{"id":2583,"date":"2023-10-12T04:24:59","date_gmt":"2023-10-12T04:24:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sutyo.com\/the-2022-cheesemonger-invitational-nyc-scenes-from-a-cheese-rave\/"},"modified":"2023-10-12T04:24:59","modified_gmt":"2023-10-12T04:24:59","slug":"the-2022-cheesemonger-invitational-nyc-scenes-from-a-cheese-rave","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sutyo.com\/tr\/the-2022-cheesemonger-invitational-nyc-scenes-from-a-cheese-rave\/","title":{"rendered":"The 2022 Cheesemonger Invitational NYC: Scenes from a Cheese Rave"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"Cheesemonger<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n

For the uninitiated, the Cheesemonger Invitational<\/a> (CMI) is a semi-annual cheese-mongering competition and cheese tasting spectacle, held in several U.S. cities, dreamt up and hosted by Larkin Cold Storage<\/a>\u2019s Adam Jay Moskowitz<\/a>. That is, however, putting it very, very mildly. Cheesemonger Invitational includes education and preliminary competition rounds before an open-to-the-public event of cheese sampling, eating, shopping, and the competition finals.<\/p>\n

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What is the Cheesemonger Invitational?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

To put it more sharply, the Cheesemonger Invitational is many things to many people. On the organization\u2019s website, it promises a \u201ca have-to-be-there, FOMO-inducing, adrenaline-pumping cheesesplosion, (with) rabid cheese fans (and) a grown man in a cow costume,\u201d and it is indeed all of those things, and yet even more<\/em>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For cheese professionals it is a trade show and networking event, timed alongside the more expansive Fancy Food Show. For competitive cheesemongers, it\u2019s not only an opportunity to show off theoretical knowledge, tasting ability, and practical skills, but a multi-day educational extravaganza. For Moskowitz, one supposes that this is much more than a calling, but probably a life-saving one. (And indeed one can purchase \u201cLast night a cheesemonger saved my life\u201d merch if you can relate.) Interspersed among his calls from the stage for rousing choruses of \u201cMoo Baa Maa!\u201d (cheese-producing animal sounds, in case that\u2019s not obvious,) were equally frequent pleas that if anyone was suffering from mental illness or addiction, to come talk to him for help. For everyone in attendance, including those who were simply cheese-curious or intrigued by an event that promised to be at the very least, quirky, it is nothing short of a cheese rave.<\/p>\n

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\"CMI<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n

Setting the Scene of the Cheesemonger Invitational<\/strong> <\/h2>\n

After years held at Larkin\u2019s cold storage warehouse, and a detour through the expansive Brooklyn Expo Center, this year\u2019s CMI NYC was held at Brooklyn Steel, a Williamsburg venue operated by The Bowery Presents whose other upcoming presentations mainly consist of indie rock shows. Even being my first Invitational, I feel confident in saying that this is probably CMI\u2019s proper outlet. The energy is way more mosh pit than trade show, and concert venue lighting, ambient fog, and a tall stage where numerous photographers and camera people wove through the activity makes the competing cheesemongers really appear to be the rock stars that Moskowitz has been insisting for over a decade that they are. (And they absolutely are.) Even the cheeses themselves took on a punk appearance, their usual ivory hues imbued with day-glo blues and greens. Mimolette looked nothing short of don\u2019t-f*uck-with-me fuschia.<\/p>\n

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\"Challerhocker<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n

What Happens at the Cheesemonger Invitational?<\/strong> <\/h2>\n

Onstage a huge wheel of dramatically-lit Emmenthaler loomed large as if an opening act to what was obviously the highlight of the day: the cheesemonger competition itself, lasting about 2 hours complete with DJ, and bovine-clad Moskowitz as emcee and hype guy. 23 hopeful cheesemongers entered, and after preliminary morning rounds which included theory tests, salesmanship and tasting demonstrations, and composed cheese bites, cheese slates, and cheese pairings, the top 5 competitors were chosen to participate in the finals: Cara Condon of Chicago\u2019s Beautiful Rind<\/a>, Reese Wool of Murray\u2019s Grand Central Terminal<\/a>, Jared Kaufman of Minneapolis-based France 44<\/a>, Evey Suelzle of Portland\u2019s New Seasons Market<\/a>, and Nathalie Baer Chan of Murray\u2019s<\/a> Bleecker Street. (Of note: Baer Chan was the first competitor in CMI history to accurately identify every cheese in the blind tasting portion, and my insider dealings at Murray\u2019s told me that she\u2019s relatively new to the industry, so that\u2019s not at all intimidating.)<\/p>\n

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\"CMI<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n

Elements of the Competition<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The competition was equal parts pageant, game show, and extreme sports challenge. After relaxed rounds of cheese trivia and \u201cwhat\u2019s your favorite cheese?\u201d\u2014given the irreverence of the goings-on, I half expected someone to answer \u201cworld peace\u201d\u2014the real adrenaline-fueled, speed-skill festivities began. Contestants were asked to \u201cglass wrap\u201d a large half wheel in plastic, (way harder than it looks,) cut as many perfect \u00bc pound pieces off of a large wedge as possible, wrap as many said pieces in cheese paper within a time limit, cut a perfect \u00bd wedge given only one cut, and wrap 5 odd-shaped pieces. The timers for each challenge counted down either 30, 45, or 60 seconds, the crowd often counting down the last 5 along with the clock. Despite these all being practiced cheese professionals, the struggle was often real, and there were plenty of heartbreak moments. Never have I ever reacted so strongly to the display of a food scale.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Wire-based Cheese Commander Pro models were available for the cutting challenges, but competitor Wool took to the cutting challenge bearing a chef\u2019s knife, which was equally badass as it was effective, and they seemed to fare better in the \u00bc pound challenge because of it. Moskowitz was as rowdy throughout the trials as one would expect a heavily tattooed, cow-clad grown man to be, and the crowd followed in kind with enthusiastic echoes of \u201cMoo Baa Maa,\u201d when called for. The crowd noise could have been likened to something like Ninja Warrior, if not for the occasional niche call for \u201cFrench wrap it!\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"Beautiful<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n

Announcing the Winner<\/strong> <\/h2>\n

After a brief break to tabulate scores, including scores from the morning\u2019s non-public festivities, Beautiful Rind\u2019s Cara Condon took the top spot, admirably repping Chicago with a Bulls jersey she\u2019d donned partway through the competition. The crowd went wild, Moskowitz got emotional, and just as if we\u2019d all seen an epic rock show complete with numerous encores, the crowd filed back out to the streets of Brooklyn after its conclusion, full of cheese, and of cheesemonger respect.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For the uninitiated, the Cheesemonger Invitational (CMI) is a semi-annual cheese-mongering competition and cheese tasting spectacle, held in several U.S. cities, dreamt up and hosted by Larkin Cold Storage\u2019s Adam Jay Moskowitz. That is, however, putting it very, very mildly. Cheesemonger Invitational includes education and preliminary competition rounds before an open-to-the-public event of cheese sampling, … Okumaya devam et “The 2022 Cheesemonger Invitational NYC: Scenes from a Cheese Rave”<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":1271,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[395],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2583","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-milk-and-diary"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sutyo.com\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2583","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sutyo.com\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sutyo.com\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sutyo.com\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1271"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sutyo.com\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2583"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sutyo.com\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2583\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sutyo.com\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2583"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sutyo.com\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2583"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sutyo.com\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2583"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}