Asheville businesses bring home 2015 Good Food Awards

SAY CHEESE: Jennifer Perkins, co-owner of Looking Glass Creamery, in her cheese-making facility in Fairview. The creamery's Connemara cheese won a 2015 Good Food Award. Xpress file photo

Three Asheville food companies received national recognition last week when they snagged 2015 Good Food Awards for their products. Looking Glass Creamery of Fairview was honored for its Connemara goat cheese, and in the chocolate category, Black Mountain Chocolate received recognition for its Mountain Milk Bar, and French Broad Chocolates was honored for its 68-percent cacao Nicaraguan chocolate bar.

The products were among 130 U.S. food and beverage items to be selected for the award this year. Looking Glass Creamery had the only North Carolina cheese product to win an award.

Looking Glass makes its Connemara cheese from goat’s milk sourced from Round Mountain Creamery in Black Mountain. It is a firm cheese that is aged for two to three months. The cheese was named after the Flat Rock farmstead of poet Carl Sandaburg in honor of his wife, Lilian “Paula” Sandburg, a pioneer in the world of dairy goats.

The Mountain Milk Bar, also made with goat milk, is Black Mountain Chocolate’s first milk chocolate bar. With 53 percent cacao, it swings to the darker side of the milk-chocolate spectrum.

French Broad Chocolates’ winning product is its 68-percent cacao bar made with certified organic cane sugar and single-origin cacao beans sourced in Matagalpa, Nicaragua.

Now in its fifth year, the Good Food Awards were created through a collaboration of food producers, farmers, food journalists and independent grocers organized by Seedling Projects. The team nominates expert judges from across the country to choose more than 100 winners from five regions of the country in multiple categories ranging from beer to pickles. This year’s winners were honored at a ceremony held in the Palace of Fine Arts Theater in San Francisco on Thursday, Jan. 8. The winning foods were presented for sampling at the event.

SHARE

Thanks for reading through to the end…

We share your inclination to get the whole story. For the past 25 years, Xpress has been committed to in-depth, balanced reporting about the greater Asheville area. We want everyone to have access to our stories. That’s a big part of why we've never charged for the paper or put up a paywall.

We’re pretty sure that you know journalism faces big challenges these days. Advertising no longer pays the whole cost. Media outlets around the country are asking their readers to chip in. Xpress needs help, too. We hope you’ll consider signing up to be a member of Xpress. For as little as $5 a month — the cost of a craft beer or kombucha — you can help keep local journalism strong. It only takes a moment.

Before you comment

The comments section is here to provide a platform for civil dialogue on the issues we face together as a local community. Xpress is committed to offering this platform for all voices, but when the tone of the discussion gets nasty or strays off topic, we believe many people choose not to participate. Xpress editors are determined to moderate comments to ensure a constructive interchange is maintained. All comments judged not to be in keeping with the spirit of civil discourse will be removed and repeat violators will be banned. See here for our terms of service. Thank you for being part of this effort to promote respectful discussion.

Leave a Reply

To leave a reply you may Login with your Mountain Xpress account, connect socially or enter your name and e-mail. Your e-mail address will not be published. All fields are required.