64 ~ World Cheese Awards

A Canadian goat’s milk cheese is crowned 2009 World Champion in Las Palmas at the world’s largest cheese competition. Canadian goat’s milk cheese, Le Cendrillon, saw off nearly 2,500 other competitors to take the title of World Champion Cheese 2009– the second year in a row that a goats’ milk cheese has taken the top spot.

The annual competition, run by the UK’s Guild of Fine Food, was staged this year in Las Palmas, Gran Canaria on October 1. It was only the second time the awards have been held outside Britain in their 21-year history and it attracted cheeses from 34 different countries.

Last year a Tenerife goat cheese won the award and I have since bought it in our local supermarkets and do appreciate the flavour. The video here starts off with a brief view of last year's winner, which was coated on the outside with pimento and gofio (a local toasted cereal) which gave it a brown appearance.

If you have 20 minutes to spare, here is a very good video of the cheese fair held two days ago on the neighbouring island of Gran Canaria, in the city of Las Palmas, showing the cheeses and how they are judged, as well as the presentation to the Quebec winner.

Here is the video link. It's in English and you can watch it HQ and full screen. It will make you want to run and get a piece of cheese to nibble on while you watch!

Here is a page link to an article from the Guild of Fine Food written about this year's contest.

6 ~ Goats On The Road

There are many goats here and as a result there are some wonderful goat cheeses made on the islands. This year the Canary Islands won the 2008 World Cheese Championship held in Dublin, Ireland for the Queso Arico Curado Pimentón, produced by the cooperative Sociedad Canaria de Fomento, beating 2,400 other contestants from around the world. The cheese is made from goats' milk and animal rennet and is flavoured by a frequent brushing of paprika and gofio, a toasted cereal mixture of the islands. It is matured for six months and has a lovely tangy flavour which goes well with a glass of dry sherry.




One can see goats grazing on hillsides, on waste grounds and sometimes crossing roads with the help of their herding dogs. These photos were taken on the road in Cuesta de la Villa, north Tenerife in March 2006 when traffic stopped to let a herd of goats find their way to the other side.