There is a moment at Frome Agricultural & Cheese Show when even the most dedicated cheese lover might wonder whether they have, in fact, underestimated cheese.
Because the Cheese Pavilion is enormous.
This is no big table of local Cheddars and a few interesting blues. It’s not even a marquee full of them. This is the home of the Global Cheese Awards, one of the oldest cheese competitions in the country, with more than 160 years of history – and entries arriving from around the world.
This year, around 200 entries have travelled from overseas, before you even begin counting the British cheeses competing alongside them.
By the time the public arrives at Frome Show on Saturday 12th September, they will already have faced the judges. On Thursday, the vast pavilion becomes a serious place of work as expert judges assess entries across a huge range of categories. And judging cheese, it turns out, involves rather more than taking a bite and deciding whether you fancy another.
They’ll be looking for the characteristics appropriate to each particular cheese – the body and texture of a hard cheese, the ripening and veining of a blue, the condition of the rind, its aroma, structure and, finally, flavour.
As experienced cheese judge Chris Stilton told Dorset Life, the simplest rule of thumb is that your immediate reaction to a good cheese should be to smile.
By Saturday, however, the serious judging is over – and the doors are open to everyone.
Welcome to cheese heaven
For Show visitors, the sheer scale is part of the fun. Rows upon rows of competition cheeses fill the hall, from familiar favourites to varieties you’ve probably never heard of. The award winners are there to discover, alongside cheesemakers and producers selling their own cheeses – and there are plenty of opportunities to taste as you explore.
And don’t leave too early, because at 3pm things get interesting.
Going once, going twice… sold!
The Grand Auction of Champion Cheeses is one of Frome Show’s great traditions – and something of a well-kept secret if you’ve never stayed to watch it.
The prize-winning cheeses go under the hammer in a lively public auction, giving visitors the chance to take home some of the very cheeses that impressed the judges just two days earlier.
And they can sometimes be secured for remarkably good prices.
This year there’s an additional heavyweight attraction: a huge block of cheese weighing up to 20kg will also be auctioned.
That’s roughly the weight of your carry-on suitcase … except considerably more useful.
Quite what you do after successfully bidding for 20kg of cheese is between you, your fridge and everyone you have invited to dinner – but we very much want to see who buys it.
Or take home a slice of the Champion
There’s another way to leave Frome carrying some seriously distinguished cheese.
Only 50 Golden Tickets will be available from the Cheese Bar, priced at £5 each. At the start of the 3pm auction, one ticket will be drawn.
The winner gets the rather splendid honour of cutting the Champion Cheese itself, before taking home a portion worth at least £25.
We can think of considerably worse investments.
Of course, you don’t have to bid for anything. You can simply wander, taste, talk to the producers, inspect the winners and marvel at the extraordinary variety produced from the seemingly simple combination of milk, cultures, salt, time and a great deal of expertise.
The Global Cheese Awards can be explored at Frome Agricultural & Cheese Show on Saturday 12th September at West Woodlands Showground. The Grand Auction of Champion Cheeses begins at 3pm, with Golden Tickets available from the Cheese Bar.
