Cheese Fest

 Who doesn't like or even love cheese? It's a food that's fun to share or to be savored on one's one, perhaps with a good hunk of artisinal bread and a glass of wine. Now there are even contests centering on it.Cheese nerds can rejoice over this.

Regular contributor Julia Moskin wrote about this great even in today's New York Times Food section. It was the 2022 Cheesemonger International held in Brooklyn where many artisinal cheeses and cheese shops are these days.The event began back in 1999 when a powerful cheese cartel collapsed. Cheese maker Adam Moskowicz created this festival/competition.. His family's  background is in food, with his grandfather selling butter and eggs at Washington Market and his father owned a wholesale produce market in Manhattan;s meatpacking district along with starting Larkin Cold Storage. Although he and his father have had a difficult relationship, Mr Moscowicz chose food  after a varied career of rapper and actor. He is also a recovering addict whose rehab coincided with the competition. Cheese saved him, He started as a cheesemonger at Formaggio Essex on the Lower East Side and joined his father's business in 2007.  He discovered a passion in the nascent farmstead cheese movement in Switzerland.

Now he 's in charge of the Coachella of cheese contests.It started in 2010 when he staged the first invitational as a kind of after party for the Fancy Food Show, This is where global cheese manufacturers descend on Manhattan. That was debauched according to Mr. Moskowicz who barely remembers any of it. The recent gathering was open to anyone . Any working cheese maker could join; the only requirement for the competitors is that they show up three days beforehand, This time is packed with demonstrations, tastings and lectures, Most of the competitors value this and the camaraderie more so than the actual competition. There are different competitions. In the salesman one judges pose as customers and ask all sorts of questions , Then there is the blind tasting one where cheese mongers compete to identify cheeses from around the world. They have to sort through five primary characteristics such as  milk type, milk treatment, style, country of origin and name. There' sort of like wine tasting but without the classist attitude.

This is the perfect contest for cheese lovers. It shows all the different kinds in the world and appeals to all sorts. Cheese isn't just for the elite. It's for everyone.