Fra Noi Embrace Your Inner Italian
Emilia D’Albero of Philadelphia became the first American to win at the Mondial du Fromage, one of the world’s top cheese competitions, held every two years in France. D’Albero earned the title of Meilleure Fromagère du Monde (Best Cheesemonger in the World) at this year’s event.
D’Albero’s love affair with cheese began at La Scuola di Eataly in New York City, where she worked in education and event planning, The Washington Post reported.
“When it came time for me to make a decision about what I was going to do next in my career, I decided I wanted to learn a craft and really learn a skill,” D’Albero, 31, told the newspaper. “I had watched so many lessons and really talented people in this cooking school, and I said, ‘Cheese is next for me.’”
The Mondial du Fromage featured multiple competition stages, such as a written exam, blind tasting, cutting without a scale and an oral presentation, which D’Albero centered around Parmigiano Reggiano, “the cheese that taught me that cheese can be an experience, rather than just an ingredient.”
“I was nervous they’d think it was too common,” she told the newspaper. “But some of the judges thanked me afterward for reminding them why it was special.”
The final stage included crafting a cheese plate, choosing pairings, performing a cold dish transformation (during which she created a dessert made with cheese), and a sculpture round in which she carved three mystery cheeses into the phases of the moon.
