It’s a fact: this is the very best cheese in the world according to the World Cheese Awards
Cheese is the best food in the world and that’s that. No discussion possible. What is up for debate, however, is which cheese is the best. Although… That discussion has also been settled. The World Cheese Awards have been presented once again, and a winning cheese has emerged.
And the winner may still surprise you. Or at least, the winner’s country. Because if you thought France towers head and shoulders above everyone else as a cheese country, you’re wrong. The same goes for the Netherlands, by the way. We may be called cheeseheads, but that doesn’t mean we also make the best cheese in the world. No, the world’s best cheese comes from… Drumroll… Norway!
Norwegian pride
It’s the Nidelven Blå. A semi-hard blue cheese made at Gangstad Gårdsysteri cheese dairy. A strict jury of experts, buyers, retailers and food journalists crowned this Norwegian cheese the best out of 4,000 entries. So it was also the best of the 292 entries from Norway alone. We secretly thought of brunost cheese as the winner for a moment, as it is generally considered something of a source of pride in Norway. The World Cheese Awards jury clearly thought otherwise.
Dutch glory
We still do our reputation as a cheese country some justice. The Netherlands appears twice in the top ten best cheeses in the world. Hooray! Which Dutch cheesemakers are the lucky ones? They are the one-year-old Holland Delta from Van der Heiden Kaas (from Bodegraven) and the Old Amsterdam goat cheese from Westland Kaasexport. They rank in a respectable eighth and ninth place respectively. Not bad out of 4,000 entries!
Here is the complete top 10 of the World Cheese Awards 2023:
- Nidelven Blå by Gangstad Gårdsysteri (Norway)
- Baliehof Houtlandse Asche Kaas by Baliehof Kaas En Zuivelboerderij Jabbeke (Belgium)
- Eberle Würzig Seit 5 Generationen by Dorfkäserei Muolen (Switzerland)
- Eleftheria Brunost by Vivanda Gourmet (India)
- Müller-Thurgau Rezent by Käserei Müller-Thurgau (Switzerland)
- Kärntnermilch Mölltaler Almkäse Selektion 50% FiT. by Kärntnermilch (Austria)
- Michel by Rohmilchkäserei Backensholz (Germany)
- Holland Delta, aged 1 year, by Van der Heiden Kaas (the Netherlands)
- Old Amsterdam Goat by Westland Kaasexport (the Netherlands)
- Parmigiano Reggiano aged 30–39 months by Nazionale Parmigiano Reggiano Rastelli Fratelli (Italy)
Remarkable: the most expensive cheese in the world—which was recently sold in Spain for €30,000—is not in the top ten. Whether this golden-yellow treasure is even on the list remains to be seen. So you see, you don’t necessarily have to be broke for the rest of your life to enjoy a good piece of cheese.
Also read:
- Cheese according to your zodiac sign
- Parmesan cheese or Grana Pranado; these are the differences
- This is where you want to go: a cheese theme park
Source: Time Out
