Critical Cheese Analysis

As with many foods, an organoleptic evaluation of cheese can be critical to the success of a product. In fact, with cheese, it might be more important than most because of the complex natural chemical and microbiological processes that contribute to the quality of the finished product.

Two leading experts and cheese competition judges explain how to examine the look, smell, feel and taste of cheese in five steps:

• Create the right environment

• Judge the appearance

• Evaluate the aroma

• Assess the texture

• Appraise the flavor

“In the end, what is important is to distill all this information into the one thing that made the cheese memorable,” says Daphne Zepos, former judging chair for the American Cheese Society competition and owner of the Essex Street Cheese Company, New York. “It could be the texture. It could be the long aftertaste. What has caught your attention most?”