Cheese in Denmark
Katrine Kirk
Souris asked me, a long time ago, about cheeses in
Denmark. We do eat a lot of cheese, and most of it
is quite strongly flavoured compared to the selection
in a standard Midwestern supermarket. Even the "sharp"
cheeses of the supermarket-variety were about as mild
as the very mildest cheese we have in Denmark.
I don't know much about cheese, so it's difficult
for me to write anything remotely competent about it,
but I can describe some of the cheeses I personally know:
Danablu: a Danish blue cheese which is made by numerous
dairies. I buy an organic cheese which has a rounded,
mild taste which is similar to a gorgonzola, and I
prefer it by far over any gorgonzola I have tried.
It doesn't have a sharp aftertaste.
Danablu 60+ from Hoegelund Dairy in the Southwest of
Denmark won a worldwide cheese competition in Wisconsin
in 1994, beating Stilton and Gorgonzola.
Blaa saga: (Blue Saga) A cheese with a mix of white and and
blue fungus, it has a rich, creamy texture and a
good "bite" when properly ripe. *mmmm*
Havarti: I've seen this in the USA, and find it horrifying
to think that most Americans who try "Danish cheese"
will only taste this yellow semi-hard cheese with
a bland, buttery taste. If used on pizza, this cheese
separates into a thick cheese substance, and lots
of runny yellow liquid which seems to be pure butter.
Yuck! Havarti is recognized by its 4-inch-or-so dia-
meter cylindrical shape, a red casing, and a fine
pattern of little holes.
Castello: This is found in a "white" or "blue" variety, and
is very like a brie, but with a slightly more "round"
taste. It is rich and creamy, and eaten ripe in the
same way as brie.
Danbo: THE most popular cheese in Denmark, made by practically
every dairy and found in various degrees of aging, and
is available with caraway seeds. The medium-aged "Klovborg"
(a particular brand name) is among the best of the super-
market cheeses. In a cheese shop, I ask for "Them", which
has a golden foil wrapped around it. Danbo is a good cheese
for breakfast and sandwiches, and has a mild, rounded flavour.
The most popular ones have 45% fat in solids, but it is
available in 30% and 15 or 20% varieties also (but give me
a _thin_ slice of the richer cheese any day!)
Svenbo: Similar to Danbo, but slightly more of an Emmenthaler-flavour.
Emmenthaler: Denmark produces some imitation Emmenthaler, which is quite
good.
Gouda: Becoming increasingly popular, and recently Danish dairies
have begun to produce a local Gouda imitation.
Brie: The ever popular Brie has been copied in Denmark, but it
is my feeling that we tend to eat either imported French
Brie, or the Danish white Castello. Danish Brie doesn't
quite compare to the French. Imported cheeses aren't very
expensive, and it seems most supermarkets (and all cheese
shops) provide quite a selection of imports.
Feta: One dairy in Denmark produces most of Iran's Feta cheese.
Danish feta cheese is based on cow milk, and has become a
popular product in Denmark during the last 5-8 years. It
was virtually unknown here before then.
Rygeost: A regional specialty from the island of Fyn, rygeost is
a smoked cream cheese that many people find quite irresis-
tible. (I personally don't like it.)
Grubeost: A yellow cheese aged for up to a year deep in some chalk
mines in Northwestern Denmark. This cheese is only avail-
able in a few cheese shops in Copenhagen, but has a wonder-
ful, tangy deep flavour. It's a semi-hard yellow cheese.
Gamle Ole: Infamous. Hated and loved, this is a two-year old yellow
cheese which will scare your houseguests out of helping
themselves in your fridge! :-) Eaten as an openface sandwich
on rye bread spread with solidified pork fat and salt, Gamle
Ole has earned a smelly reputation as an oddity of Danish
cuisine. (The name Ole is a boy's name, and Gamle means
old.)
Most local communities have a specialty cheese shop, but in the
last ten years or so, many have disappeared. Supermarkets have
expanded their selections of cheese and seem to have won over a
large part of the market. (Sad, I think. I like going to my local
shop for a chat. A cheese that has been allowed to breathe properly
during storage tastes SO much better than the lumps of yellow stuff
which has sweated and suffocated in their plastic straightjackets in
the supermarkets.)
This is all I can think of right now. I hope someone found it inter-
esting! :-)
Katrine Kirk
k...@cbs.dk
ever...@sirius.com
(absolutely fantastic summary of Danish cheeses snipped, or grated...)
Thank you! I'm gonna have fun at the local cheese shop tomorrow! And you
have also forced me to revise my opinion of Danes in general, which had sunk
rather low after reading "Smilla's Sense of Snow".
Henry Hillbrath
>Souris asked me, a long time ago, about cheeses in
>Denmark.
I did, and I thank you very much for a wonderful job. May I have
permission to quote from this in the next revision of the cheese FAQ
(coming RSN, not that I have been flooded with input/requests.)
> We do eat a
lot of cheese,
That is very interesting, becase, from what I have read, when a few
Danes began producing cheese, in the mid 1800's, roughly the same time
that cheese production was really getting going in the U. S., it was
mainly for export, and there was almost no tradition of "native" Danish
cheese eating. >
>and most of it
>is quite strongly flavoured compared to the selection
>in a standard Midwestern supermarket. Even the "sharp"
>cheeses of the supermarket-variety were about as mild
>as the very mildest cheese we have in Denmark.
