This year’s World Cheese Awards, hosted for the first time by Portugal, will see the largest field ever entered in the competition—4,784 cheeses from 47 countries are in the field for the judging in Viseu, November 15th to 17th.
Part of the big jump from last year’s 4,502 cheeses entered in Trondheim, Norway, is greater interest on the part of Portuguese cheesemakers; last year there were 56 Portuguese cheeses entered compared to this year’s 182.
The Cheese Oscars, to use their nickname, has been organized for over 30 years by the British Guild of Fine Food. The cheeses will be judged by a panel of 250 experts from 40 countries. The judging is accompanied by a Cheese Summit and an open-to-the-public gastronomic festival.