Soft Ripened Cheeses — Flavor Added
3rd Place for Turner Farm Creamery’s Whitecap
Original Recipe / Open Category – Cow’s Milk
1st Place for Spring Day Creamery’s La Vie en Rose
Flavor Added Monterey Jack
3rd Place for Pineland Farm Creamery’s Pepper Jack
Click here for a full list of winners at the 2012 event.
Dawn broke over the horizon this morning like a nicked yolk in a frying pan; although the humidity is visible, the temps, especially once the sun goes down, have been quite tolerable.
My first session sounds like a snoozer, but it dove into the white hot center of cheese regulation that is currently shifting like the beach during a hurricane. The panel for “Working Proactively to Mitigate Risks and Promote Cheese Safety” consisted of Dr. Cathrine Donnelly from VIAC, Cathe Strange from Whole Foods Market, Dr. Obianuju Nsofor from the FDA, and moderated by Bill Graves of the Dairy Research Institute. It began with a very discouraging presentation from Dr. Nsofor about the FDA’s take on their re-evaluation of dairy safety issues, specifically around the 60 day rule, which was adopted in the 1960s on the basis of assumptions (not scientific study) about pathogens viability in a high acid, low moisture environment. Better late than never, the FDA is now scientifically testing those assumptions, and they have not been bourn out, specifically with higher moisture cheeses aged over 60 days.
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I was invited to Governor LePage’s “Workshop on Job Creation” on July 10th in Springvale where he asked members of the Maine business community for “blunt and honest” suggestions on how to improve the relationship between the public and private sector to foster job growth. I took him up on his request and as the Biddeford Journal Tribute accurately reported the next day:
Without a boost in the number of dairy inspectors – there’s just one for the whole state at present, Rector said – new cheesemakers can’t get into the industry and existing manufacturers can’t expand their operations.