I expect that there are two problems here. One, I am concerned about
your cheese sources, because a truely "sharp" cheddar is strongly
flavored by anyones standards. And, two, "sharp" is a very special type
of "strong." An acid, biting, sort of taste, and sharp American cheddars
are as sharp as any cheeses I know of, certainly sharper than any Danish
cheese I know of, but "sharpness" is
one of the few strong tastes that one commonly finds in American cheese.
>I don't know much about cheese, so it's difficult
>for me to write anything remotely competent about it,
Well, your modesty is very becoming, but, your writting demonstrates that
you are not giving yourself enough credit.
I will write more detailed comments later.
souris
Jane
>
>Danablu: a Danish blue cheese which is made by numerous
> dairies. I buy an organic cheese which has a rounded,
> mild taste which is similar to a gorgonzola, and I
> prefer it by far over any gorgonzola I have tried.
> It doesn't have a sharp aftertaste.
We get this in our delicatessen section of the supermarket (no plastic jackets
and freshly cut) .... my hubby loves it.
>Blaa saga: (Blue Saga) A cheese with a mix of white and and
> blue fungus, it has a rich, creamy texture and a
> good "bite" when properly ripe. *mmmm*
He LOVES the sound of this!! I don't suppose you know of any Danish firms
mail-ordering to individuals do you? :)
Jane | ja...@enterprise.net
Enterprise PLC | http://www.enterprise.net
Katrine Kirk
: In article <403a6j$l...@news.uni-c.dk>, iq...@hp3.cbs.dk (Katrine Kirk) wrote:
: >
: >Blaa saga: (Blue Saga) A cheese with a mix of white and and
: > blue fungus, it has a rich, creamy texture and a
: > good "bite" when properly ripe. *mmmm*
: He LOVES the sound of this!! I don't suppose you know of any Danish firms
: mail-ordering to individuals do you? :)
No, I don't. Denmark is not "big" on mail-ordering at all. I would
think a good cheese shop would have it, though, because MD Foods (a
large cooperative of Danish dairies) writes in their annual report
from 1993/94 that this cheese is exported to 13 countries.
Good luck in the hunt! :-)
Incidentally, I've also tried a "Blue Brie" recently. I must admit
I get confused by a term like that, though, because it tasted so
similar to the Blue Castello, which is also a soft creamy and rela-
tively mild blue cheese. I mean... what distinguishes a "Brie" from
other cheeses? The specific mold used to culture it? A particular
treatment process? If so, it seems odd that a Blue Brie is still a
Brie and not just another blue cheese.
Souris - could you cast a little light on this?
Katrine Kirk
k...@cbs.dk
Henry Hillbrath
>In article <403a6j$l...@news.uni-c.dk>, iq...@hp3.cbs.dk (Katrine Kirk) wrote:
>>
>>Danablu: a Danish blue cheese which is made by numerous
>> dairies. I buy an organic cheese which has a rounded,
>> mild taste which is similar to a gorgonzola, and I
>> prefer it by far over any gorgonzola I have tried.
>> It doesn't have a sharp aftertaste.
>We get this in our delicatessen section of the supermarket (no plastic jackets
>and freshly cut) .... my hubby loves it.
>>Blaa saga: (Blue Saga) A cheese with a mix of white and and
>> blue fungus, it has a rich, creamy texture and a
>> good "bite" when properly ripe. *mmmm*
>He LOVES the sound of this!! I don't suppose you know of any Danish firms
>mail-ordering to individuals do you? :)
I don't know of Danish mail order, would be interesting, but Saga is
widely available in the U. S. The supermarket right around the corner
(Houston, TX) has a pile of it.
It depends on what part of the country you are in, where are you?
It is mainly distributed in the east.
There are alternates. Blue Castello, also Danish, is the western,
probably better, equivilant.
And, be careful, a lot of Saga that I have seen is over aged, and has
more than the intended mold on it. If it is bad, take it back!
souris
Katrine Kirk
: iq...@hp3.cbs.dk (Katrine Kirk) writes:
: I did, and I thank you very much for a wonderful job. May I have
: permission to quote from this in the next revision of the cheese FAQ
: (coming RSN, not that I have been flooded with input/requests.)
Sure. Actually, I took your question so seriously that I bought a
Danish book about cheese when I came across it at a book sale. As it
turned out, it was very superficial and concentrated mostly on des-
cribing how the different imported cheeses taste. *sigh*
: > We do eat a
: lot of cheese,
: That is very interesting, becase, from what I have read, when a few
: Danes began producing cheese, in the mid 1800's, roughly the same time
: that cheese production was really getting going in the U. S., it was
: mainly for export, and there was almost no tradition of "native" Danish
: cheese eating. >
Hmm. I didn't know this. I think we have an old tradition for eating fresh
cream cheese, but Danish cream cheese has a quite different taste and
texture from American ones I have tried.
