Gouda cheese

Gouda (/ˈɡaʊdə/ (listen); Dutch pronunciation: [ˈɣʌudaː] (listen); Dutch: Goudse kaas, "cheese from Gouda") is a mild-flavored, yellow cow's milk cheese originating from the Netherlands.[1] It is one of the most popular cheeses worldwide. The name is used today as a general term for numerous similar cheeses produced in the traditional Dutch manner.[2]

Gouda
Three-year-old Gouda
Country of originNetherlands
RegionSouth Holland
TownGouda
Source of milkCows
PasteurisedPossibly
TextureSemi-hard to hard
Aging time1–36 months
Named afterGouda
Related media on Wikimedia Commons

History
Rounds of Gouda cheese at a Dutch cheese market in Gouda, South Holland

The first mention of Gouda cheese dates from 1184, making it one of the oldest recorded cheeses in the world still made today.[3] Cheesemaking traditionally was a woman's task in Dutch culture, with farmers' wives passing their cheesemaking skills on to their daughters. During summer months in the city of Gouda, South Holland, there is a cheese market in traditional style once a week primarily as tourist attraction. Most Dutch Gouda is now produced industrially. However, some 300 Dutch farmers still produce boerenkaas (“farmer's cheese”) which is a protected form of Gouda made in the traditional manner, using unpasteurized milk.

The cheese is named after the city of Gouda, not because it was produced in or around that city, but because it was traded there.[4] In the Middle Ages, Dutch cities could obtain certain feudal rights which gave them primacy or a total monopoly on certain goods. Within the County of Holland, Gouda acquired market rights on cheese, the sole right to have a market in which the county's farmers could sell their cheese. All the cheeses would be taken to the market square in Gouda to be sold. Teams consisting of the guild of cheese-porters, identified by distinct differently colored straw hats, carried the farmers' cheeses, which typically weighed about 16 kg (35 lb), in barrows. Buyers then sampled the cheeses and negotiated a price using a ritual bargaining system called handjeklap in which buyers and sellers clap each other's hands and shout out prices. Once a price was agreed upon, the porters would carry the cheese to the weighing house and complete the sale.[5]

Process
Smoked Gouda

Various sources suggest that the term Gouda refers more to a general style of cheesemaking rather than to a specific kind of cheese, pointing to its taste, which varies with age.[6] Young (and factory-produced) Gouda has been described as having a flavor that is "lightly fudgy with nuts, but very, very, very mild", while the same source describes a more mature farmhouse Gouda as having a "lovely fruity tang" with a "sweet finish", that may take on "an almost butterscotch flavor" if aged over two years.[7]

After cultured milk is curdled, some of the whey is then drained and water is added. This is called "washing the curd", and creates a sweeter cheese, as the washing removes some of the lactose, resulting in a reduction of lactic acid produced.[8] About 10% of the mixture is curds, which are pressed into circular molds for several hours. These molds are the essential reason behind its traditional, characteristic shape. The cheese is then soaked in a brine solution, which gives the cheese and its rind a distinctive taste.[9]

The cheese is dried for a few days before being coated with a yellow plastic[10] coating to prevent it from drying out, then it is aged, during which process the cheese changes from semi-hard to hard. Dutch cheese makers generally use six gradations, or categories, to classify the cheese:

  1. Young cheese (4 weeks)
  2. Young matured (8–10 weeks)
  3. Matured (16–18 weeks)
  4. Extra matured (7–9 months)
  5. Old cheese (10–12 months)
  6. Very old cheese (12 months and more)

As it ages, it develops a caramel sweetness and has a slight crunchiness from cheese crystals, especially in older cheeses. In the Netherlands, cubes of Gouda are often eaten as a snack served with Dutch mustard. Older varieties are sometimes topped with sugar or apple butter. Cubes of old and very old Gouda are eaten alongside strong beers or with port wine.

Protection

The term "Gouda" is not restricted to cheese of Dutch origin.[11] However, “Boerenkaas”, “Noord-Hollandse Gouda”, and “Gouda Holland” are protected geographical indication in the EU.[12][13] These cheeses can only be made in the Netherlands (although not only in the Dutch provinces of South Holland, in which Gouda is situated) and can only use milk produced by Dutch cows.[14][15]

See also

References
  1. "Gouda noun". Merriam-Webster. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
  2. "European commission confirms protection for Gouda Holland". DutchNews.NL. 7 October 2010. Retrieved 7 October 2010.
  3. "Geschichte des Käses". de:Centrale Marketing-Gesellschaft der deutschen Agrarwirtschaft mbH (CMA). Archived from the original on 13 June 2006.
  4. "Gouda | cheese". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 7 June 2018.
  5. Alkmaar cheese market - Cheese Bargaining. kaasmarkt.nl; nl:Vereniging voor Vreemdelingenverkeer (VVV), NL.
  6. "Gouda". Cheese.com. Retrieved 14 August 2014.
  7. Ridgway, Judy (2002). The Cheese Companion: The Connoisseur's Guide (2nd ed.). Apple. p. 103. ISBN 1840923393. Retrieved 9 December 2017.
  8. "Gouda: Making the Cheese". New England Cheesemaking Supply Company. Retrieved 14 August 2014.
  9. "Frisian Farms Small Batch Gouda: Our Process". Archived from the original on 1 March 2015. Retrieved 14 August 2014.
  10. Gouda Cheese, ScienceDirect
  11. "Kwaliteit Goudse kaas brokkelt af". Nieuwsblad.be (in Dutch). Brussels. Archived from the original on 30 May 2012. Retrieved 11 December 2007.
  12. "COMMISSION REGULATION (EU) No 1122/2010 of 2 December 2010 - entering a designation in the register of protected designations of origin and protected geographical indications (Gouda Holland (PGI))". Official Journal of the European Union.
  13. "Noord-Hollandse Gouda". Agriculture Quality Policy. European Commission. Archived from the original on 3 March 2008. Retrieved 11 December 2007.
  14. "Gouda Holland, Edam Holland to get protected status". DutchNews.nl. 14 September 2010. Retrieved 14 November 2013.
  15. "Dutch cheeses Edam Holland and Gouda Holland granted protected status | Press release". Government.nl. 8 October 2010. Retrieved 14 November 2013.
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