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Home > History > Press Release > LA Fair 2001 You can now buy our products via our new secure e-commerce portal. Buy Cheese Now!
LOS ANGELES COUNTY FAIR WITH A DOZEN MEDALS Hanford, Calif.-- Sept. 2001 - Farmstead cheese maker Fagundes Old-World Cheese was heaped with judges’ laurels at this year’s Los Angeles County Fair in September, walking away from the Dairy Products Judging Contest with 10 gold and two bronze medals. Fagundes’ gold medal winners included their own distinctive version of a traditional Portugese cheese, St. John, along with their flavored Portugese cheeses: St. John-Jalapeno, St. John-San Joaquin, and St. John-Santa Fe. The cheesemaker’s version of a Monterey Jack cheese, proudly dubbed Hanford Jack after the cheesemaker’s hometown of Hanford, Calif., was also bestowed with a gold medal as were the flavored versions: Hanford Jack-Jalapeno, Hanford Jack-San Joaquin, and Hanford Jack-Smoked. Fagundes Hispanic-style cheeses, marketed under the labels Maria’s Queso Fresco and Maria’s Panela, rounded out the list of gold medals the cheesemaker claimed. Hanford Jack Santa-Fe and Maria’s Cotija were honored with Bronze medals. These recent wins add to a growing list of recognition for Fagundes, which also took top honors in three categories at the 18th annual conference of the American Cheese Society conference last August in Louisville, Kentucky. At that prestigious competition, the California cow’s milk cheesemaker came home with first place awards for Hanford Jack, St. John and St John Santa-Fe. The farmstead cheesemaker vied for the awards against 84 other American Cheesemakers. While the Fagundes’ family dairy was established in 1916, the cheesemaker is relatively new to farmstead cheesemaking, beginning its cheesemaking operation in 1999. The cheesemaker is among a select group of nine California Farmstead cheesemakers who make cheeses with milk exclusively from the farm’s own herd. "We are thrilled that our cheeses are being recognized as some of the best in North America," said John Fagundes of the honors. "It's especially gratifying since we're relatively new to the cheese making business." Farmstead cheese is made on the farm where the milk is produced. Only a small percentage of the approximately 1.5 billion pounds of milk cheese California produced last year came from farmstead producers. The California Milk Advisory Board (CMAB) reported that handcrafted farmstead cheese is increasingly sought after by chefs, specialty retailers and cheese connoisseurs in California and across the country. Artisan cheese, or specialty cheese, is high-quality, handcrafted cheese make in small quantities. There are 60 specialty cheese producers in California, among them the nine farmstead producers. Upscale restaurants are supporting the efforts of California’s specialty and farmstead cheesemakers by offering cheese courses on their menus. According to a recent CMAB poll, two-thirds of the state’s trend setting restaurants offer a cheese course - compared to only ten percent five years ago. Nancy Fletcher of the CMAB said that a renaissance is happening in the farmstead cheese industry across the country, with California leading the way. "The goal of the CMAB six years ago was to work with this segment of the industry", Fletcher said. "Six years ago, the state had only 70 styles and varieties of cheese - now it has 160", she continued.
John Fagundes IV is the chief creator of numerous cheese varieties made just a half mile from the family's dairy herd. The milk used to make these specialty cheeses is so fresh it's still warm from the cows. Fagundes takes milk from a selected string of cows within his herd and uses only their morning milk to make the cheese. He believes the cows are less stressed in the morning which improves the quality of the milk. "When we make cheese, the milk is only minutes from the cow," he
says. "The advantage is knowing the health of our cows and using the best
milk possible. The best milk comes from cows in the middle of their lactation
which gives us higher protein and fat ratios that are better for cheese making.
This ensures better tasting cheese. The way cheese was meant to taste." Our St. John cheese, he explains, is made from raw milk and aged for 60 days
which equals the safety of pasteurization without destroying the good enzymes or
flavorides during that process. An added plus, to making cheese from their own
cows' milk is knowing exactly what they have been fed. He can also state
unequivocally that the milk contains no artificial hormones, rBST/BGH or
preservatives, something that large cheese factories have no control over.
Fagundes makes cheese the same way most European cheese is created. Fagundes graduated from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo in 1976. In 1999, he
attended a California Milk Advisory Board seminar on making and selling
traditional farmstead cheese. Determined to diversify his marketing strategies,
he went back to school to learn the art of cheese making.. Fagundes enrolled in
various cheese making courses at Cal Poly and University of California, Davis to
acquire the basics of making cheese. To further his education and master the art
of creating fine cheese, Fagundes visited other farmstead cheese makers locally
and in the Azores. He gained critical first hand experience as he made cheese
side by side with them. Making old world style cheese is, in a sense, returning Fagundes to his roots. Years ago members of his family made cheese in a similar fashion on the small island of Sao Jorge in the Azores. ### |
