NANTWICH (England), July 29 — A Lancashire cheese, manchego, stilton and Dutch cheesemaker emerged the big winners at an international cheese show in the UK this week.

It’s the dream job for cheese lovers. At the International Cheese Awards in Nantwich, 200 experts sniffed, inspected and savoured cheese submissions from 31 countries before handing out trophies to the best cheesemakers and cheeses at the competition.

This year more than 4,615 cheeses were entered from 274 exhibitors.

Nabbing some of the biggest awards this year was Greenfields Dairy, a family-run business that has been churning out cheeses since 1930.

Greenfields was named ‘The Champion UK’ for its signature Lancashire cheeses like the Creamy Lancashire, described as a “fluffy, open textured cheese with a rich creamy flavour and smooth buttery finish.”

Other award winners include British cheesemaker Colston Bassett for their stilton, Bradburys Cheese for the manchego and E.M. Treur en ZN. BV, a Dutch cheesemaker and Gouda specialist.

The competition also singled out the best ma-and-pa cheesemakers from countries such as Switzerland, Greece, Canada, the US and Australia.

Here are a few winning brands and purveyors to look out for in your local supermarket and town:

Champion French Cheese: Les Fromageries Occitanes

Best Dutch Cheese: Delamere Dairy

Best Italian Cheese, hard: Ferrari Giovanni Industria Casearia SpA

Best Italian Cheese, soft: Bradburys Cheese

Best Swiss Cheese: Cremo SA-von Muehlenen

Best Scandinavian Cheese: Norseland Limited

Best Greek Cheese: Aegean Heritage Ltd

Best Spanish Cheese: Bradburys Cheese

Best Australian Cheese: Maffra Cheese Company

Best US Cheese: Tillamook

Best Canadian Cheese: Fayrefield Foods Limited

For full results visit http://www.internationalcheeseawards.co.uk/.

The next big cheese judging competition is set to take place September 10 at the Global Cheese Awards. — AFP-Relaxnews