Connemara cheese, made by Looking Glass Creamery, LLC of Fairview, NC, has been selected as a 2015 Good Food Award winner.

The Good Food Awards organized by Seedling Projects are national in scope and aim to recognize responsible producers who craft exceptional products in various food categories including beer, cheese, charcuterie, preserves, spirits, chocolates and confections.

Looking Glass Creamery was the only North Carolina Cheese Producer recognized for the honor and was one of 130 winners nationwide. In addition to meeting the criteria of responsible production, Connemara was also “a top scorer at the Blind Tasting amongst a pool of 1,462 entries”, according to Seedling Projects Director, Sarah Weiner. There were 140 notable judges hailing from all corners of the food world.

The cheese was named in honor of Lilian “Paula” Sandburg a pioneer in the world of dairy goats and the wife of poet Carl Sandburg. Their farmstead, named Connemara, in nearby Flat Rock, NC is now a National Historic Site. The recipe and process for Connemara was developed and refined in 2014.

Says cheesemaker and co-owner Jennifer Perkins, “I knew right away when I tasted the first batch of Connemara that this was going to be a very special cheese.”

Connemara, made from goat’s milk, is a firm, aged cheese that is salted in the vat before loading the curds into molds that are heavily pressed overnight before they are moved to the aging cave. The wheels are periodically turned as they age for two to three months. Connemara has a pure white paste and a creamy texture with real depth of flavor without an overpowering sense of the goat. The milk to produce the cheese comes from nearby Round Mountain Creamery which is the source for all the goat milk used in Looking Glass Creamery production.

Andy Perkins, co-owner and sales manager, says “We are proud to work with two small, local and independent dairy farms in the area that provide us with some of the best cheesemaking milk available. It takes good milk to make good cheese.”

Chef William Dissen features Connemara on the cheese plate at The Market Place Restaurant, a fixture of the Asheville restaurant scene since 1979.

Connemara is produced in small batches of 8 to 12 wheels at a time. It can be sampled and purchased at the cheese shop or ordered and shipped via the company’s website at www.ashevillecheese.com.