{"id":48999,"date":"2025-03-03T21:20:32","date_gmt":"2025-03-04T02:20:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/?p=48999"},"modified":"2025-03-03T21:51:56","modified_gmt":"2025-03-04T02:51:56","slug":"cheesemonger-invitational-masters-2025-mondial-du-fromage-cheese-olympics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/cheesemonger-invitational-masters-2025-mondial-du-fromage-cheese-olympics\/","title":{"rendered":"Who’s Going to the 2025 Cheese Olympics? Results from the Cheesemonger Invitational: Masters"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two cheesemongers will represent Team USA at Mondial du Fromage, also known as the Cheese Olympics.<\/h4>\n
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The 2025 winners of the Cheesemonger Invitational: Masters included Emilia D’Albero (left), Courtney Johnson, and alternate Sam Rollins (right).<\/p><\/div>\n

On Sunday, March 2, 2025, 15 cheese professionals competed in the Cheesemonger Invitational: Masters tournament. Cheesemongers Emilia D\u2019Albero<\/a> (2024 culture Hot Lister) of Philadelphia\u2019s Formaticum, a cheese paper and knife company, and Courtney Johnson of Seattle\u2019s mobile cheese shop Street Cheese won the competition\u2019s prize: the opportunity to represent the United States at Mondial du Fromage, colloquially known as the Cheese Olympics. The two cheesemongers made history, too\u2014they make up the first all-women Team USA chosen to compete. Johnson will be the second American to compete in Mondial du Fromage for a second time.<\/p>\n

2023 culture Hot Lister Sam Rollins<\/a> of Cow Bell Cheese Shop in Portland, Oregon, earned the alternate slot. Winners were selected by a jury of cheese experts such as Vermont Creamery\u2019s Allison Hooper, Maker to Monger\u2019s Sigfried \u201cZiggy\u201d von Frankenberg-Leu, and Euro USA\u2019s Perry Soulos<\/a>\u2014the first American to compete in Mondial du Fromage twice.<\/p>\n

The international Mondial du Fromage takes place every two years in France\u2019s Loire Valley. Since 2023<\/a>, the Cheesemonger Invitational: Masters takes place every two years at third-generation cheesemonger Adam Moskowitz\u2019s Larkin Cold Storage in Queens, New York. The Masters attracts national talent and is designed to exhaust participants by replicating the format of Mondial du Fromage. In 2023, Moskowitz led a team of cheesemongers that included Johnson and Rollins; Rollins walked away with second place\u2014the best-ever performance for the United States.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt feels really exciting to be going back to Mondial,\u201d said Johnson. \u201cI\u2019m pumped to go back and win now that I know what it takes to win.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the Masters, contestants took exams; cut and wrapped half-pound pieces of Gruy\u00e8re by eye in five minutes; gave oral presentations on a cheese of their choice; composed cheese plates based on aesthetics; crafted bites with Parmigiano Reggiano and Stilton, respectively; and built cheese displays and sculptures.<\/p>\n

Competition was fierce, especially during the oral presentation portion in which some opted to share the weather from the day a wheel was made. Contestants also used their own equipment, mimicking conditions at Mondial du Fromage. They brought their own plating supplies as well. For example, cheesemonger Joseph Karasch of the Cheese Shop of Salem created a bonsai tree from multicolored wire to follow the Masters\u2019 theme\u2014Shades of Color.<\/p>\n

Each contestant interpreted the theme with personal flair. Johnson carved elephants and giraffes for her sculpture, while cheesemaker Jake Heller of Perrystead Dairy made a vase-and-flower sculpture that resembled a Matisse cut-out. The Curd Nerd\u2019s Sarah Simiele invited the jury into her artist\u2019s studio display, complete with paintbrushes and marmalade paint tubes. Hannah Kinney, who helped launch Massachusetts\u2019 Nouvelle Maison Fine Provisions in November, said that culture<\/a> inspired her verdant magazine-style spread.<\/p>\n

Mondial du Fromage is set for September 14 to 16, 2025. Until then, Johnson, D\u2019Albero, and Rollins will train under Moskowitz\u2019s guidance to bring home gold for Team USA.<\/p>\n

\u201cI spent so long preparing and I couldn\u2019t have done it without the help of everyone else who competed,\u201d said D\u2019Albero. \u201cThe teamwork and camaraderie of this is what really drew me to the competition. I did this for fun and this is an incredible honor. I can\u2019t believe it\u2019s happening. I\u2019m so grateful to everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\t\t