WHEN the UK Cheese Guild needed an expert eye to judge its world awards, it looked to Minehead and asked Lorraine David.
And last weekend, Lorraine went to the HTV Festival of Fine Food and Drink 2000 to perform the task.
The competition attracted more than 1,000 entries and became the largest cheese delicatessen ever assembled under one roof.
Lorraine, of Jenny's Deli, in Park Street, was on a panel of judges that awarded the World Supreme Champion Cheese to West Country farmer Simon Clapp.
Although she has worked at her mother Jenny David's shop "forever" and holds a cheese diploma, Lorraine was surprised to be asked: "And I was very nervous beforehand, terrified in fact. It was like waiting for an exam.
"But the other judges on the panel were all much more important than me and it was really interesting. In fact, someone there asked me if I'd help with grading, so something else may have come of it."
Now she encourages her sons, eight-year-old Reg, Alfie, aged seven, and Robbie, five, never to miss an opportunity to taste something new "even if it's with their eyes closed".
Simon, of Brue Valley Farms, near Glastonbury, won the top accolade for his mature block Cheddar and he also won the trophy for the best Cheddar in the show and the 'best cheese in show' award.
His winning cheese has been bought by the David family to be sold at Jenny's Deli and on the delicatessen counter at their new shop in Taunton.
The cheese was auctioned at a dinner after the contest: "I was determined to have that cheese for the deli. I was like a spoiled brat about it, but it was the champion cheese and I really had to have it," said Lorraine.
She is pictured with Simon at Jenny's Deli where the supreme cheese was given its first public tasting in West Somerset on Wednesday.
The festival built on the success of the London International Cheese Competition and was sponsored by Italian cheese producer Galani UK in association with Pilgrim's Choice and West Country Farmhouse Cheesemakers.
Photo: Steve Guscott.