The best cheese in Catalonia is El Ninot, from the Sant Gil d’Albió cheese factory, and the best cheesecake is prepared by Jon Cake
The contest, which has brought together an offering of 250 cheeses at the fair, has taken place in the city of Vic and is organized by Làctium
VicThe Ninot cheese from the Sant Gil d’Albió cheese factory is the best in Catalonia, according to the Làctium contest in Vic, which chose it from a total of sixteen, from different categories, that had passed a previous elimination phase. A specialized jury, made up of ninety people, met this morning at Casa Ricart in Vic to choose the best of each specialty so that they could advance to the final. In one of the categories, the most popular in recent years, that of cheesecake, the winner has been Jon Cake, a name that refers to the producer Jon García, who started with a shop in El Born in Barcelona and is currently in full expansion, with shops in other neighborhoods of Barcelona and also in Girona. The cake contains three types of cheese: buffalo blue and Garrotxa, both from Muntanyola, and cream, from L’Esquella. García will donate 10% of the sales of this cake to the Fundació Ampans, the non-profit organization that manages the Muntanyola cheese factory.
In addition to the contest, Làctium has also hosted a cheese makers' fair, in which forty artisan cheese factories participated, with an offer of 250 types that could be purchased at Parc Jaume Balmes in Vic on both Saturday and Sunday. Làctium has reached its eighteenth edition, and demonstrates the good moment of Catalan cheese, which attracts a passionate and specialist audience.
The novelty of this year's edition is three new categories that have competed for the first time. These are condiments and smoked products, cooked and semi-cooked products, and yogurts and fermented milks. All three categories have been added to the thirteen that existed until now, which this year has been directed by Bruno Cabral.
The cheeses that have won the gold medal in each of the different categories are:
- Ricotta, donuts and brushes: Pauet ricotta
- Greek yogurt: Làctics Ubach
- Cheesecake: Jon Cake
- Sour dough from cow and buffalo: Fermió La Balda
- Sour goat pasta: Le Bolut's Bunch
- Sour sheep pasta: Les Campanes. El Miracle
- Soft cow or buffalo cheese: Tou del Mujal de vaca. Cal Músic
- Soft goat cheese: Tou Mujal de Cabra. Cal Músic
- Soft sheep cheese: Murri. La Xiquella
- Hard sheep cheese: Aged sheep cheese. Mas Rovira
- IGP Garrotxa. Garrotxa. Mas Rovira
- Blue Cheese. Glaucous. Xauxa Cheesemonger
- Condiments: Smoked Xiroi. La Xiquella
- Cooked and semi-cooked. El Ferrer. Cal Músic
- Goat enzymatic: El Ninot. Sant Gil d’Albió
- Enzymatic from cow. The Bac. Mas el Lladre
- Tupins: Tupins el Ger. Molí de Ger