Jane Burns
Cheese royalty: From left Kim Rabuck, general manager of Marieke Gouda; Richard Guggisberg of Guggisberg Cheese, and Marieke Penterman of Marieke Gouda.
For the second time in four years, the eyes had it.
A baby Swiss wheel made by Guggisberg Cheese of Ohio took top honors Thursday at the U.S. Championship Cheese Contest in Green Bay, walking off with the trophy in a contest once again otherwise dominated by Wisconsin cheese makers.
But the crowd of 500 at the KI Convention Center got to cheer for a homestate favorite, too. Marieke Gouda of Thorp, Wisconsin, won runner-up and second-runner up with two of Marieke Penterman’s aged goudas. The trio of winners topped a record field of 2,555 cheeses from 35 states.
“Swiss is probably one of the more difficult cheeses to make,” says Jim Mueller, chief judge for the contest that is hosted by the Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association. “Not only is it getting the flavor, the body and the texture right but it’s the eye development. And to get that eye development just right is tough.”
It’s the smaller eyes that give baby Swiss its name, not the smaller wheels, traditional for the type. Swiss cheese eyes are formed when carbon dioxide inside the cheese forms bubbles as it is made. Baby Swiss has pea-sized eyes, as opposed to more coin-sized holes in other Swiss cheeses.
Guggisberg Cheese also took top honors in 2015 with its Premium Swiss.
Penterman celebrated with a happy dance on stage, something that has become a cheese contest routine with all her awards, and she took top overall honors in 2013. This time she was one-tenth of a point shy of being named champion with Marieke Gouda Premium, a raw milk cheese aged 18-24 months. Right behind was her Marieke Gouda Overjarige, a caramely, slightly spicy gouda aged at least two years.
But for all Penterman’s excitement about two big awards, she also brought a sobering moment to the celebration. She reminded the crowd that gathered with their plates full of artisanal cheeses to remember the state of dairy in the U.S. and Wisconsin in particular, which lost 638 farms in 2018.
“We are in a crisis,” Penterman told the crowd. “It hurts me to know that dairy farmers are providing us with food and they can’t put food on their own tables.”
Wisconsin cheese, butter and yogurt producers took top honors in 26 classes. Monroe’s Maple Leaf Cheesemakers had two cheeses among the 20 finalists: English Hollow Cheddar and Smoked Gouda. Other area cheese companies to win Best of Class honors were Crave Brothers Farmstead Creamery for two mozzarella styles; Carr Valley Cheese (Smoked Marisa, Cave Aged Marisa, Gran Canaria); Landmark Creamery (Anabasque); Cesar’s Cheese (string cheese); Edelweiss Creamery (Sun-Dried Tomato Basil Havarti); Mill Creek (Habanero Ghost Pepper Queso Quesadilla and Reduced Fat Brie); Klondike (Odyssey Feta Fat-Free and Odyssey Vanilla Yogurt); and Emmi Roth (Roth Pavino and Roth Gran Cru).
