When the winners of the 2025 Mondial du Fromage — the so-called “Cheese Olympics” — have been introduced in Excursions, France, historical past was made. Emilia D’Albero of Formaticum, a Brooklyn-based firm that makes a speciality of cheese instruments and paper, took first place, changing into the primary American ever to earn the title of world’s finest cheesemonger. Courtney Johnson, proprietor of Seattle’s Avenue Cheese, positioned third. France’s Matthieu Thuillier landed in second.

For D’Albero, the respect was each surreal and hard-won. “It by no means appeared accessible to me till the day I walked into the exposition middle,” she says. “I spent 10 months making ready, however not as a result of I needed to win — I simply didn’t need to embarrass myself. I needed to characterize our business and our nation as finest I might.”

Falling into cheese

Like many within the business, D’Albero didn’t got down to be a cheesemonger. As a child, her favourite snack was Jarlsberg. Whereas learning Italian in faculty, she grew to become fascinated by the tradition and historical past behind meals. After graduating, she joined Eataly in New York, the place she labored in occasions and schooling, sitting in on a whole lot of culinary courses.

“Those I cherished most have been all the time the cheese tastings,” D’Albero remembers. “I needed to discover ways to do a craft. By far, it was cheese. So I left the company workplace and acquired a job behind the Eataly cheese counter.” That counter was one of many largest within the New York space — a whole lot of cheeses, a baptism by fireplace. “I began from scratch. I tasted always, took notes, learn books, watched YouTube movies. I simply tried to study as a lot as I presumably might, as rapidly as I might.”

The encyclopedia in a cheesemonger’s mind

Being a cheesemonger means constructing a psychological library of hundreds of cheeses — their flavors, textures, seasons, and tales. “The primary time I attempted Taleggio, I hated it. However then I made myself style it many times, with each batch, and I began craving it,” D’Albero says. She nonetheless retains notebooks of tasting notes.

That data is important to guiding clients. However an excessive amount of enthusiasm can backfire. “There’s this hump it’s a must to recover from,” she says. “At first, you need to info-dump the whole lot you’ve discovered. However most clients don’t need a lecture. They need to know what it tastes like. Assembly them the place they’re at is the largest lesson. On the finish of the day, you’re making an attempt to get cheese within the basket.”

Efficiency, gross sales, and storytelling

D’Albero sees cheesemongering as half efficiency artwork. “I’ve this principle that a whole lot of cheesemongers come from a theater background. There’s positively a efficiency factor — it’s a must to join with folks, make them excited, construct belief. Some clients admire your ardour. Others simply need a piece of cheese reduce rapidly. You study to learn the room.”

Salesmanship is greater than persuasion; it’s additionally generosity. “I by no means need to be the neatest particular person within the room. I really like surrounding myself with individuals who can problem me, who can educate me one thing. And while you obtain these issues, don’t pull the ladder up behind you — assist the folks developing behind you.”

The bodily actuality: heavy wheels, sharp wires, infinite cleansing

For all of the romance, a lot of cheesemongering is grueling bodily work. “Undoubtedly extra guide labor than I anticipated,” D’Albero says. At Eataly, shows of Piave wheels have been stacked 14 excessive. “I needed to stand on a ladder to be above the cheese.” Correct knife and wire methods stop harm, however errors imply sore backs, rotator cuff ache, or worse. “It’s not for the faint of coronary heart.”

Then there’s the cleansing. “Each time I employed a brand new monger, I’d inform them: 50 % of this job is cleansing,” displays D’Albero. Retaining the counter clear, organized, and mouth-watering is the primary job.

Competing on the world stage

D’Albero’s aggressive streak drew her into cheesemonger competitions, beginning with the Cheesemonger Invitational in 2018. “I walked in and instantly thought, Oh my God, these are my folks. They love cheese; they’re slightly bizarre. I’d by no means felt extra accepted.”

By 2021, she positioned second, and this yr, after months of coaching alongside her associate (additionally a cheesemonger), she shocked even herself by taking gold at Mondial. “Thoughts-blowing, surreal,” she says. “I didn’t assume I’d make the rostrum. Once they mentioned my title, I used to be shell-shocked.”

For her, the win is about greater than private glory. “Cheesemongers need to be within the highlight. We need to be acknowledged for the work we do each day. If I’ve to be the particular person to exit and say, ‘Pay your cheesemongers extra, be good to your cheesemongers,’ I’m pleased to do this. Placing cheese first is what issues.”