Named after the city it hails from Gouda, Gouda cheese is one of the most popular cheese in the world (taking about 50-60% consumption of cheese). It’s a sweet and creamy cheese with a pale yellow hue. Typically made from cow or sheep milk, Gouda is a semi-hard cheese. Here’s a little trivia about semi-hard cheese; they have been aged longer than soft cheese and are packed into a mould under pressure to give it a rigid shape. That’s why you’d see pockets of air when cutting into a hard cheese.
Since the name is not protected, the cheese can be sold and produced anywhere. But real Gouda is dutch and the locals in Netherland call Gouda ‘How-da’. But there are other varieties available on the market. Graskaas, a young Gouda is consumed just weeks after production. Then there is Overjarig cheese which is extremely aged, so it has much more well-developed flavours and crackly and stark yellow crust. Jong Jong belegen, Oud, Belegen, and Extra belegen are other varieties you can get your hands on which tend to be between Graskaas and Overjarig in terms of maturity.
Since gouda has many varieties, it is quite hard to generalise their taste. But most people think Gouda has a pungent scent but has a sweet and nutty flavour. While the smell might off put you, the taste is quite pleasant and mild.
You might notice specs of white on cheeses like Gouda that is an indication that the cheese is long aged. In fact, those white specs are salt crystals.
How to store Gouda?
Gouda has live bacteria in it, so loosely cover it with plastic wrap so as to not kill the live culture in it. It holds well in the fridge for 2-3 weeks but we recommend not putting it in the freezer.
