Well it’s a first for oddball Britain – yes it’s the smelly competition for cheese, and the winner is – drum roll please – the aptly named Stinking Bishop.
And what better place to hold the Britain’s Smelliest Cheese Championships than in Shepton, Somerset at The Royal Bath and West Show.
The smelly winner, Stinking Bishop, which is proudly made by Charles Martell of Martell and Son in Gloucestershire, which floored the judges, who compared it to the foul odour one might find being omitted from a rugby changing room.
On the crack panel of judges were Chris Rundle – a food and drink journalist from the West country, as well as Alec Lawless – the perfumier owner of Essentially Me natural perfumes.
In addition to the experts, also on the panel were two young nippers, aged 10 and 11 from Well Cathedral School, who were chosen due to their superb sense of smell.
On the Chair of the judging panel was Tim Rowcliffe, of Antony Rowcliffe speciality cheeses, who said, “The cheeses were all fantastically smelly but Stinking Bishop absolutely knocked us out.”
Stinking Bishop is created by being washed in a Gloucestershire perry which is made from a type of pear known as Stinking Bishop.
The strange sounding fruit got its name from a farmer known to be a bit of an alcoholic, who is infamous for shooting his kettle because he couldn’t be bothered to wait for it to boil.
Mr Martell said, “I’m thrilled and surprised to win.
“I hope more people will get into eating more speciality cheeses because there are so many in Britain - more than in France.”
Mike Pullin, chair of the Dairy Produce Awards and organiser of the championships said, “This has been a brilliant opportunity to show off the creativity of British cheese-makers.
“We’ve also successfully proved that British speciality cheeses can give the French a run for their money.”
