Why Dutch cheese?!

My last short trip to Amsterdam included a tour to Henri Willig's famous cheese farm in the countryside. Henry Willig is one of the Dutch Gouda cheese producers. There in the farm, we were given short presentation about how they make the cheese, and we got cheese-tasting session afterwards; simply delicious! Not to mention that I end up buying more than kilo of their cheeses. Correct percentage of fat inside, long historical experience in cheese making makes Dutch cheeses one of the best in the world. It was shipped abroad even during the Middle Ages.

How is it made?
Well, I don't really remember the details of cheese making story, but here what Wikipedia says about preparing Gouda cheese from cow's milk (there are other types of cheeses made from goat's and sheep's milk as well);

The cheese is made from cow's milk that is cultured and heated until the curd is separate from the whey. 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 lactic acid. About ten percent of the mixture is curds which are pressed into circular moulds for several hours. These molds are the essential reason behind its traditional, characteristic circular shape. The cheese is then soaked in a brine solution which gives the cheese its rind and distinctive taste. The cheese is then dried for a couple of days before being coated with wax to prevent it from drying out, then it is aged, depending on age classification, for a number of weeks to over 7 years before it is ready to be eaten. As it ages it develops a caramel sweetness and sometimes has a slight crunchiness from protein crystals that form in older cheese.

Exported Gouda is usually the young variety (aged between 1 and 6 months, rich yellow in color and with a red or yellow paraffin wax coating). This cheese is easily sliced with a cheese slicer. Exported Gouda has a pungent underlying bitterness, yet is still considerably creamier than other common cheeses, such as cheddar cheese or Edam cheese. Locally, old Gouda (aged between 12 and 18 months, orange-yellow in color and sometimes discernible by a black paraffin wax coating) can be obtained. This strong tasting cheese is hard and often too brittle to cut using a slicer, but it can be sliced by knife or served cut in cubes, with drinks. Smoked gouda which is a processed cheese and Leyden cheese are also popular variations.

Dutch cheese types;

I am not a cheese expert, so I'll write nothing that I already know myself. But I did find some interesting web-site during the preparation for this trip. So here's a one source of info for Dutch cheese types. Briefly;

The ages:
New > matured for 4 weeks
Semi-matured > matured for 8 weeks
Matured > matured for 4 months
Extra matured > matured for 7 months
Fully mature cheese > matured for 10 months
Very aged > matured for 1 year or longer

Types of cheese:
+ Gouda cheese
+ Edam cheese
+ Dutch cheese with holes
+ Frisian clove cheese
+ Herb cheese
+ Goat’s and sheep’s cheese
+ Smoked cheese

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