World Cheese Award for new Northern Irish speciality cheese
Dart Mountain Dusk, a wood ash rubbed semi hard from the recently established Dart Mountain Cheese Company in Northern Ireland has won recognition at the World Cheese Awards in London. Dart Mountain Dusk is a pasteurised cows' milk cheese.
Artisan Dart Mountain Cheese, based at Park in the remote Sperrin Mountains in county Derry, launched Dart Mountain Dusk in October, the second cheese developed by the company, In March, the company, part of Tamnagh Foods which makes granolas and chutney, introduced Sperrin Blue, a semi hard blue cheese that's a creamy blue-veined pasteurised cows' milk cheese. The company began developing artisan cheese in 2011.
Cheese maker Julie Hickey says: "We are delighted to win this recognition at the first attempt with a cheese that we've just launched. It's a tremendous endorsement of the quality of our artisan cheese."
In addition, Dale Farm, Northern Ireland's biggest dairy and leading cheese business gained two golds, two silvers and four bronze medals. The company, the region's biggest farmers'co-operative gained bronzes for two speciality cheeses - Boilie Goats' Pearls and Causeway Coolkeeran, a cheddar made with Irish dulse seaweed.
Over 250 cheese experts from 26 nations travelled to London Olympia to judge the cheese awards organised annually by the UK Guild of Fine Food.
The final judging panel of top-name global experts - including Cathy Strange of Whole Foods Market in the US, Suzy O'Regan of Woolworths Foods in South Africa, Ros Windsor of London's Paxton & Whitfield and Kris Lloyd of Australian artisan cheese-maker Woodside Cheese Wrights - tasted a shortlist of 16 cheeses to select the 2014 World Champion.
The World Cheese Awards, now in its 26th year, returned to London for 2014 after a three-year run at the BBC Good Food Show at Birmingham's NEC.
This year's event drew entries from 33 countries including New Zealand, Canada, South Africa, Mexico, Argentina and Brazil.
At a lunch for the international judging contingent, the annual trophy for Exceptional Contribution to Cheese was presented to Roland Barthélemy, a French master cheesemonger who has played a pivotal role in the promotion and preservation of raw milk, artisan cheeses in France and beyond.
Presenting the trophy, Guild of Fine Food chairman Bob Farrand said: "Roland Barthélemy has dedicated his working life to cheese and his endeavours have secured recognition at the highest levels for the profession of the Fromager.
"He has spent years striving to elevate his craft to the same level as top chefs, has judged all over the world and has continued to champion at every opportunity the cause of raw milk cheese."