Brisbane Cheese Awards 2010

Today was the judging of the Brisbane Cheese Awards at Royal on the Park in Alice Street, Brisbane.

The day started at 9am with about 15 judges equipped with hats and gowns and over 185 cheeses to taste.

The cheeses are divided into Fresh curd- soft; Fresh curd - textured; Fresh curd - matured; Fresh curd - marinated; White mold; Blue Mould; Washed Rind; Cheddar; Semi Hard Cooked Style and Hard Cooked Style.

I drew the short straw and had to start with Blue Mould at 9am in the morning but after the first five or so it didn't really matter any more.  The goal is to judge each cheese on its own merits according to taste, presentation and texture.  The judges are divided into groups taste all the cheeses on one table first, selecting their top five.  These top cheeses are then tasted by all the judges to find those worthy of a gold medal which requires 45 points or more out of 50.

I'm lucky because I seem to be able to retain my palette throughout the morning although I won't be lining up for cheese again soon.  I thought the cheeses were mostly of high quality, except in a few categories, and even better than last year

The winners will be posted on my blog but if you can follow the awards tonight at www.twitter.com/finofoodandwine

Tomorrow is the public day and you can enjoy cheese tastings and sales at Inn on the Park.  Full details here.  It's a great opportunity for cheese lovers.

David Pugh of Restaurant II was one of the judges.