Can we talk about cheese? When I travel, I like to visit interesting museums or similar tourist attractions. I know that they are usually tourist traps but they can also be a good condensed version of the legend that a place wants to put on display. Examples are the Salt Cathedral in Colombia, The Museum of Moneys in Peru, Canada Club Distillery in Canada, and the Talisker Distillery in Scotland. Each case comes with a dose of education. I recently visited the Cheese Experience in Gouda, The Netherlands. It gave me a new appreciation of cheese.
I have never really given much thought to cheese. I know it (usually) comes from cow’s milk and comes in many different styles and flavors. I learned how young cheese is different from old cheese. While this was specific to Gouda, hopefully some of the knowledge is transferrable. What is Gouda? Actually it is a town in Holland where the local cheese market was. The cheese got its name from the town even though it was actually made on surrounding farms. In that way it is like Champagne. The name Gouda can describe cow or goat cheese from The Netherlands, not just Gouda. If the cheese does not come from The Netherlands, you cannot call it Gouda.
I also learned that the cheese is dipped in a brine solution before being wrapped in plastic wheels. How long you age the cheese affects it texture. Very Old cheese develops protein crystals that give it a distinctive crunch.
I found Gouda cheese for sale at the grocery stores and in famers markets sold by the kilogram in the form of blocks cut from larger wheels. A basic young cheese cost about 2.50€ for 500 grams (½ kilogram). Fancier cheeses mixed with spices we up to four times that cost. To convert that, 500g is about 1.1lbs so we are talking $2.38/lb. Back in Texas, imported Gouda is a bit more expensive. I found some aged Gouda for $1.16/oz or $18.56/lb. Ouch. I guess I’ll stick with Monterrey and Cheddar for my budget. They are still $8/lb.
