Kate Smith, John Greeley and Poul Price, judges
In 2007, Elena Hovagimian was working for Donna Woolam, the Director of Agriculture at The Eastern States Exposition (The Big E). They thought it would be fun (!) to start a cheese competition at the fair.
Elena Hovagimian
Donna Woolam, Director of Agriculture at the fair with Mike Gauvin, Manager of the Farmers Market
It was a daunting effort, but Elena began collecting all the information she could. She even went to the prestigious American Cheese Society Competition where John Greeley graciously showed her around. (John had been Chairman of the ACS Cheese Judging and Competition Committee for 15 years and now he is a frequent judge at this one.)
John Greeley
They staged the first New England Regional Cheese Competition in one of the horse barns in 2008 (complete with the odors one would expect!). It was a great success and the competition has grown every year since then. Now Elena runs it in a new, air conditioned building with a seasoned team of able volunteers.
The new Farmers Market building
The Judges
There were 2 judges for each table – one was ‘technical’ and the other was ‘aesthetic.’ They each filled out separate score sheets and made comments on them for the cheese makers. It was a grueling day of sampling, discussing, evaluating and ultimately assigning a point score to a LOT of cheeses.
John Greeley, at right. It would be impossible to find a more prestigious judge (or a more beloved one) than John. He was one of the founders of the American Cheese Society, and he has served as the president of it, chairman of the judging for it, on the board of directors and overall ambassador for it since 1984. He has traveled all around the world, judging at cheese competitions and training judges.
Kate Smith. Kate comes from a restaurant background, and she was, in fact, the Chef de Cuisine at Toro Boston. She always loved cheese, so she stepped away from restaurant work to spend time working on a goat farm in Spain. Then, she became a buyer at Formaggio Kitchen South End.
Sam Frank. Sam has actually judged at the World Cheese Awards (a slightly bigger competition than this one!). He worked as a cheese maker for many years, then he managed Crown Finish Caves, and now is the managing director for Jumi, an importer of specialty cheeses from Switzerland.
Susan Fallon Brennan, at right. Susan has been chairwoman of the Massachusetts Cheese Festival for the last 2 years. She has worked in retail and in sales of specialized cheeses for over 15 years. She is an American Cheese Society ‘Certified Cheese Professional.’
Steven Murphy. Steve is well known in the dairy industry, having worked at Cornell University in the Dept. of Food Science for over 36 years. He is now serving as the Executive Director of the Dairy Practices Council. He has been a technical judge at the American Cheese Society competition since 2016.
Grace Pullin. Grace is a cheese maker and a cheesemonger. She is currently working as the Head Cheesemonger at Talbott and Arding and the Assistant Cheesemaker at Churchtown Dairy.
Shawn Hockert, at right. Shawn has been at Seacrest Foods (a cheese distributor) since 1997 and he is now the Director of Sales and Purchasing. He is fortunate enough to have traveled all around the US and Europe, sourcing and selling cheese.
Lisa Caprera. Lisa is finishing up her master’s in food science at Pennsylvania State University. She has volunteered at many cheese contests including the World Championship Cheese Contest, American Cheese Society Competition and the PA Farm Show Cheese Contest. This is her 3rd year judging at the Big E.
Guest Judges
Guest Judges are cheese enthusiasts and professionals who are invited to work with the judges to learn more about cheese. Their scores do not count, but they do learn a lot and they get to spend a whole day tasting cheese!
Amanda Stanton
Poul Price
Christine Sullivan, at left
The Volunteers
Head Steward
The stewards take care of the judges, so, this is an important job and it’s impossible to imagine anyone but Bonnie Burr doing it. Year after year, Bonnie has been the perfect “go-to” person whenever the stewards have a question. She has a whey of “righting the boat” when everyone else is flailing and getting ready to jump ship!
Bonnie Burr
Cheese Wrangler “Bringer Out From Back”
The cheeses were divided into “classes” which had been assigned to specific judges. When they finished judging a class, the next class was brought out. Kerry McKinstry-Jett was in charge of making sure the cheeses were “tempered” properly and brought to the right judges at the right time. Kerry is a ballet dancer, so she did this with great style!
Kerry McKinstry-Jett
Time Keeper
A certain amount of time was delegated to each cheese for judging. There was flexibility, of course, but if the judges had taken too much time on too many cheeses, the schedule would have gotten out of control. Marianne McCauley quietly kept track of the time all day.
Marianne McCauley
Stewards
Two stewards were assigned to each table of judges for the day. They cleaned the cutting knives and triers, replenished the palette cleansers, replaced the spit cups, etc.
Carol Ramponi and Lauren Patric
Jan Tremblay
Barbara Little
Joan Presz
Sarah Kozak and Emily Foraver
The Big Day
Preparing the room
The volunteers gathered around for an orientation meeting.
The First Judging
For most of the day, the judges methodically tasted and evaluated hundreds of cheeses. There was a break for lunch, but basically, they worked from 9am-5pm.
Behind the Scenes
Meanwhile, some of the people who work in the Agriculture Department of the fair quietly kept track of the scores and cut and wrapped the cheese that had already been judged.
Mike Gauvin and Elena Hovagimian
Alicia Audet
Bonnie Burr, checking the label on a cheese
Blurry picture (Sorry!) of Shaunia Swinton who was a guest judge last year despite being vegan. She said her veganism gave her a unique perspective on the smell and texture of the cheese.
Elena Hovagimian checked everything!
Rebecca Hale, carrying cheese into the kitchen to be cut
Sarah Kozak, Rebecca Hale and Emily Foraver
The Final Judging
After the first round of judging was complete, the scores were tallied and the highest scorers were brought out for the final judging. The winners were announced, but they haven’t been released yet, so our lips are sealed. To see the winners, check here.
The judges posed for a group shot.
For more information contact Elena Hovagimian at (413) 205-5011 or aginfo@TheBigE.com
