|
Listen to this article now
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
For two days, Water Jameos, in Lanzarote, has been the scene of the tastings of a new edition of the Official Canary Islands Cheese Competition
A total of 226 samples have competed in the official agrocanarias contest 2025 organized by the Government of the Canary Islands through the Agrifood Quality Canarian Institute (ICCA), in collaboration with the Cabildo of Lanzarote and the Art Centers, Culture and Tourism (CACT), in order to recognize and promote the products of the Archipelago, especially those that are made under the protection of figures of differentiated quality.
In this edition, which has been held between 8 and the 10 July in Los Jameos del Agua (Lanzarote) with the collaboration of the Island Council, the elaborations of 73 you would like, of which 25 They are from Gran Canaria, 14 from Tenerife, 12 from Fuerteventura, 11 of the palm, 7 from Lanzarote, 2 from El Hierro and 2 from La Gomera. Regarding cheeses, 80 They come from Gran Canaria, 43 of the palm, 37 from Tenerife, 33 from Fuerteventura, 29 from Lanzarote, 2 from El Hierro and 2 from La Gomera.
The Minister of Agriculture attended the opening ceremony of the event., Cattle raising, Fisheries and Food Sovereignty of the Government of the Canary Islands, Narvay Quintero; the advisors of Food Sovereignty, Samuel Martin, and Economic Promotion, Nori Machín, of the Cabildo of Lanzarote; the first deputy mayor of Haría, Evelia García Fuentes; the director of the Canarian Institute of Agri-Food Quality (ICCA), Luis Arraez Guadalupe; and the councilors of Agriculture, Livestock and Fishing of the Arrecife City Council, Cathaysa Suárez; and the Teguise City Council, Myriam Jorge.
During his intervention, Narvay Quintero explained that “this quote, which has established itself as a platform for the promotion of our cheese factories and their productions, has experienced growth of more than 35% in the number of samples presented in just two editions”. “The Canary Islands are not only one of the regions with the highest cheese consumption, but also a territory with centuries of tradition in a sector where our professionals win awards and distinctions in competitions held around the world.”, he added.
For your part, Luis Arráez Guadalupe pointed out that initiatives such as the Agro-Canadian Competitions are part of “the Executive's support strategy for the work of primary sector producers so that, Both Canarians and tourists value and purchase these productions at fair prices that ensure the profitability of cheese factories and livestock farms.”. Besides, The director of the ICCA thanked the Art Centers for their collaboration, Culture and Tourism (CACT) of the Cabildo of Lanzarote for hosting this event, as well as the tasters for their work.
In addition, The insular councilor Samuel Martín reiterated the “thanks to the Government of the Canary Islands for having chosen Lanzarote and this space, The Jameos del Agua, to celebrate this edition of a reference competition such as the Agrocanarias Cheese Contest”. In this sense, the head of Food Sovereignty of the Cabildo of Lanzarote stressed “the importance of this type of initiatives to highlight the products of the island and the entire Canary Islands, both regionally and internationally”.
Besides, Evelia García highlighted that it is “It is essential to promote the primary sector from public institutions and not only as an economic activity, but also with the essential objective of preserving our idiosyncrasy, our cultural and ethnographic heritage”. In this regard, the first deputy mayor of Haría pointed out “the quality of the products that are produced in the municipality “since we have several artisanal cheese factories that have already won awards in previous editions of this contest”.
Categories and blind tasting system
The contest establishes different categories depending on whether they are productions made with pasteurized milk or raw milk., of different livestock species (goat, vaca, sheep and mix) and different stages of maturation (tender, semi-cured, cured, old and stale). The type of coagulation is also considered (of vegetable rennet or a mixture of vegetable rennet and others) and maturation due to the development of molds (inside or on the surface).
On this occasion they have participated in the tender pasteurized categories (13), pasteurized semi-cured (30), pasteurized cured (16), old pasteurized (4), aged pasteurized (6), raw tender goat's milk (22), semi-cured raw goat milk (52), raw cured goat milk (21), raw old goat's milk (2), aged raw goat's milk (5), semi-cured raw cow's milk (2), cured raw cow's milk (3), aged raw cow's milk (1), raw tender sheep's milk (1), raw semi-cured sheep's milk (6), raw cured sheep's milk (6), raw old sheep's milk (1), aged raw sheep's milk (2), raw milk tender mix (2), raw milk semi-cured mixture (11), raw milk cured mixture (9), old raw milk mix (1), aged raw milk blend (1), half flower (1), flower (5), with moldy crust (2), and blue (1).
The competition is governed by a blind tasting system, where the tasting panel, made up of twenty-four tasters, five of them from the peninsula, specialists in the analysis of agri-food products, scores the samples without knowing the brands of the productions they are analyzing. With their evaluations they determine the elaborations awarded with the great gold medals, gold and silver medals, as well as the special distinctions of “Best Cheese from the Canary Islands”, “Best Organic Cheese”, “Best Limited Production Cheese” y “Best Image and Presentation”.
In addition, the special distinction “Best Popular Cheese of the Canary Islands” In this edition, it will be awarded to the production best valued by a group of consumers belonging to the Association of Friends of Wine and Cheese of Lanzarote that has been selected by the ICCA.. On the other hand, that of “Best Cheese chosen by the Children's Jury” will fall on the production of goat milk that obtains the best score awarded by a tasting panel made up of 20 girls and boys from various municipalities on the island who participate in different activity programs during the summer.
The productions that are awarded will be able to use the official badge of the award obtained for one year and will participate in the different development and promotion events that the ICCA. In addition, The cheese factories that have been admitted to this contest will be paid the registration and logistics costs in the Gourmets Cheese Championship held annually in Madrid..
