The El Llagar de Colloto restaurant, in Oviedo, has won the winning piece of the 51st Cabrales Cheese Contest for the fourth consecutive year, after disbursing 30,000 euros.
Iván Suárez, from the Llagar de Colloto, thus won the bid for the best Cabrales Cheese in the World, after having won that title for a piece made by Los Puertos Cheese Factory.
The establishment has been making the winning cheese in the last four years. In 2018 it paid 14,300 euros, 20,500 in 2019 and 17,000 euros in 2022. This year's cheese is the most expensive at the auction and achieves a new Guinness record, according to the organizers.
This edition has been an auction with a starting price of 3,000 euros and in which nine catering establishments from all over Spain participated: La Cabana (Oviedo), La Paloma (Oviedo), Casa Román (Gijón), La Montera Picona de Ramón (Gijón), the Hotel Restaurant Marqués de La Moral (Naveces, Castrillón), La Cuenca (Madrid), Carlos Tartiere (Madrid), the El Antoju Group (Madrid, Burgos and Llanes) and the Llagar de Colloto itself.
"The passion for the land and recognizing the work of all the cheese makers was what made me raise the bid," said Suárez after becoming the winner, who was "very happy to be part of this event and the global impact it has" .
"We knew that we had a good cheese, but also that it is very difficult to win," explained Guillermo Pendás Bada, maker of the winning cheese. A piece of cheese of approximately 2.2 kilos, made with cow's and goat's milk and matured for 10 months at 1,500 meters above sea level.
15% of those 30,000 euros disbursed by El Llagar de Colloto will go to the Galbán association for the fight against cancer. The prizes for the best cheese batch went to the Ángel Díaz Herrero cheese factory (Encarnación Bada), which won 3rd place; Arangas cheese factory (Andrea Fernández), who achieved 2nd place; and the Valfríu de Tielve cheese factory, which repeats as a winner in this category.
The individual prizes went to the Ángel Díaz Herrero cheese factory (Encarnación Bada), which achieved third place; Arangas cheese factory (Andrea Fernández), which was in second position; and Los Puertos cheese factory (Rosa Bada) as the winner.