The semi-hard yellow cheese (I suppose Danbo, before it had a name),
appears to be common food by the late 1800's, judging by literature
from that period. Rye bread, pickled herring and cheese were the poor
man's staples. I am not 100% sure of this, though, I just seem to
remember cheese appearing in farm workers' diets in pre-industrial
novels. I could look it up if you are interested.
: >and most of it
: >is quite strongly flavoured compared to the selection
: >in a standard Midwestern supermarket. Even the "sharp"
: >cheeses of the supermarket-variety were about as mild
: >as the very mildest cheese we have in Denmark.
: I expect that there are two problems here. One, I am concerned about
: your cheese sources, because a truely "sharp" cheddar is strongly
: flavored by anyones standards. And, two, "sharp" is a very special type
: of "strong." An acid, biting, sort of taste, and sharp American cheddars
: are as sharp as any cheeses I know of, certainly sharper than any Danish
: cheese I know of, but "sharpness" is
: one of the few strong tastes that one commonly finds in American cheese.
Mm. I see what you mean. My wording above reflects a limited knowledge
of English usage. I haven't tried many cheeses in the US, but have pro-
bably eaten a fair selection of the completely standard commercial brands
found in the supermarkets. (I was living in Chicago first, later in
Cleveland.) The only cheese I found with any kind of interesting flavour
(and I didn't try them all) was a cheddar labelled something like
"New York Sharp Aged Cheddar" (probably not accurate). It was sold in
small quantities only, and was a fairly dark yellow colour. I didn't
have access to any delicatesse shopping where I lived, so I never ex-
perimented much. (I would have loved to have tried some of the cheeses
I've seen described here, though!)
Anyway, I had the impression that "sharp" meant anything with a tangy
or complex flavour. I guess not. So what would you call the kind of
cheese which is "rounded" in its taste, but very complex at the same
time? A youngish Danbo is mild, but tingles the palate. It doesn't
have a buttery taste or leathery mouth feel, but kind of melts on
the tongue with a hint of sourness and salt. Gosh, this is difficult
to describe! Souris, you had better just come over here for a holiday.
: >I don't know much about cheese, so it's difficult
: >for me to write anything remotely competent about it,
: Well, your modesty is very becoming, but, your writting demonstrates that
: you are not giving yourself enough credit.
*smile* Thanks, but I think my misuse of a word like "sharp" shows
what I mean. I would have like to write more about the cultures and
production methods used in the Danish cheeses, and would have liked
to compare them to something other countries would know. I just don't
have all that knowledge, and realising that I wasn't going to develop
it real soon, I decided to write up a little "cheese tease" anyway.
It's an extremely subjective and not-factually-verified post I made.
: I will write more detailed comments later.
Uh-oh. That's what I was afraid of! ;-)
Katrine Kirk
k...@cbs.dk
Henry Hillbrath
>Jane (ja...@enterprise.net) wrote:
>: In article <403a6j$l...@news.uni-c.dk>, iq...@hp3.cbs.dk (Katrine Kirk) wrote:
>: >
>: >Blaa saga: (Blue Saga) A cheese with a mix of white and and
>: > blue fungus, it has a rich, creamy texture and a
>: > good "bite" when properly ripe. *mmmm*
>: He LOVES the sound of this!! I don't suppose you know of any Danish firms
>: mail-ordering to individuals do you? :)
>No, I don't. Denmark is not "big" on mail-ordering at all. I would
>think a good cheese shop would have it, though, because MD Foods (a
>large cooperative of Danish dairies) writes in their annual report
>from 1993/94 that this cheese is exported to 13 countries.
>Good luck in the hunt! :-)
>Incidentally, I've also tried a "Blue Brie" recently. I must admit
>I get confused by a term like that, though, because it tasted so
>similar to the Blue Castello, which is also a soft creamy and rela-
>tively mild blue cheese. I mean... what distinguishes a "Brie" from
>other cheeses? The specific mold used to culture it? A particular
>treatment process? If so, it seems odd that a Blue Brie is still a
>Brie and not just another blue cheese.
>Souris - could you cast a little light on this?
Well, I hope so.
"Brie" is a place name. It is a place not far from Paris, in the "Ile de
France."
When Denmark began making cheese, the first approach to maketing it was
to give names to the various cheeses that the Danes imagined were of
similar foreign cheeses. In some cases, the names used were absurd. In
some cases, the Danish cheeses were probably better than the "original."
(In America, the same idea was tried, and is still being used. We make
Cheddar, Brie, Camembert, Gorgazola, whatever you want.)
About 1950, there was a European Conference, where everyone got together
and beat up un the Danes about cheese names. They were considered to be
the worst offenders in Europe, although there were, and are, others.
At that time, the Danish Government agreed to stop using foreign place
names for cheese, as I understood it, and established "approved" Danish
names for all the cheeses.
The other countries also agreed not to use place names for cheese that
were inappropriate.
Since then, there has been a more general conference in which a bunch of
European countries agreed to not use place names for *any* agricultural
product that was "unearned."
Despite all that, there are still Danish cheeses sold in this country
using the names of foreign types, if not place names. "Feta" for one.
There are a lot of other, non Danish examples, other than the American
ones. The French and the Swiss have some very legitmate overlaps.
