The Best Cheese in the World Comes from Norway, Apparently

Liz Lian
Liz Lian
Liz Lian is a writer and filmmaker based in Los Angeles. She can be found at lizlian.com.
published Nov 21, 2016
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(Image credit: @FelicitySpector)

Today in “Events You Didn’t Know Existed, but Wish You Had Attended,” the World Cheese Awards, organized by the Guild of Fine Foods, took place earlier this month in San Sebástian, Spain. After passing a barrage of evaluations from hundreds of judges and defeating a field of over 3,000 other cheeses from 31 countries, one cheese emerged as the world champion, and it’s not from where you might expect.

A Norwegian blue cheese called Kraftkar now holds the coveted title of World Champion Cheese. The cow’s milk cheese is produced by the family owned cheesemaker Tingvollost. Gunnar Waagen, chairman of Tingvollost, accepted the award in tears, saying, “I have no words, this is marvelous news! We are a family run farm and work long days to make our cheese. We get up early every day and go to bed very late to make the best cheese we can, and so to win this award, I am very proud.”

Hats off to the cheese champions. Now it’s time for our grocery stores to expand the Norwegian selection in their cheese sections!