The newly unveiled cheese sculpture in the Purdue Ag/Hort building at the Indiana State Fair is “Undeniably Dairy.” But it can be hard to believe it’s cheese when you look at all the detail. But piece by piece over the last week Sarah Kaufmann said the cheese masterpiece came alive.
“There’s lots of little detail to keep people watching and looking and discovering different dairy products like milk, and yogurt, and string cheese and butter, and chocolate milk, and 
pepper jack, and pizza, and five flavors of ice cream,” Kaufmann told HAT.
It’s all in her newest creation, and this year’s is one of her favorites since starting the adventure with American Dairy Association, Indiana in 2006.
“You know, I really do like this one. As I’m carving into these huge 640-pound blocks for hours and hours and all of a sudden, the nose shows up. Then I find the eyes. Then I start adding the detail, then it starts coming alive.”
Deb Osza, General Manager at ADA Indiana, tells HAT they’ll thrilled to have the talented cheese artist return each year.
“We are charmed and delighted by the cheese sculptures that she produces on our behalf, and she has hit the ball out of the park this year. Our national theme this year is Undeniably Dairy and that’s the way we want to reconnect people with dairy and remind them how wonderful dairy foods are and how much fun you can have with dairy. And I think she’s captured it.”
Osza says this year the sculpture really is her new favorite.
She has been leading another Indiana State Fair favorite for three decades now, the Dairy Bar. It’s open for business and doing a brisk business again this year, serving milkshakes, ice cream, yogurt, grilled cheese sandwiches, and your basic “ice cold milk. And people love it! Nothing tastes better than ice cold milk and we serve chocolate or white and you can get a refill for 25 cents, and we fill baby bottles and sippy cups for free.”
The cheese sculpture unveiling was Friday at noon, right in the middle of Cheese Day at the Indiana State Fair. It remains on display through the rest of this year’s fair.
Learn more about the Dairy Bar and the Cheese Sculpture endeavors of ADA Indiana in the full HAT interview with Deb:Deb-Osza-at-IN-State-Fair