Norway
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Similar to Dutch Leiden, Nokkelost is a semi-hard cow’s milk cheese with a creamy texture and thin natural rind. Also, called kuminost, this pale-yellow cheese fully ripens in three months.
Flavoured with cumin, caraway seeds and cloves, it is a bit spicy, nutty and tangy in taste. The cheese with 45% of fats is suitable for non-vegetarians. It can be paired with Red Wine and Ripasso.
Gjeitost cheese, also spelled as ‘Geitost’ and pronounced as ‘Yay-Toast’, is a farmhouse and creamery, semi-hard cheese. It is so popular in Norays that it is also called as Norway’s national cheese!
During old times, Gjeitost or Geitost used to be entirely of goat milk but now-a-days it is made with a blend of goat’s and cow’s milk. During its making process, liquid whey is used instead of the curd. It is available in various versions and the classification depends on different proportions of cow and goat milk.
Dark brown or honey-brown or golden orange in colour, the cheese is non-perishable, dessert cheese sold in blocks. It has sweet and caramel-like taste and comes with an unusual, aromatic quality. Kids in Norway eat it as a breakfast as well. It is sliced paper-thin and placed on Norwegian flat bread. Its sweet, fishy, caramel flavour is simply irresistible!
Jarlsberg is a mild, semi-soft cow’s milk cheese of Norwegian origin. Created by Anders Larsen Bakke, it resembles a Swiss Emmental with distinctive, open and irregular ‘eyes’. Many a times Jarlsberg is marketed as a Swiss cheese because of its characteristics, though it tends to be sweeter and stronger than Emmentaler.
Beneath the yellow-wax rind of Jarlsberg is a semi-firm yellow interior that is buttery, rich in texture with a mild, nutty flavour. It is an all-purpose cheese, good for cooking as well eating as a snack. Since the cheese melts so well, Jarlsberg tastes delicious on sandwiches, fondues, quiches and on hot dishes. The versatility of the cheese is appreciated well beyond the Scandinavian world in US, UK and Europe.
Rinded and rindless Jarlsberg is available in wheels, slices, wedges, minis, and random weight pieces. A good Merlot and a nutty Jarlsberg will provide to be a fascinating mix.