Emmenthaller, Gruyere, etc. have been made in France for as long, nearly,
and in as large amounts as as in Switzerland. The French also make
"Chester" ( which is what they call Cheshire) and, even, I have heard,
Cheddar.
More recently, there have been other developments. In France, a system
similar to the "Appelation Controle" for wines has been instituted. So
that any area can think up a name for its cheese, and set any sort of
standards they want for it. Size of the cheese, type of post curing
culture, type of milk, whatever.
In Denmark, and Germany, a number of new cheeses were developed. I have
heard that one motivation for this was that the U. S. had very strange
rules on cheese importation (I am sure of this), and that for Blue
Cheeses, in particular, there were quotas, and, countries like Denmark,
and Germany, had no quotas, at all. When the rule was thrown out, as
nonsenseical, and unfair, Germany and Denmark, in fact, had no blue chees
to sell, so quickly came up with some. One type that was made in both
places was "Blue Brie."
Cheese similar to that made in Brie, large flat wheels, short cure time,
and post ripened with "White Culture". The Danes and Germans, no
respectors of French tradition used the "factory" method for makeing
Roquefort, and punched holes in the Bries, and squirted in "Blue Culture"
starter.
Of course, they couldn't call it "Brie," so they went wild on inventing
names. "Cambozola" (which is half way between Camembert and Gorgonzola, I
suppose, and is made in Bavaria. The Bavarians seem to be particularly
eager to avoid any suggestion of being German. The biggest producer is
named "Champignon.") In Denmark, it was "Saga" and "Blue Castillo." (I
think both may be made by the same company.)
Well, it must not have been too bad, because the people in Brie, who
haven't been doing that great, anyway,( Brie is sort of "old fashioned"
cheese, not really suited to this age) followed suit, and now make "real"
Blue Brie, French imitations of Saga.
(They do a lot of other things that are non traditional, too, like
coating the cheeses in herbs, pepper and such.)
At its best, Brie is still the "king" of cheeses. But, someone's guess
was that 9 times out of 10, Brie dissapoints. That was a while ago, and
the stiuation has gotten a *lot* worse. I don't have facts, and it is one
of those things that no one wants to talk about, but I am sure that much
Brie, even the famous names, now has preservatives to increase shelf life.
What everyone wants to talk about is "raw milk." Brie was traditionally,
of course, made from raw milk (it has been around long before Pasture.)
But, it is not the raw milk that it the big problem, it is the dead
"White Culture," that is the real fault.
That is the reason that people think you have to bake Brie, and use a lot
of stuff with it, like nuts, to liven it up.
Good Brie wants nothing except a bit of baguette to eat it on, and some
wine to go with it.
souris
>Katrine Kirk >k...@cbs.dk
Sorensen Lise D
: Gamle Ole: Infamous. Hated and loved, this is a two-year old yellow
: cheese which will scare your houseguests out of helping
: themselves in your fridge! :-) Eaten as an openface sandwich
: on rye bread spread with solidified pork fat and salt, Gamle
: Ole has earned a smelly reputation as an oddity of Danish
: cuisine. (The name Ole is a boy's name, and Gamle means
: old.)
: Katrine Kirk
: k...@cbs.dk
Now, now...I have more than my share of full-grown male relatives who
sport the name Ole. If they are coming to visit, no amount of pungent
cheese in the refrigerator will scare them away from a sneaky midnight
snack attack. No doubt Dybkars and Sorensens on this side of the Atlantic
are so overcome with nostalgia for open-face sandwiches composed of dark
rye bread, bacon dripping and *stinky* cheese that nothing short of snarling
Dobermans will keep them from the kitchen if Gamle Ole is available. Ah
well, at least they bring their own Tuborg. ;->
--
Lise
3l...@qlink.queensu.ca
"Know then Thyself, presume not God to scan;
The proper study of Mankind is Man."
-- Alexander Pope, "An Essay on Man"
Henry Hillbrath
>Henry Hillbrath (sou...@blkbox.COM) wrote:
>: iq...@hp3.cbs.dk (Katrine Kirk) writes:
[snip]
>Sure. Actually, I took your question so seriously that I bought a
>Danish book about cheese when I came across it at a book sale. As it
>turned out, it was very superficial and concentrated mostly on des-
>cribing how the different imported cheeses taste. *sigh*
That is real dedication, we *like* to see that!
>: > We do eat a
>: lot of cheese,
>: That is very interesting, becase, from what I have read, when a few
>: Danes began producing cheese, in the mid 1800's, roughly the same time
>: that cheese production was really getting going in the U. S., it was
>: mainly for export, and there was almost no tradition of "native" Danish
>: cheese eating. >
>Hmm. I didn't know this. I think we have an old tradition for eating fresh
>cream cheese, but Danish cream cheese has a quite different taste and
>texture from American ones I have tried.
Probably more like quark?
>The semi-hard yellow cheese (I suppose Danbo, before it had a name),
>appears to be common food by the late 1800's, judging by literature
>from that period. Rye bread, pickled herring and cheese were the poor
>man's staples. I am not 100% sure of this, though, I just seem to
>remember cheese appearing in farm workers' diets in pre-industrial
>novels. I could look it up if you are interested.
