Monel wins at ACS Tasting

Monel

I am delighted to tell you that Monel, one of the goat cheeses made by Trent Hendricks,  made a 3rd place win at the American Cheese Society's annual Festival of Cheese event in August. The event featured  25 producers from 34 states, Canada, and Mexico entered 1,462 cheeses and cultured dairy products and is considered by many American cheese makers to be a great way to collect objective feedback about their products. 


Monel (above) is described by Trent as 

Loosely similar to Crottin.  We hand ladle curd,  over 2 days, into the mold to create a little cheese that's big on flavor.  Aged 60 days to a milky, creamy paste that needs to melt on your tongue for full appreciation, or aged to four months for a mature and complex intensity with barely a hint of a goat finish.  Monel ( a style of stirrup used on vaquero saddles).

Knowing Trent as well as I do, I'm sure that he is proud of his win (He should be. He's only resumed making goat cheese a couple of months ago after a several year hiatus!)  However, I also know that he is going to see it as an incentive to push out the edges of the envelope of quality even further. 




A link to the complete list of  winners of the 2010 Festival of Cheese competition can be found at the American Cheese Society web site.