Which country is top of the list for cheese producers by volume worldwide? Not Switzerland, not France and not Italy either, but the USA. Makes sense, seen its size. However, who is number two and ranks as number one for cheese exports worldwide? Germany! Which makes it utterly frustrating how difficult it is to find good German cheese abroad. One reliable exception is Cambozola, a real feat of dairy technology from Bavarian Allgäu, that manages to coax blue penicillium cultures to flourish in opulent creaminess covered with a bloomy white rind, combining Camembert’s mild acidity with the sweet savouriness of Gorgonzola dolce. Reliable, and yes, yummy – but not overly exciting, and by no means artisanal.

Fortunately things have changed for the better during the last years, at least in the top cheese counters (a development driven to a large extent by the Kaeskuche team – but that’s a different story). Interestingly enough the best known and arguably most successful is once again a blue cheese from the Allgäu. Chiriboga Blue is made from raw cow’s milk, more buttery than creamy, dense and sweet, with a gorgeous, lively acidity. Its shape and size mimic Roquefort – but it’s soooo different. There’s just one drawback: in Germany, until quite recently, it was nowhere to be found, as demand in the US alone gobbled up most of its entire production. But due to the global political upheavals of the last months on one hand and the building of a new cheesemaking facility on the other, we’re finally able – hooray! – to partake in its deliciousness, utterly spoonable, similar to rich ice cream, and yet the opposite of junky boredom.