Bath Blue, a cheese made in Somerset in the UK, which judges praised for its ‘perfect balance’ of flavours.
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