Havarti () or cream havarti ( da, flødehavarti) is a semisoft Danish

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 ...

. It can be sliced, grilled, or melted.

History

Havarti was previously called "Danish Tilsiter" after the German cheese type tilsiter. Danish production began in 1921. In 1952, the cheese was named Havarti, after Havartigården near Holte, where the Danish cheese pioneer

Hanne Nielsen Johanne (Hanne) Ane Margrethe Nielsen (née Jacobsdatter, 11 September 1829 – 15 June 1903) was a Danish farmer who may have invented Havarti cheese. In the 1800s, Nielsen traveled around Europe to learn about cheesemaking. Her farm was named H ...

worked in the 19th century. Among other cheeses, Nielsen created a

Tilsit cheese Tilsit cheese or Tilsiter cheese is a pale yellow semihard smear-ripened cheese, created in the mid-19th century by Prussian-Swiss settlers, the Westphal family, from the Emmental valley. The original buildings from the cheese plant still exist i ...

with

cumin Cumin ( or , or Article title
) (''Cuminum cyminum'') is a

Some sources, such as ''The Oxford Companion to Cheese'', say that Nielsen invented Havarti cheese, while the '' Dansk Biografisk Leksikon'' states that the current Havarti is not based on her cheesemaking. The original havarti cheese is different from ''flødehavarti'' ("cream Havarti"), which is made from high-pasteurized milk, so that the whey proteins that would otherwise be eliminated during production remain in the curd. This raises yields, but alters the taste and texture. Cream havarti usually ripens very little, since the remaining whey proteins cause problems (off-taste, odd appearance) during prolonged ripening.

Description

Havarti is made like most cheeses, by introducing

rennet Rennet () is a complex set of enzymes produced in the stomachs of ruminant mammals. Chymosin, its key component, is a protease enzyme that curdles the casein in milk. In addition to chymosin, rennet contains other enzymes, such as pepsin and a ...

to milk to cause

curdling Curdling is the breaking of an emulsion or colloid into large parts of different composition through the physio-chemical processes of flocculation, creaming, and coalescence. Curdling is purposeful in the production of cheese curd and tofu; und ...

. 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 lemon ...

s are pressed into cheese molds which are drained, and then the cheese is aged. Havarti was traditionally a ''smear-rind'' cheese, but modern ''flødehavarti'' is not. Havarti is a washed-curd cheese, which contributes to the subtle flavor of the cheese. Havarti is an interior-ripened cheese that is rindless, smooth, and slightly bright-surfaced with a cream to yellow color depending on type. It has very small and irregular openings called

eyes Eyes are organs of the visual system. They provide living organisms with vision, the ability to receive and process visual detail, as well as enabling several photo response functions that are independent of vision. Eyes detect light and conve ...

distributed throughout. Havarti has a

butter Butter is a dairy product made from the fat and protein components of churned cream. It is a semi-solid emulsion at room temperature, consisting of approximately 80% butterfat. It is used at room temperature as a spread, melted as a condiment ...

aroma An odor (American English) or odour (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences) is caused by one or more volatilized chemical compounds that are generally found in low concentrations that humans and animals can perceive via their sense ...

and can be somewhat sharp in the stronger varieties, much like

Swiss-type cheese Swiss-type cheeses, also known as Alpine cheeses, are a group of hard or semi-hard cheeses with a distinct character, whose origins lie in the Alps of Europe, although they are now eaten and imitated in most cheesemaking parts of the world. Their ...

s. The taste is buttery, from somewhat to very sweet, and slightly acidic. It is typically aged about three months, though when the cheese is older, it becomes more salty and tastes like

hazelnut The hazelnut is the fruit of the hazel tree and therefore includes any of the nuts deriving from species of the genus ''Corylus'', especially the nuts of the species ''Corylus avellana''. They are also known as cobnuts or filberts according t ...

. When left at

room temperature Colloquially, "room temperature" is a range of air temperatures that most people prefer for indoor settings. It feels comfortable to a person when they are wearing typical indoor clothing. Human comfort can extend beyond this range depending on ...

, the cheese tends to soften quickly. Flavored variants of havarti are available.

