Culture Magazine

2 culturecheesemag.com B E S T C H E E S E S 202 2 I write this still on a high from the 2022 World Cheese Awards (WCA) in Newport, Wales, where I had the honor and good fortune to be a judge. Because it's held late in the year, the results will be considered for the 2023 Best Cheeses Issue, but you can read about the experience in my recap on p. 11. This is the first "real" Best Cheeses Issue since 2019, and it feels good to be back in full swing, although selecting the cheeses to feature is never easy. Our team considered the winners from several contests, which you'll find listed on p. 15, and Creative Director Mallory Scyphers knocked it out of the park with her stunning design for the cover and following pages. The issue also has compelling columns from Caroline Hesse and Agela Abdullah; I'm happy to say that Agela's column, Cheese for the Culture, will continue in 2023. Whether you're in cheese, magazine publishing, or the movie business, there are those who believe that awards matter, and those who believe that they don't. I'm in the first camp, but perhaps not for the reasons you might expect. Having received a few top honors for news journalism earlier in my career (like the WCA, these are judged by other journalists), I can say that to be recognized by your peers for a job well done feels pretty good. That feeling was written all over the faces of Gourmino's Joe Salonia and Denis Kaser of Le Gruyère AOP as they accepted the trophy for the World's Best Cheese in Newport. It was also on the faces of the judges and cheese industry friends who surrounded them on stage to share in the joy. It is that collective joy, the sense that one maker's—or monger's—accomplishment is to be celebrated by all, that I have found to be especially characteristic of the cheese industry. I've witnessed it (and joined in it, too) at the WCA, the American Cheese Society Conference, and the Cheesemonger Invitational. The business of cheese is hard, and to enter a contest is to subject your product, and yourself, to criticism, which is also hard. But I believe that when all the votes are counted, it's not about competition in the traditional sense, but instead about collective pride and community—and that matters more than ever. Finally, on behalf of the culture team, I wish you a joyful holiday season with good cheeses on your table and people you love to share them with. SUSAN SHERRILL AXELROD, EDITOR F R O M the E D I T O R At the Ukrainian ProCheese booth with Nataliia Kahadii (left) and Daria Smyrnyh

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