The Mondial du Fromage et des Produits Laitiers Tours, in France, awarded Brazil 81 medals in this edition. The country won 17 gold, 23 silver, and 41 bronze medals. In the previous edition, in 2021, the Latin American nation won 57 medals. The competition, held in September, takes place every two years in Tours, in the Loire Valley.
In total, 1,640 types of cheese from various countries were evaluated, of which 288 were presented by 91 Brazilian producers from 12 states. Of the 17 gold medals, ten went to producers from Minas Gerais.
Among the gold-winning cheeses, the competition also selected the 12 best in the world in the Super Gold category. The only non-European product was Caprinus do Lago, which placed seventh, produced by Fabrício Le Draper Vieira at Capril do Lago, in Valença, a municipality in the southern region of the state of Rio de Janeiro. France won 10 of these medals, and Switzerland, one.
Caprinus do Lago is a semi-cured pressed cheese made from raw goat’s milk. “It takes a year to be ready. We have to turn it and brush it every day. It takes 17 liters of milk to make one kilogram of cheese. This cheese is produced twice a week, even though it takes a year to be ready. We make a five-kilogram cheese.”
Vieira says there are over a thousand people in line to buy the product, adding that the waiting time usually lasts a year. “We didn’t expect such a response.”
Source: Agência Brasil