Gouda (, , ; nl, Goudse kaas, "cheese from Gouda") is a sweet, creamy, yellow

cow's milk Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfed human infants) before they are able to digest solid food. Immune factors and immune-modulatin ...

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 ...

originating from the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. 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.

History

The first mention of Gouda cheese dates from 1284, making it one of the oldest recorded cheeses in the world still made today. 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 Gouda () is a city and municipality in the west of the Netherlands, between Rotterdam and Utrecht, in the province of South Holland. Gouda has a population of 75,000 and is famous for its Gouda cheese, stroopwafels, many grachten, smoking ...

, there is a cheese market in traditional style once a week primarily as a 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 master of Gouda, not because it was produced in or around that city, but because it was traded there. In the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

, Dutch cities could obtain certain feudal rights which gave them primacy or a total

monopoly A monopoly (from Greek language, Greek el, μόνος, mónos, single, alone, label=none and el, πωλεῖν, pōleîn, to sell, label=none), as described by Irving Fisher, is a market with the "absence of competition", creating a situati ...

on certain goods. Within the

County of Holland The County of Holland was a State of the Holy Roman Empire and from 1433 part of the Burgundian Netherlands, from 1482 part of the Habsburg Netherlands and from 1581 onward the leading province of the Dutch Republic, of which it remained a par ...

, 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 , in barrows. Buyers then sampled the cheeses and negotiated a price using a ritual

bargaining In the social sciences, bargaining or haggling is a type of negotiation in which the buyer and seller of a good or service debate the price or nature of a transaction. If the bargaining produces agreement on terms, the transaction takes p ...

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.

Process

Various sources suggest that the term ''Gouda'' refers more to a general style of

cheesemaking Cheesemaking (or caseiculture) is the craft of making cheese. The production of cheese, like many other food preservation processes, allows the nutritional and economic value of a food material, in this case milk, to be preserved in concentr ...

rather than to a specific kind of cheese, pointing to its taste, which varies with age. Young (and factory-produced) Gouda has been described as having a flavour 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. 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 Lactose is a disaccharide sugar synthesized by galactose and glucose subunits and has the molecular formula C12H22O11. Lactose makes up around 2–8% of milk (by mass). The name comes from ' (gen. '), the Latin word for milk, plus the suffix ' ...

, resulting in a reduction of

lactic acid Lactic acid is an organic acid. It has a molecular formula . It is white in the solid state and it is miscible with water. When in the dissolved state, it forms a colorless solution. Production includes both artificial synthesis as well as nat ...

produced. About 10% of the mixture is curds, which are pressed into circular

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 ...

s for several hours. These molds are the essential reason behind its traditional, characteristic shape. The cheese is then soaked in a

brine Brine is a high-concentration solution of salt (NaCl) in water (H2O). In diverse contexts, ''brine'' may refer to the salt solutions ranging from about 3.5% (a typical concentration of seawater, on the lower end of that of solutions used for ...

solution, which gives the cheese and its rind a distinctive taste. The cheese is dried for a few days before being coated with a yellow wax or plastic-like 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: # Young cheese (4 weeks) # Young matured (8–10 weeks) # Matured (16–18 weeks) # Extra matured (7–9 months) # Old cheese (10–12 months) # 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 Apple butter is a highly concentrated form of apple sauce produced by long, slow cooking of apples with cider or water to a point where the sugar in the apples caramelizes, turning the apple butter a deep brown. The concentration of sugar gives a ...

. Cubes of Gouda are commonly served as a snack along with beer in traditional Dutch Brown Bars.

Protection

The term "Gouda" is not restricted to cheese of Dutch origin. However, “Boerenkaas”, “Noord-Hollandse Gouda”, and “Gouda Holland” are protected geographical indications in the European Union. These cheeses can be made only in the Netherlands (although not only in the Dutch provinces of South Holland, in which Gouda is situated) and can use milk produced only by Dutch cows.

References

External links

*
A collection of old pictures and drawings of Gouda. (A journey through the past)
{{Authority control Cow's-milk cheeses Dutch cheeses Dutch cuisine Gouda, South Holland Smoked cheeses

History

Process

Protection

See also

References

External links