At the American Cheese Society Conference I. ATE. A. LOT. OF. CHEESE. I don’t know how else to say it. Cheese with wine, cheese with preserves, cheese with coffee, cheese with cheese…. you get the picture. On day 5- Saturday, I didn’t even have breakfast or lunch and I ate a late supper. All I ate was the cheese that was offered in my tasting sessions. And I was just eating to eat it. Sure, it was fascinating and I will be sure to one day apply the fact that Aged Cheddar goes best with Spicy/savory chutney and pickled fruit. But who was I kidding? I just wanted to eat cheese.
It wasn’t until I went to the Cheese Judging session that I actually got to appreciate the art of cheese judging and evaluation. And the American Cheese Society takes their judging very seriously. An indicator of this is the 5 minute video that they provide on how cheesemakers should pack their cheese to ship to be evaluated. Check it out:
But this blog isn’t about the actual judging that the ACS does every year to determine the best cheeses in each category in the country. No, this is more about cheese tasting. Like, as a serious thing.
First of all, some general tips. And I am sure there are more specific guidelines beyond this. When you put the cheese in your mouth, mash it around to all areas of your tongue “like a dog eating peanut butter”(Ha!) One of the most underrated areas to pay attention to, is the area on both sides of the tongue. Make note of how the cheese his hitting all taste buds- sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and umami. Umami describes brothy, meaty, and musky flavors like those found in mushrooms, tomatoes, and cured meats. Of course, you want to notice the texture of the cheese and breathe the aroma into the back of your throat with an open mouth. Some argue whether the cracker is a delivery system or a palette cleanser. Personally, I like it as a palette cleanser. I will even put soft cheeses on my plate and swab the cheese onto my finger and do some finger-lickin’ to get the best sense of the cheese. But I didn’t see anyone else do that. Call that one a Sarah-ism.
On to the formal education that I got at the judging session. We were given two score sheets for each category of cheese: a technical score sheet and an aesthetic score sheet. For the aesthetic score sheet, I tasted Tillamook Cheddar Cheese.
Sidenote: I have a love/hate relationship to Tillamook Cheddar Cheese. If I am on the West Coast, I love Tillamook Cheddar Cheese and will tell all of my friends to go to the Tillamook Cheese Factory to get their tour and sampling on. Here in Wisconsin, however, Tillamook has NO business here. In fact, it was what drove me to investigate cheese as a component for WeatherVane Creamery. I saw Tillamook Cheddar at Family Fresh here in River Falls when I was looking for “good” Wisconsin cheese. I was outraged when I saw it because I had just spent the last three years living in Portland, OR getting razzed about how Tillamook, which is located in Oregon, had won the Cheddar award over any Wisconsin cheeses. I had been defending our Wisconsin reputation for years and then look what I found here in Wisconsin! An outrage, I tell you. A pure and utter outrage.
Back to aesthetic judging:
For the Tillamook Cheddar, we rated four qualities- Aroma, Flavor, Texture/Body, and Appearance/Rind Development. On my score sheet there were descriptors specific to Cheddar. Things like Buttery Aroma, Balanced Salt Flavor, Evenly Moist, and Good Even Color. My score for Tillamook Cheddar? 48 out of 50. “Mild yet flavorful. Excellent butter flavor and finish.”
For the technical score sheet, I judged a goat Camembert. The technical qualities rated were also Aroma, Flavor, Texture/Body, and Appearance/Rind Development except the descriptors were different and points got deducted instead of added. The descriptors were things like Ammoniated, Unpleasantly Earthy Aroma, Lacks Freshness, Curdy, Gassy, Grainy, and Rind Rot. Fun stuff. I rated the goat Camembert a 43 out of 50. “Waxy, uneven layers.” Turns out that I was harsher on this cheese than others in the room. *shrug*
What I really took away from this session was the tools to be able to train my future staff who will in turn train our customers on how to taste cheese and learn about the qualities of the different categories. And here are the categories in case you were wondering: Fresh Cheeses, Aged Fresh Cheeses, Soft White Cheeses, Semi-Soft Cheeses, Hard Cheeses, Blue Cheeses, and Flavor-Added Cheeses. When I asked around the conference for a good reference book, everyone recommended “The Cheese Primer” by Steve Jenkins. I have to admit that I took a look at it at the book sale there at the conference and wasn’t sold on it. In fact, I got back and ordered it from the River Falls Public Library and took a closer look at it and remained unconvinced. I ended up getting a book called “The World Cheese Book” by DK Publishing. Here is my official Amazon.com review of it: “This is one of the best cheese books for beginners that I have found. Really great photos and content. But, no Colby cheese?!”
