The jury of the 12th edition of the Spanish Food Award for Best Cheese has begun the process of tasting and valuing the 161 samples presented to the contest. These sessions are held between June 28 and 30 at the Agrifood Laboratory of Santander (LAS).
These awards, which the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAPA) convenes every two years since 2001, seek to promote better quality cheeses, both among producers, to achieve greater competitiveness; and among consumers, by facilitating a better knowledge and assessment of their sensory characteristics.
The 161 samples from 116 registered cheese factories throughout the national territory compete in four modalities: cow, goat, sheep, mixture and mold. Each specialty will have an award, and the award will be given to the cheese with the best score.
SELECTION PROCESS
During this day, four diapers have been formed with five tasters in each of them. The 20 tasters chosen cover profiles representing all the agents involved in the dairy sector, from the producer to the consumer, as well as experts in this field.
The samples are encoded and sorted by modalities. Random codes are established that allow a blind tasting to be performed and guarantee the traceability of the sample. The computer system used during tastings generates the codes.
The scoring of these tasters is done in two phases. During the visual phase, the external appearance and that of the cut of the sample are evaluated. The olfactory phase values the smell, taste, aroma, texture and other sensations in the mouth, persistence and residual taste, as well as the overall impression.
The final phase will have five cheeses per modality, to which a physicochemical, microbiological and determination of the animal origin of the milk will be carried out. Days after the tasting, the jury will meet by videoconference to take note of the awarded cheeses and cheeses.