TV cheesemakers celebrate SA quality

The awards drew a record 284 entries from across Australia.

The Chesworths were among the most popular contestants on the recent TV series My Kitchen Rules, and were known on the show as 'Mr and Mrs Cheese'.

They drew plenty of attention for the three-course cheese dinner they produced as part of the show. It featured goat cheese croquettes, steak with blue cheese sauce and raspberry, and white chocolate cheesecake.

Jason said it was a pleasure to visit Adelaide and take part in the judging.

"I've been judging dairy cows almost all my life, but I've never judged dairy products, so this is a first for me," he said.

"I was 12 when I entered my first country show."

The Chesworths have also entered dairy judging with their own Hunter Belle products, their Herb & Garlic Fetabelle winning three silver medals in 2012, 2013 and 2014 at the Royal Sydney Dairy Show.

They say the quality of the dairy products judged for the SA Dairy Awards was excellent.

Annie says an unsalted butter she tasted as part of the judging particularly impressed her.

The Chesworths are no strangers to the highs-and-lows of the dairy industry.

Jason is a seventh-generation dairyfarmer. The 2007 drought may have pushed the operation to the brink, but a love of dairying took them in a new direction.

In 2008, they bought the already established cheese operation Hunter Belle Cheese.

The business produces excellent artisan cheese products from the milk of Brown Swiss cows, and all the cheese at Hunter Belle is hand-made using traditional methods.

In 2010, the Hunter Belle Cafe was opened. This gave the business an opportunity to showcase their cheese in a cafe menu, and enabled them to start educating the public about the dairy industry.

The winners of the SA Dairy Awards will be announced at the SA Dairy Awards Gala Dinner at the Ridley Pavilion, Adelaide Showground, on Thursday, August 7, which the Chesworths will attend.

* Full report in Stock Journal, July 31, 2014 issue.