I will see if I can find a "cite" on the origins of Danish cheese making.
>: >and most of it
>: >is quite strongly flavoured compared to the selection
>: >in a standard Midwestern supermarket. Even the "sharp"
>: >cheeses of the supermarket-variety were about as mild
>: >as the very mildest cheese we have in Denmark.
>: I expect that there are two problems here. One, I am concerned about
>: your cheese sources, because a truely "sharp" cheddar is strongly
>: flavored by anyones standards. And, two, "sharp" is a very special type
>: of "strong." An acid, biting, sort of taste, and sharp American cheddars
>: are as sharp as any cheeses I know of, certainly sharper than any Danish
>: cheese I know of, but "sharpness" is
>: one of the few strong tastes that one commonly finds in American cheese.
>Mm. I see what you mean. My wording above reflects a limited knowledge
>of English usage. I haven't tried many cheeses in the US, but have pro-
>bably eaten a fair selection of the completely standard commercial brands
>found in the supermarkets. (I was living in Chicago first, later in
>Cleveland.) The only cheese I found with any kind of interesting flavour
>(and I didn't try them all) was a cheddar labelled something like
>"New York Sharp Aged Cheddar" (probably not accurate). It was sold in
>small quantities only, and was a fairly dark yellow colour. I didn't
>have access to any delicatesse shopping where I lived, so I never ex-
>perimented much. (I would have loved to have tried some of the cheeses
>I've seen described here, though!)
Maybe we can work up the "Great Cheese Swap."
>Anyway, I had the impression that "sharp" meant anything with a tangy
>or complex flavour.
Well, don't worry about it. A lot of people "missuse" the word, and I am
not one of those that frets about such things. When enough people missuse
a word, the meaning changes. We could be witnessing a meaning shift on
"sharp" right here. (Just a few weeks ago, I was in a restaurant, and the
waitlady was telling me that the bar next door "has their own satellite."
I tried to gently explain to her that most bars don't actually have their
*own* satellite, but borrow time on one. Along with a lot of other
people. Since then, I have heard a *lot* of people say "satellite" where
we would have said "satellite dish" just a few months ago. Another one
gone, I guess.
(But, I think that my usage is the one that most cheese "experts" use,
for example, the article in the Atlantic Monthly in June on Farmhouse
Cheeses.)
> I guess not. So what would you call the kind of
>cheese which is "rounded" in its taste, but very complex at the same
>time? A youngish Danbo is mild, but tingles the palate. It doesn't
>have a buttery taste or leathery mouth feel, but kind of melts on
>the tongue with a hint of sourness and salt. Gosh, this is difficult
>to describe!
I recently saw a little card in a cheese shop that was the most amazing
description of any cheese I ever saw. It said that this cheese had "the
most complex taste in all of gastronomy," and that it "had hints of
leather, tobacco, wood, smoke, blackberries,..." and a half a dozen
other things. I copied it all down, then threw the note awayh. I also got
some cheese, it mainly tasted like any other ewes milk cheese, with maybe
a bit of post ripening tastes. Complex it was, but it for sure was *not*
"sharp."
I understand that in England the have a school for government certified
wine tasters, and they have a set of about 50 bottles with odor standards
in them. Before you can describe a wine as having "a hint of blackberry"
you have to get some one else to smell the wine, smell the "blackberry"
standard (if that is one of the bottles) and agree that there *is* a
hint.
I don't kow of anyone that has done that for cheese.
I have to check and see which one "Danbo" is, but, I suspect that it is
the one that they use to call "Danish Port du Salut." If so, it is
something like Tilsit. And, the character of it is "orange culture"
which can be strong, but is quite different than "sharp."
> Souris, you had better just come over here for a holiday.
I have never been to Denmark, and I am going to be making a European tour
again, sometime in the not too far distant future. I will see if I can
work it in.
>: >I don't know much about cheese, so it's difficult
>: >for me to write anything remotely competent about it,
>: Well, your modesty is very becoming, but, your writting demonstrates that
>: you are not giving yourself enough credit.
>*smile* Thanks, but I think my misuse of a word like "sharp" shows
>what I mean. I would have like to write more about the cultures and
>production methods used in the Danish cheeses, and would have liked
>to compare them to something other countries would know. I just don't
>have all that knowledge, and realising that I wasn't going to develop
>it real soon, I decided to write up a little "cheese tease" anyway.
>It's an extremely subjective and not-factually-verified post I made.
It was wonderful. We will teach you a few of the technical terms, and
then you will be a full fledged "cheese expert" (the standards for
"cheese experts" are not that high.)
>: I will write more detailed comments
later.
>Uh-oh. That's what I was afraid of! ;-)
Well, just for that, I *will* write more.
:>)
>Katrine Kirk
>k...@cbs.dk
Myrna Goodman
> Anyway, I had the impression that "sharp" meant anything with a tangy
> or complex flavour. I guess not. So what would you call the kind of
> cheese which is "rounded" in its taste, but very complex at the same
> time? A youngish Danbo is mild, but tingles the palate. It doesn't
> have a buttery taste or leathery mouth feel, but kind of melts on
> the tongue with a hint of sourness and salt. Gosh, this is difficult
> to describe! Souris, you had better just come over here for a holiday.
