Move Over French: Norwegian Cheese Is The World's Best

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France has been producing the best quality cheese for so long that the place is almost a synonym with the word cheese. French people are known to make their cheese real good but surprisingly this time it's the Norwegians who are making all the news about the best cheese in the world.

According to Munchies, a Norwegian blue cheese stole the show in the 2016 World Cheese Awards held in the Basque country city of San Sebastian in association with The Guild of Fine Foods. Claiming the numbero uno position ahead of all the other variants including the French is no mean achievement.

The blue variant of cheese named Kraftkar hailing from the farm of cheesemaker Gunnar Waagen used unpasteurized cow milk to break it into a smooth cream and impressed all the judges with the outcome. On the way to the top, Waagen's Kraftkar outperformed 3060 competing cheeses from 35 countries.

Earlier only French and British cheesemakers secured the top spots in the 29 years of the competition. It is noteworthy to mention that Norwegians have had a long legacy of producing quality cheese though they did not win any accolades. One of Norway's many cheese variant is the creamy whey cheese which the Norwegians savor for centuries with breads, sandwiches and beef stews.

As per the Guild of Fine Foods Kraftkar was the last cheese to be tasted and won the title at the very last moment. Waagen was overjoyed with result and celebrated wildly in the crowd. He was very emotional while saying, "We've made cheese for about 10 years. We are a little family in the middle of Norway trying to do our best every day. We get up early and sleep late."

A spanish variant of cheese Cremositos Del Zujar and a goat milk cheese Cala Blanc gave close competition to Kraftkar but were tied at the second place at 67 points while the Norwegian cheese came out on top with 71 points.

Nick Trioros of Canada's Olympic Cheese praised the champion cheese for its evenly distributed mold and the soft creamy texture.

The judges panel consisted of eminent names from the world of hotels, restaurants, pies and patisseries and off course cheese and desserts from the UK, Japan, South Africa, Mexico, France, Italy and Sweden 

The grand competition had 3021 types of entries from 31 countries. This edition's Super Jury comprised of Whole Foods Markets global cheese buyer Cathy Strange, Selfridges deli chief Adrian Boswell and Suzy O'Regan, cheese specialist at the Woolworth's store chain in South Africa.

More than feeling proud it is a satisfying moment for Norway for finally winning the competition as despite not winning any laurels ever, they have always taken their Cheese seriously.