The making of a cheese from Wisconsin that has been named the best in the world

Consider the best cheese in the world. It's safe to assume you're thinking of something creamy and tough to pronounce from France. A slab hailing from Wisconsin would probably be a lot further down the list. But that is exactly where the Roth Grand Cru Surchoix, recently named one of the world’s best cheeses, is from.  At the 2016 World Cheese Championships, the Alpine-style cheese was named Best in Show. This marked the first time a cheese from the US had won the prize since 1988. The judges scored it 98.8 out of 100, and described the Gruyere-like offering as “perfect”. Other highly-ranked cheese included the Sennerie Spluegen from Switzerland, and Whitestone Cheese Co from New Zealand.  This might be a shock to those who instantly picture neon-yellow slices for burgers when they think of American cheese, but less so to the people if Wisconsin. After all, the Midwestern state creates more than three billion pounds of cheese each year across 600 varieties.Roth has been perfecting its Grand Cru Surchoix for more than 25 years, but tweaked it in 2013. Still, all that goes into the award-winning cheese is pasteurised cultured milk and salt, enzymes.