> Katrine Kirk
> k...@cbs.dk
Hi Katrine,
Is it time to tell them about "brown cheese?" Fortunately I was only
told about it, not offered any! Also, if I remember correctly the cheese
in Denmark has a rating on the wrapper that gives the percentage of
fat...Help me with this, please.
I live in Sonoma, California, the home of jack cheese. It is a mild,
white cheese, not a lot of character on its own, but the cheesemakers
around here incorporate red peppers(spicy), garlic, and pesto into it
(not all together, but as separate flavors). It is also aged and used
like parmesan and is wonderful sliced (it has a very distinct nutty
flavor). Perhaps someday I will be able to share some with you!
Myrna Goodman
Katrine Kirk
: On 10 Aug 1995, Katrine Kirk wrote:
: Hi Katrine,
: Is it time to tell them about "brown cheese?" Fortunately I was only
: told about it, not offered any! Also, if I remember correctly the cheese
: in Denmark has a rating on the wrapper that gives the percentage of
: fat...Help me with this, please.
I think you are referring to "myseost" which is a Norwegian invention.
(Hei, Helle.... kommentarer?) I believe it is a goat cheese with a smoky,
rather tongue-drying flavour. Some people seem to like it. ;-) There's
a Danish joke about Norwegian cheese (the brown myseost) and flatbread:
Their soap doesn't foam, and you can't write on their paper.
Myseost has a slightly more crumbly texture than most cheddar, but
much the same hardness. In Denmark it is sold in small square packages
in sizes resembling soap bars. :-)
: I live in Sonoma, California, the home of jack cheese. It is a mild,
: white cheese, not a lot of character on its own, but the cheesemakers
: around here incorporate red peppers(spicy), garlic, and pesto into it
: (not all together, but as separate flavors).
Hmm. I have tasted "Jalapeno Jack", and must admit that I don't like
it very much. I mean, it's great melted with nachos, but it doesn't
taste like _cheese_ to me.
: It is also aged and used
: like parmesan and is wonderful sliced (it has a very distinct nutty
: flavor). Perhaps someday I will be able to share some with you!
This sounds good, and I would love to try it. Next time you are in
my cold little country, be sure to let me know! :-)
Katrine Kirk
k...@cbs.dk
Katrine Kirk
: told about it, not offered any! Also, if I remember correctly the cheese
: in Denmark has a rating on the wrapper that gives the percentage of
: fat...Help me with this, please.
I forgot the fat rating in the previous post. A cheese labelled 45+
contains 45% fat in the solids, which works out to around 23-24 %
fat in the cheese as a whole, since it contains a lot of moisture.
Sometimes they are labelled according to the percentage in the
whole product, in which case the label uses the percentage sign
instead of the plus sign.
Katrine Kirk
k...@cbs.dk
Henry Hillbrath
>Myrna Goodman (ez00...@peseta.ucdavis.edu) wrote:
>: On 10 Aug 1995, Katrine Kirk wrote:
>: Hi Katrine,
>: Is it time to tell them about "brown cheese?" Fortunately I was only
>: told about it, not offered any! Also, if I remember correctly the cheese
>: in Denmark has a rating on the wrapper that gives the percentage of
>: fat...Help me with this, please.
>I think you are referring to "myseost" which is a Norwegian invention.
>(Hei, Helle.... kommentarer?) I believe it is a goat cheese with a smoky,
>rather tongue-drying flavour. Some people seem to like it. ;-)
I am not familiar with this, but Carr lists "Mysost" as a Norwegian whey
cheese from cows milk, and refers to "Gjetost" which is a whey cheese
from goats milk.
> There's
>a Danish joke about Norwegian cheese (the brown myseost) and flatbread:
> Their soap doesn't foam, and you can't write on their paper.
I love that!
And, I love flatbread. Gjetost I can do with out, but, I know people that
love it. I even know non Scandinavians that love it!
>Myseost has a slightly more crumbly texture than most cheddar, but
>much the same hardness. In Denmark it is sold in small square packages
>in sizes resembling soap bars. :-)
One of my favorite discriptions of cheese is "Gjetost is just the cheese
for people that like to eat soap, if they like their soap chocolate
flavored."
>: I live in Sonoma, California, the home of jack cheese. It is a mild,
>: white cheese, not a lot of character on its own, but the cheesemakers
>: around here incorporate red peppers(spicy), garlic, and pesto into it
>: (not all together, but as separate flavors).
>Hmm. I have tasted "Jalapeno Jack", and must admit that I don't like
>it very much. I mean, it's great melted with nachos, but it doesn't
>taste like _cheese_ to me.
And, do you have jalapeno flavored cheese in Denmark? It may come as a
surprise that we have jalapeno flavored Danish cheese in Texas (where
jalapenos are about as common an addition to most anything as vanilia is
elsewhere.) I don't remember what kind, Havarti, maybe, it wouldn't make
much difference.
I suspect that is made for export only. And, I wondered if they had to
import the jalapenos and then ship them back to us, and if it wouldn't be
easier if we just got the cheese and put the peppers on it ourselves.
