Beenleigh students have turned a classroom cheese-making project into an Ekka win, taking first place with a mild, creamy blue cheese called Say Cheese.
Beenleigh State High School’s Team 7 won the Mould Ripened Cheese Blue class in the Royal Queensland Show’s Student Made Cheese Competition, with results announced on Friday 11 September.
Chief judge Russell Smith said the winning cheese delivered the qualities judges wanted.
“The cheese was mild and creamy, which is exactly the style we expect in this competition, with a good blue rind on the outside,” Mr Smith said.
The Beenleigh students finished ahead of St Aidan’s Anglican Girls’ School’s Say Cheese 2 and Dakabin State High School’s Bluey.
Their result was part of a strong response to this year’s student competitions, which attracted 255 entries from 26 schools across cheese-making and fermented beverages.
Cheese entries alone increased by 35% on the previous year.
Mr Smith said the standard was especially impressive given how infrequently the students made cheese.
“I’m always amazed by how the students, guided by their teachers, produce these cheeses just once a year, and the quality they have achieved over the past few years has been outstanding,” he said.
The competitions give students a practical way to apply agricultural science and food-technology lessons, with their finished products assessed by specialist judges.
Judging took place over three days in September, rather than during the Ekka’s main August show.
Tullawong State High School took first and second places in the white mould-ripened cheese class, while St Aidan’s claimed the champion fermented beverage award for a lime and mint kombucha.
For Beenleigh’s Team 7, the blue-cheese win puts their classroom work among the best entries produced by participating schools.
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