American makes history by winning one of France’s top cheese competitions

By Lilit Marcus, CNN

(CNN) — When Emilia D’Albero heard her name called, she started crying.

She had just become the first ever American to win the Mondial du Fromage, a biennial event held in France and known in English as the Cheesemonger World Cup.

While some onlookers believe that D’Albero’s victory could change the way that European cheesemongers think about their counterparts across the pond, she had her own hope: that Americans will stop thinking of cheesemongers as just people who hand out free samples at grocery stores.

“At its core, the definition of a cheesemonger is a person who participates in the sale of cheese, butter, and other dairy products,” D’Albero told CNN. But the job also involves “being a storyteller, and educating people about being responsible consumers. It’s definitely skilled labor.”

She added: “In Europe this is a well-respected profession, but in the US they think we work behind a deli counter.”

Contestants at the Mondial du Fromage, which is held in the city of Tours, southwest of Paris, compete in nine events.

Among the challenges are blind tasting, cutting a specific amount of cheese from a wheel without measuring tools, an oral presentation, and a written test with questions that can border on the esoteric — such as recognizing a breed of goat from its photo and knowing which cheeses its milk can produce.

For the final round, contestants must create a 3-D cheese sculpture. D’Albero’s depicted the phases of the moon.

Winning the gold medal and the €2,500 ($2,900) prize on September 15 was a thrilling moment for D’Albero, who began her career at the original New York City outpost of Italian food emporium Eataly.

Now based in Philadelphia, she is the sales and marketing manager for a company that supplies cheese paper and packaging products.

But she said that the bigger victory is what this could mean for the American food industry.

This year was the first time that Team USA opted to send two women as their representatives. Both women landed on the podium, with American Courtney Johnson also winning the bronze. French cheesemonger Matthieu Thuillier was awarded silver.

D’Albero hopes that the coverage of the Mondial du Fromage and her win there will get more Americans interested in visiting their neighborhood cheese store and trying new things.

“I want people to know is that cheese is for everyone,” she said. “It was invented by the working class to nourish their bodies. It’s not just for fancy people, it’s something that everyone can enjoy. A good cheesemonger will never make you feel unwelcome.”

To celebrate their achievements, D’Albero, Johnson, and their partners hit the road, traveling around France and Italy to sample as many cheeses as possible.

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