>: It is also aged and used
>: like parmesan and is wonderful sliced (it has a very distinct nutty
>: flavor). Perhaps someday I will be able to share some with you!
>This sounds good, and I would love to try it. Next time you are in
>my cold little country, be sure to let me know! :-)
Dry Jack was one of those wartime substitues. San Francisco has a large
Italian population, and they can't survive without "grana." At one time
there were a large number of producers, maybe 50, but, with real grana
available, dry Jack is more of a curiosity than anything, and there are
only two producers left. One, maybe both, of which claim to be thee
*only* producer left.
One good thing about dry Jack is that it would be the easiest American
cheese to send or carry to Denmark, as it is totally indestructable.
BTW, you are in *real* trouble, because I have my comments on your Danish
cheese report almost done!
:>)
>Katrine Kirk
>k...@cbs.dk
souris
Helle G. Paulsen
>>I think you are referring to "myseost" which is a Norwegian invention.
>>(Hei, Helle.... kommentarer?) I believe it is a goat cheese with a smoky,rather tongue-drying flavour. Some people seem to like it. ;-)
>
>I am not familiar with this, but Carr lists "Mysost" as a Norwegian whey
>cheese from cows milk, and refers to "Gjetost" which is a whey cheese
>from goats milk.
>
This is correct. There are also different kinds of brown cheeses where
the "cows milk - goats milk ratio" differs. Goats milk being sharper than
cows milk. I'm getting the feeling that brown cheese might be what I
think is called "an acquired taste".
>> There's
>>a Danish joke about Norwegian cheese (the brown myseost) and flatbread:
>> Their soap doesn't foam, and you can't write on their paper.
>
>I love that!
>
>And, I love flatbread. Gjetost I can do with out, but, I know people that
>love it. I even know non Scandinavians that love it!
>
>One of my favorite discriptions of cheese is "Gjetost is just the cheese
>for people that like to eat soap, if they like their soap chocolate
>flavored."
>
Allthough I'm no fanatic here, I actually like brown cheese! (Now I'm
"outed", I suppose). Just don't expect it to taste like cheese, because
it really doesn't! It is used as spread on sandwiches where you'd
otherwise use something sweet, like jam. It's delicious on warm waffles.
And use a slice or two along with juniperberries in "brown"sauces for
game (is that the right word?), like reindeer, moose or gamehen. (Careful
with the juniperberries, though, it can cause the uterus to contract, not
to be recommended for pregnant women!)
I eat brown cheese and Santas reindeer - there's no hope...
Helle G. Paulsen
Tromsoe, Norway
Katrine Kirk
: iq...@hp3.cbs.dk (Katrine Kirk) writes:
: >Myrna Goodman (ez00...@peseta.ucdavis.edu) wrote:
: >: On 10 Aug 1995, Katrine Kirk wrote:
: I am not familiar with this, but Carr lists "Mysost" as a Norwegian whey
: cheese from cows milk, and refers to "Gjetost" which is a whey cheese
: from goats milk.
I see. I never knew the difference, as they look similar and one tasting
was enough to put me off.
[snips]
: And, do you have jalapeno flavored cheese in Denmark? It may come as a
: surprise that we have jalapeno flavored Danish cheese in Texas (where
: jalapenos are about as common an addition to most anything as vanilia is
: elsewhere.) I don't remember what kind, Havarti, maybe, it wouldn't make
: much difference.
It's funny you should mention this. I have never even tasted a fresh
jalapeno, as they cannot be found in Denmark. The only way to get
them here is at 3$ for a 1/4 cup sized tin of pickled jalapenos. *sigh*
Now _that_ is something I would like to have from the US.
If the cheese is produced in Denmark, it must be with imported jala-
penos, but are you sure MD Foods doesn't simply have a dairy in the
States? The only chiles available here are the dutch type, Indian
green chiles and Kenyan or Lebanese green or red chiles. *sigh* *sigh*
I have impressed one of my local ethnic grocers by bringing him a
habanero grown in my windowsill. I have yet to talk to him about
how he liked it. I digress...
I am a hot head, spice crazy, call me what you will, but I don't
believe that chiles (or black pepper, herbs etc.) have any business
in my cheese. I do, however, like to eat an openface cheese sand-
which on Danish rye bread garnished with my personal habanero
salsa (carrots, onion, ginger, garlic, salt, white pepper, habanero).
*mmmm* Not for breakfast, though. :-)
: I suspect that is made for export only. And, I wondered if they had to
: import the jalapenos and then ship them back to us, and if it wouldn't be
: easier if we just got the cheese and put the peppers on it ourselves.
You can say that again. Perhaps they are secretly growing jalapenos?
: One good thing about dry Jack is that it would be the easiest American
: cheese to send or carry to Denmark, as it is totally indestructable.
I'm not going to repeat my invitation. The door is open.
: BTW, you are in *real* trouble, because I have my comments on your Danish
: cheese report almost done!
*tremble* Please, sir, use your virtual cane on me, but spare my
cyberlife? *wheedle* *whine*
: >Katrine Kirk
: >k...@cbs.dk
That's me.
