Queen Bee Porcini Cheddar From Beehive, The Best American Cheese
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Last week we reported on the top 10 winners at the World Cheese Awards. It is with American pride that we present the winner in the Best American Cheese category at the 2021 World Cheese Awards: Queen Bee Porcini from Beehive Cheese Company. Described by Beehive as a “savory cheddar fit for a queen,” the Super Gold-winning cheese is hand-rubbed with porcini mushroom dust to impart earthy, umami notes throughout the paste* of the cheese. A new cheese, only released earlier this year, Queen Bee Porcini achieved the highest possible rating during the first round of judging. Beehive Cheese Company is one of our favorite cheese producers. It’s located Uintah, Utah, a town at the mouth of Weber Canyon, in a valley between the forested Wasatch Mountains in Ogden, Utah. It’s 5 miles south of Ogden and 25 miles north of Salt Lake City. By the way, Utah is the Beehive State†. While Queen Bee Porcini stood in the crowd of great American cheeses entered into the competition, it was just one of seven medals won this year by Beehive. Beehive Cheese Company also landed one Gold, three Silver, and two Bronze awards for their other cheddar cheeses. Cheddar, by the way, has been known as the “cheese of monarchs.” It dates to the 12th century when, in 1170, Henry II of England declared cheddar the best cheese in England and purchased more than five tons of it. Beehive cheddars took home seven medals at the 2021-2022 World Cheese Awards: Super Gold, Gold, Silver, and Bronze. American cheeses won a total of one Super Gold (Queen Bee Porcini), nine Gold, 18 Silver and 30 Bronze at the World Cheese Awards. Among these include Golds for Crater Lake Blue Cheese from Rogue Creamery (a Nibble Top Pick), Griffin from Sweet Grass Dairy, and Queen Anne’s Lace from Tulip Tree Creamery. We look forward to tasting all of the winners. So what do you get a cheese lover who merits a selection of international award winners? A gift box of Beehive Cheese! All of Beehive’s cheeses can be purchased at BEEHIVECHEESE.COM, as well as Utah retailers. Here’s where you can find Queen Bee Porcini. It’s also available at Sprouts Markets nationally. Gift or not, a selection of these award winners should be on every cheese lover’s bucket list. The 33rd edition of the World Cheese Awards in 2021 was bigger and more international than ever before. For the first time, entries exceeded 4,000. The competing cheeses represented 45 different countries, including recent additions such as India, Japan, and Colombia, as well as established cheesemaking nations such as France, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. All entries were judged in a single day, as 250 experts from 38 different countries considered their appearance, texture, aroma, and flavor. Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Super Gold accolades were awarded during the morning session, and the Super Golds were reassessed to find this year’s Top 16. The International Super Jury, featuring the great and good of the global cheese community, then debated the best cheeses on the planet in front of a live audience, before crowning this year’s World Champion Cheese. *The paste is the portion of the cheese underneath the rind, the interior body. While the rinds on certain cheeses are edible, 100% of the paste is edible. There are different types of pastes, described by their texture, density, and color (soft, hard, semihard, semisoft, dry, moist, crumbly, etc.). When milk is too low in beta carotene, producing pale cheese, the vegetable dye annatto can be added to the curds to give the paste more color. †Utah’s state nickname is The Beehive State. The beehive is a symbol of hard work and industry, and the hive is Utah’s official state emblem. It appears on Utah’s flag and state seal. The state insect of Utah is the honeybee. The state motto is also simply one word: Industry. Here’s more about state nicknames and symbols. |
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