Culture Magazine

40 culturecheesemag.com B E S T C H E E S E S 202 2 BONNE BOUCHE Vermont Creamery Websterville, Vt. This cheese, whose name means "good mouth(ful)," is the most widely distributed of the goat cheeses featured here. It earned a Silver at the 2022 ICDA competition for a non- PDO ash-rind cheese. Via the same process used since 2001, cheesemakers curdle pasteurized goat's milk by a slow lactic set. The curds are ladled into molds, sprinkled with ash, and aged to develop its signature wrinkly rind. When mature, the rind is a delicate gray with patches of white mold, and the paste is soft and yielding with bright, clean flavors of citrus and hay. OLAVIDIA Quesos y Besos Guarromán, Jaén, Spain Named World's Best Cheese at the 2021 WCA, this soft goat cheese has a signature dark stripe of olive pit ash running through its middle to prevent excess humidity and maintain a creamy texture. The cheese is made by a tiny, five-year-old family business in the Andalusian region of Spain. A 10-ounce square of Quesos y Besos (which translates to Cheese and Kisses in English) Olavidia costs $15. You can't buy this cheese anywhere in the US, and, due to the makers' low-and-slow production—coupled with its loyalty to local clientele—you probably never will be able to find it here. But traveling to this part of Spain is always an option. EMINENCE GRISE TOMME CHÈVRE GRISE AU BLEU Van der Heiden Kaas Bodegraven, Netherlands The entire line of Eminence Grise Tomme cheeses is made in Dutch style on Dutch soil using Dutch milk. But all are aged for a minimum of 12 months in caves in France, where the rinds are cut away before being coated in a thin layer of caramel. The Chèvre Grise au Bleu, which received accolades at the WCA and the ICDA, has the sweetness of an aged goat's milk tomme and the piquant zing from blue veins of Penicillium roqueforti. It's a balance of delicate robustness. BONNE BOUCHE + APPLES, POTATO CHIPS, OR POMEGRANATE This cheese pairs equally well with the ordinary (think Granny Smith apples or your favorite kettle-cooked potato chips) and the exotic (either the bottle of pomegranate molasses you bought at the Middle Eastern grocery or the sour beer from your local brewery). Photos: Bonne Bouche by Mark Ferri

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