Henry Hillbrath
>Henry Hillbrath (sou...@blkbox.COM) wrote:
>: iq...@hp3.cbs.dk (Katrine Kirk) writes:
>: >Myrna Goodman (ez00...@peseta.ucdavis.edu) wrote:
>: >: On 10 Aug 1995, Katrine Kirk wrote:
>: I am not familiar with this, but Carr lists "Mysost" as a Norwegian whey
>: cheese from cows milk, and refers to "Gjetost" which is a whey cheese
>: from goats milk.
>I see. I never knew the difference, as they look similar and one tasting
>was enough to put me off.
>[snips]
>: And, do you have jalapeno flavored cheese in Denmark? It may come as a
>: surprise that we have jalapeno flavored Danish cheese in Texas (where
>: jalapenos are about as common an addition to most anything as vanilia is
>: elsewhere.) I don't remember what kind, Havarti, maybe, it wouldn't make
>: much difference.
>It's funny you should mention this. I have never even tasted a fresh
>jalapeno, as they cannot be found in Denmark. The only way to get
>them here is at 3$ for a 1/4 cup sized tin of pickled jalapenos. *sigh*
>Now _that_ is something I would like to have from the US.
Well, cheese is sort of hard to come by in Houston, any sort of "fancy"
cheese, but, jalapenos, well, I think if I looked, I could find those. I
seldom buy them neat, but the way they use them here, I think they must
be about $3 a 1/4 ton.
>If the cheese is produced in Denmark, it must be with imported
jala- >penos, but are you sure MD Foods doesn't simply have a dairy in the
>States?
Not that I know of, but, an increasing number of European producers *do*
have plants here, at least ones that are licensed to use the
trademarks. Bel Paese has had one for a long time (there is a "two
level" trade in Bel Paese. Domestic and imported.) Belmont, which makes
cheeses in France and the U. S. but doesn't use the French names here, and
Port Salut are some others.
>The only chiles available here are the dutch
type, Indian
>green chiles and Kenyan or Lebanese green or red chiles. *sigh* *sigh*
>I have impressed one of my local ethnic grocers by bringing him a
>habanero grown in my windowsill. I have yet to talk to him about
>how he liked it. I digress...
>I am a hot head, spice crazy, call me what you will, but I don't
>believe that chiles (or black pepper, herbs etc.) have any business
>in my cheese. I do, however, like to eat an openface cheese sand-
>which on Danish rye bread garnished with my personal habanero
>salsa (carrots, onion, ginger, garlic, salt, white pepper, habanero).
>*mmmm* Not for breakfast, though. :-)
Well, I admit it, I do like jalapeno Jack, occasionally, as well as the
occasional herb or pepper Boursin, or whatever. But, I consider that sort
of different from "cheese." Something else they do here in Houston are
"Stuffed Jalapinos." A split pepper stuffed with mild cheese spread. I
have one of those, occasionally, also.
>: I suspect that is made for export only. And, I wondered if they had to
>: import the jalapenos and then ship them back to us, and if it wouldn't be
>: easier if we just got the cheese and put the peppers on it ourselves.
>You can say that again. Perhaps they are secretly growing jalapenos?
Probably a top secret jalapeno garden in an abandoned Danish salt mine,
disused ICBM silo, or something.
>: One good thing about dry Jack is that it would be the easiest American
>: cheese to send or carry to Denmark, as it is totally indestructable.
>I'm not going to repeat my invitation. The door is open.
I thought it was someone *else* you were inviting.
>: BTW, you are in *real* trouble, because I have my comments on your Danish
>: cheese report almost done!
>*tremble* Please, sir, use your virtual cane on me, but spare my
>cyberlife? *wheedle* *whine*
Well, I only meant that you were going to have to be bored by reading
through all of them, but, if you don't want to hear all the wonderful
things I had to say about your report, I won't post them.
Besides, in cheese training, I seldom find that it is necessary to give
more correction that a mild swat on the nose with a lightly rolled piece
of wrapping paper. And, that only for serious behavioral problems, like
compulsive Brie baking.
>: >Katrine Kirk
>: >k...@cbs.dk
>That's me.
souris
Henry Hillbrath
[snip]
>: And, do you have jalapeno flavored cheese in Denmark? It may come as a
>: surprise that we have jalapeno flavored Danish cheese in Texas (where
>: jalapenos are about as common an addition to most anything as vanilia is
>: elsewhere.) I don't remember what kind, Havarti, maybe, it wouldn't make
>: much difference.
>It's funny you should mention this. I have never even tasted a fresh
>jalapeno, as they cannot be found in Denmark. The only way to get
>them here is at 3$ for a 1/4 cup sized tin of pickled jalapenos. *sigh*
>Now _that_ is something I would like to have from the US.
I was just in the supermarket, not the most wonderful one, or the most
Mexican (peppery) one.
This one had about 6 kinds of peppers. Jalapenos were $1.29 a pound. The
most expensive were Scotch Bonnet, $6.00 a pound (a pound of Scotch
Bonnet should be enough to set everyone on Denmark on fire!). They didn't
have any habaneros.
Cans were $1.79 for 26 oz. (770 cc)
souris
[snip]