Culture Magazine

2 culturecheesemag.com BES T CHEESES 2024 EDITOR'S LETTER P hilosophy time: What makes something the best? Occasionally we throw around that phrase without much thought at a deeper meaning. For example, I may casually say to a friend: "Isn't wrapping up in a comfy blanket with a good period novel just the best?"—but compared to what? Vacationing in the Caribbean? Sipping martinis in a quiet bistro? Tasting freshly plucked cheese curds straight out of the vat with an artisan cheesemaker in Wisconsin? (this really happened!) To me, these experiences are the best, but my friend may hate reading, despise warm weather, prefer loud concerts, and hate cheese (if the latter, we're probably not really friends). So, to properly rank something, parameters are established and data are required to determine what is best among excellence. Finding a variety of qualified judges with differing skills, assigning numbers to specific criteria, and adding them up and ranking accordingly—sometimes assigning awards to these ranked "things"—is something we've done for eons; and something culture has covered in print every year since 2013. Not only does our team cull through thousands upon thousands of award-winning cheeses, we also set our own criteria for choosing which top cheeses we want to write about—a hard, but exciting feat. For this special issue, we focus on makers who won big and shine a light on smaller operations just breaking out of their molds, as well as call out more obscure cheeses you could only find if you visit the maker. We've decided to emphasize US makers this year, with regional highlights of places in America that should be on your radar. Digital lead Josie Krogh interviews Rachel Perez (Voicings, p. 11), category manager for cheese and specialty food at UNFI and member of the American Cheese Society Judging and Competition Committee since 2011; and we've curated an award-winning cheese plate (p. 9) featuring quotes from Whole Foods Market's Ambassador of Food Culture Cathy Strange about her experiences as a veteran judge at the US Championship Cheese Contest. You also may have noticed that culture has decided to kick off the year with this issue as opposed to our usual capping off the year. We hope this issue's commemoration of top-notch cheeses, makers, and industry leaders serves as an inspiring reference throughout 2024. Congratulations to everyone who makes the cheese world turn, not just the winners—we're all a community of artisans, and I'm excited to see what shared experiences and products we can call "the best" next. Mallory Scyphers, Executive Content Director

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