The cheese, called Europa, was made at Arethusa Farm in Bantam. It went against over 2,200 other cheese entries from dairy farmers and cheese makers across the nation at the Green Bay, Wis. competition held on Feb. 21 – Feb. 23. After two days of competing, Europa was announced as the top cheese of the year.
According to the Arethusa website, the Europa Gouda is aged six to 12 months and is the farm’s take on the classic Dutch cheese. The cheese has “wispy” notes of butterscotch and toasted nuts and melts well on things like burgers and soups.
One of the judges told the Green Bay Press Gazette the Europa Gouda “just brought it. It tasted amazing this week.”
The cheese scored a 98.739 out of 100, a score not even two tenths higher than the first runner-up from Appleton, Wis. The contest, which has been around since 1981, is hosted by the Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association every two years.
Sheryl Shaker
Arethusa Farm has been a dairy farm and Connecticut establishment since 1869 when the Webster Family acquired farmland in the Litchfield hills and used it to make and deliver dairy products to local residents. In 1999, the farm was purchased by George Malkemus and Anthony Yurgaitis, president and vice president of Manolo Blahnik shoe company, who agreed to keep the name of the farm Arethusa after taking over ownership. Malkemus passed away in 2021 after a battle with a long illness.
Since then, Arethusa Farm has expanded its offerings and the farm. In addition to this year’s Gouda win, the farm has won numerous awards at other national and international cheese competitions. Arethusa has also gained popularity for its ice cream made fresh daily with milk from the Litchfield farm.
The team at Arethusa also has several other businesses such as its cheese store in New Haven, Arethusa Farm Dairy and Cafe in West Hartford, Arethusa al tavolo restaurant and Arethusa a mano cafe.
