This SA cheese is officially one of the world's best
Recognised at the World Cheese Awards last week, our local Huguenot cheese is a heavyweight champion in every sense
The cheese named after the Huguenot settlers who arrived in the Cape in the 1700s is a much-lauded, semi-hard, brushed-rind style cheese, made in huge golden 30kg cartwheels — the average head of cheese is between 4kg and 5kg — and slow matured for six months. It has a distinctive nutty flavour with a bite that is addictive.
The cheese is the work of genius artisinal cheesemaker Rob Visser of Dalewood Fromage, on Dalewood Farm outside Franschhoek. Huguenot is made from the rich, creamy milk of Visser's beloved grass-fed Jersey herd."About 15 years ago I spent some time visiting cheeseries in the Haute Savoie region [in southeastern France] to sniff out traditional cheesemaking secrets. I was inspired to make a semi-hard, mature cheese that would be uniquely South African," said Visser.
Last week at the World Cheese Awards 2017 in London, Huguenot was named World Champion Jersey Cheese, judged the fourth-best cheese in the world among the Top 16 Super Gold Medal Finalists, and rolled away the trophy for the Best South African Cheese on Show.
• Find Huguenot cheese at selected Woolworths stores, specialist cheese shops or directly from the Dalewood Fromage Cheesery in Simondium. Telephone: 021-200-2580...
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