MADISON – The World Championship Cheese Contest is this week in Madison.
“There are more than 3,400 entries,” assistant chief judge Tim Czmowski told Wis. Morning News on Monday. “We have four semi loads full of cheese.”
“The competition comes from across the globe. It’s the Super Bowl of cheese contests.”
Judging takes place Tuesday and Wednesday. The judges consider several different factors, according to Czmowski.
“Each judge will inspect appearance, packaging, sampling, etc.” he said.
What's it take to be a Chief Assistant Cheese Judge?
— 620 WTMJ (@620wtmj) March 4, 2024
Tim Czmowski joined the program to describe the life of a cheese judge.
No. We don't apologize for the puns.
Full interview & more Wisconsin's Morning News right here: https://t.co/498se7HDYJ pic.twitter.com/fabWG64aDe
Judges will also spend time cleansing their palate, Czmowski explained. “A lot of judges use a soda cracker. But the best for me is a slice of apple. Sparkling water also works for me. We don’t swallow all of the cheese. We do spit it out, but every once and awhile there’s a real good cheese that may slip by.”
The perfect cheese score is 100, but Czmowski has never seen it.
“I’ve never seen an absolute perfect cheese,” he said. “It’s hard not to take off a slight deduction. Most of these champions are going to score 99.6 (or higher) because they are all excellent cheeses.”
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