Production

In 2013, 18,900 metric tons were produced in Denmark. As of 2019, 17,000 metric tons are produced annually in Denmark, of which 3,000 to 4,000 metric tons are consumed domestically. In 2015, 17,700 metric tons were produced in Wisconsin and 7,400 in Canada. In 2018, Wisconsin produced 18,400 metric tons and Canada 7,500 metric tons. Less than half of the world production is made in Denmark. Other major producers in the EU are Germany and Spain. Internationally, the main producers are the United States and Canada, with other producing countries including Finland, Poland, France, Australia and New Zealand. In the United States, the main producing state by far is Wisconsin, with other producing states being California, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Vermont and Washington. The Danish multinational

Arla Foods , industry = Dairy , predecessor = ArlaMD Foods , founded = , founder = , location_city = Viby , location_country = Denmark , area_served = Worldwide , key_people = Peder Tub ...

produces the cheese for the American market in Wisconsin from milk produced in Wisconsin. Havarti is one of twelve cheeses whose characteristics and manufacturing standards are registered in the ''

Codex Alimentarius The Codex Alimentarius () is a collection of internationally recognized standards, codes of practice, guidelines, and other recommendations published by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations relating to food, food production ...

'' as of 2019.

Consumption

It has become a staple foodstuff in Denmark.

Nutrition

For 1 slice weighing 28 g: *

Calorie The calorie is a unit of energy. For historical reasons, two main definitions of "calorie" are in wide use. The large calorie, food calorie, or kilogram calorie was originally defined as the amount of heat needed to raise the temperature of on ...

s: 120 *

Protein Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including catalysing metabolic reactions, DNA replication, respo ...

: 6.0 g *

Carbohydrate In organic chemistry, a carbohydrate () is a biomolecule consisting of carbon (C), hydrogen (H) and oxygen (O) atoms, usually with a hydrogen–oxygen atom ratio of 2:1 (as in water) and thus with the empirical formula (where ''m'' may or ma ...

: 0.0 g *Total

fat In nutrition science, nutrition, biology, and chemistry, fat usually means any ester of fatty acids, or a mixture of such chemical compound, compounds, most commonly those that occur in living beings or in food. The term often refers spec ...

: 11.0 g *

Fiber Fiber or fibre (from la, fibra, links=no) is a natural or artificial substance that is significantly longer than it is wide. Fibers are often used in the manufacture of other materials. The strongest engineering materials often incorporate ...

: 0.0 g *

Calcium Calcium is a chemical element with the symbol Ca and atomic number 20. As an alkaline earth metal, calcium is a reactive metal that forms a dark oxide-nitride layer when exposed to air. Its physical and chemical properties are most similar to ...

: 0.150 g

Controversy

In October 2019, the EU granted exclusive

Protected Geographical Indication Three European Union schemes of geographical indications and traditional specialties, known as protected designation of origin (PDO), protected geographical indication (PGI), and traditional specialities guaranteed (TSG), promote and protect nam ...

(PGI) rights to Denmark after four years of lobbying by the Danish industry. It may now only be produced from Danish milk and at approved dairies, for it to be sold in the EU and countries with which it has signed a

trade agreement A trade agreement (also known as trade pact) is a wide-ranging taxes, tariff and trade treaty that often includes investment guarantees. It exists when two or more countries agree on terms that help them trade with each other. The most common tr ...

recognising EU PGI rules on cheese (specifically South Korea). There was vehement opposition and pressure from the US against recognition, which earlier compelled the EU to postpone the planned PGI status fearing it might be deemed too provocative amidst indications of a political backlash from the United States. The Consortium for Common Food Names (CCFN), an industry alliance based in Virginia, United States, representing exporting interests founded by the U.S. Dairy Export Council to fight EU geographical indication guidelines expressed outrage over the 2019 EU decision to reserve the name for Denmark, claiming the PGI status is not "legitimate intellectual property protection, but instead for barely concealed protectionism for economic gain". The United States, Australia, New Zealand, Uruguay and Argentina have joined with the CCFN to overturn the decision. The CCFN has claimed that havarti is a generic cheese, and that the EU is trying to "egregiously ... monopolise global trade" in this and many other traditional European products, and is disregarding "established international standards". The CCFN demands that EU PGIs are amended to include the name of the region where it is produced, such that only the name "Danish havarti" is protected, a proposal Danish producers are amenable to. Danish producers contend it is domestically well known as a Danish cheese and knowledge of the cheese outside Denmark is "extremely limited". The CCFN urged the Trump administration to sanction the EU for its "abuses".

References

{{Danish cheeses Danish cheeses Cow's-milk cheeses Cheese with eyes