On August 8th, Wisconsin made history by creating the World’s Largest Cheeseboard, setting a new Guinness World Record. The gigantic platter, which occupied more than an entire street of downtown Madison, overflowed with 4,437 pounds of Wisconsin cheese, smashing the previous (European) record by over 1,000 pounds. Sadly, the Culture staff was unable to make the event, so we must all live vicariously through these pictures.
2,000 pound mammoth wheel of Henning’s cheddar.
The cheeseboard measured 35 feet long by 7 feet wide and held 145 different varieties of cheese from the Dairy State. The Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin even brought an enormous 2,000 pound mammoth wheel of cheddar to serve as the grand centerpiece. “We wanted to showcase the amazing breadth of the award-winning cheeses in Wisconsin and we thought, what better way to do that than to create the world’s largest cheeseboard?” says Suzanne Fanning, Vice President of Marketing Communications for the Dairy Farmers.
Chad Vincent and Suzanne Fanning of the Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin.
The assembly was an impressive feat: The gigantic cheeseboard was custom-made to fit inside a life-size, digitally fabricated barn using CNC technology, a computerized process that’s a cross between woodcutting and 3-D printing. It was a true team effort, too: Over 60 people came together to prep, transport, house, style, and weigh all of that cheese.
The crowd gathers for a feast.
While official judges assessed the weight of the board, a crowd of over 45,000 cheese lovers lined up to check it out and, of course, feast. The first 2,000 received a curated mini cheese plate to go, while others entered a raffle to win the full wheels of cheese displayed on the platter. Yeah, we’re jealous, too.
Don’t worry—no cheese went to waste in the making of this platter. All the remaining specimens were donated to the Second Harvest Foodbank of Southern Wisconsin, benefiting families in need.
We hope Wisconsin Cheese someday tries to beat its own record, because next time we’re road-tripping out to the Dairy State to get ourselves a piece, or wheel, of the action.
Photo Credit: Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin
Erika Kubick
Erika Kubick is culture's Social Media Editor. A monger-turned-preacher, she is devoted to turning on the next generation of cheese connoisseurs with seductive recipes, pairings, and enlightenment through her blog, Cheese Sex Death— a modern guide for cheese lovers.
