Gamalost (also Gammelost, Gammalost) is a traditional

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

cheese Cheese is a dairy product produced in wide ranges of flavors, textures, and forms by coagulation of the milk protein casein. It comprises proteins and fat from milk, usually the milk of cows, buffalo, goats, or sheep. During productio ...

History

Gamalost, which translates as old cheese, was once a staple of the Norwegian diet. The name might be due to the texture of the surface, or the fact that it is an old tradition, not the ripening which may take as little as two weeks. Like many traditional Norwegian foods, such as

flat bread A flatbread is a bread made with flour; water, milk, yogurt, or other liquid; and salt, and then thoroughly rolled into flattened dough. Many flatbreads are unleavened, although some are leavened, such as pizza and pita bread. Flatbreads ...

, dry salted meats and

stockfish Stockfish is unsalted fish, especially cod, dried by cold air and wind on wooden racks (which are called "hjell" in Norway) on the foreshore. The drying of food is the world's oldest known preservation method, and dried fish has a storage lif ...

, Gamalost could be stored for long periods without refrigeration. The brownish-yellow cheese is firm, moist, coarse and often

granular Granularity (also called graininess), the condition of existing in granules or grains, refers to the extent to which a material or system is composed of distinguishable pieces. It can either refer to the extent to which a larger entity is subd ...

. Gamalost is rich in protein with low fat content, measuring 1% fat and 50% protein.

Production

To make Gamalost, lactic starter is added to skimmed cow's milk, causing it to sour. After several days of souring, the milk is slowly heated, before the

curd Curd is obtained by coagulating milk in a sequential process called curdling. It can be a final dairy product or the first stage in cheesemaking. The coagulation can be caused by adding rennet or any edible acidic substance such as l ...

s are separated and pressed into forms. After removal from the forms,

mold A mold () or mould () is one of the structures certain fungi can form. The dust-like, colored appearance of molds is due to the formation of spores containing fungal secondary metabolites. The spores are the dispersal units of the fungi. Not ...

is introduced onto the surface of the cheese, either by exposure to the wooden walls of the form that is only used for Gammalost, or rubbed on by hand in the traditional method. The cheese is then allowed to cure for four to five weeks. The ripening happens from outside inwards, so the center might be lighter than the parts near the exterior. Gamalost production is very labor-intensive, particularly if traditional methods are used. Everything depends on the proper fermentation and maturation. It is not made in sufficient quantity for mass export. As such, it is rare to find the cheese outside Norway. Commercial production has principally been limited to the

Tine Tine may refer to: *Tine (structural), a 'prong' on a fork or similar implement, or any similar structure *Tine (company), the biggest dairy producer in Norway *Tine (film), ''Tine'' (film), a 1964 Danish film *Tine, Iran, a village in Mazandaran P ...

facility in

Vik Vik (Old Norse: vík) means wick or bay in Norwegian and Swedish (''vig'' in Danish), and it may refer to the following: Places Iceland * Vík í Mýrdal, a village in southern Iceland Iran * Vik, Iran, a village in Zanjan Province, Iran Norway ...

Gamalost Festival

Gamalost Festival (''Gamalostfestivalen'') is an annual event held in

Sogn Sogn is a traditional district in Western Norway ''(Vestlandet)''. It is located in the county of Vestland, surrounding the Sognefjord, the largest/longest fjord in Norway. The district of Sogn consists of the municipalities of Aurland, Bales ...

at the beginning of summer every year.

References

Other sources

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External links

TINE in NorwaySynnøve FindenGamalostfestivalen
{{Norwegian cheeses Norwegian cheeses Dairy products Blue cheeses Cow's-milk cheeses Acid-set cheeses