Brunost (Gudbrandsdalen)

Brunost (lit. 'brown cheese') is a common Norwegian name for mysost (lit. 'whey cheese'), a family of soft cheese-related foods made with whey, milk and/or cream. The characteristic brown colour and sweet taste result from milk sugars being caramelizsed after boiling. The term brunost is often used to refer to fløtemysost or Gudbrandsdalsost, which are the most popular varieties.

Brunost is primarily produced in Norway and is popular there, and has spread to South Korea. It is regarded as one of Norway's most iconic foodstuffs, and is considered an important part of the country's gastronomical and cultural identity and heritage.

Boiling down whey 10:1 to create a brown, cheesy spread (such as the Norwegian prim and Swedish messmör) has been common in Scandinavian countries for at least 2,500 years. An archeological find from September 2016 in central Jutland has determined that a cheese residue on pottery from circa 650 BC is a type of cheese, potentially similar to brunost.

However, the creation of the modern, firm, fatty brunost is commonly attributed to the milkmaid Anne Hov from the rural valley of Gudbrandsdalen. In the second half of the 19th century, Gudbrandsdalen was suffering economically due to falling profits from grain and butter sales. While working at the Valseter mountain farm near Gålå in 1863, Anne Hov (sometimes spelled Anne Haav) came up with the idea of adding cream to the whey when boiling, and to boil it down in an iron pot until the fluid content was reduced to less than 80%, creating a firmer, fattier, more cheese-like product. She originally called it feitost ('fat cheese'). The name later changed into fløtemysost ('cream whey cheese'). The product immediately caught on, and was soon commonly produced and consumed in the area. This variety is currently the second most popular type in Norway. In 1805, Ole Olsen Evenstad, from what is now Stor-Elvdal Municipality, wrote his cheese manuscript, Om Brug af Myse og dens Indkogning til Myssmør, but Evenstad does not mention goat's milk or cream as an additive.

When Hov married and moved to Rusthågå farm in Nord-Fron Municipality, she started larger-scale production and invented a variety where she added goat's milk to the mix for a more pronounced taste. Local trader Ole Kongsli liked it so much he thought there might be a market for the product in the capital, Oslo. He started exporting it to his business contacts there under the name Gudbrandsdalsost, and it became so successful that it contributed significantly to the economy of the region, thus helping Gudbrandsdalen out of recession. In 1933, at age 87, Hov received the King's Medal of Merit (Kongens fortjenstmedalje) for her contributions to Norwegian cuisine and economy.

In modern times, the world's largest producer of brunost is the Norwegian dairy co-operative Tine, which markets a total of 13 varieties, as well as three types of prim. Second-largest is Norwegian dairy company Synnøve Finden, which markets two varieties of brunost, as well as two varieties of prim. There are also a number of smaller, artisanal producers, mainly in Norway and in the US.

Mysost is a family of cheese-related foods made with whey, milk and/or cream. The main ingredient, whey, is a byproduct of the cheese making process; it is what is left when the cheese is removed from the milk. Therefore, brunost is not technically cheese. However, it is produced by cheese makers, and is sold, handled and consumed in the same way as cheese. Therefore, it is generally regarded as a cheese. The texture is firm, but slightly softer than Gouda cheese, for example, and lends itself well to cutting and shaping. It does not crumble like hard cheeses. The taste is sweet, and best described as caramel-like but with a tang that is more noticeable in the variants that contain goat's milk. The variant ekte geitost ('true goat's cheese') contains only whey and goat's milk and has an intense, chèvre-like taste that cuts the sweetness.

Brunost is made by boiling a mixture of milk, cream and whey carefully for several hours so that the water evaporates. The heat turns the milk sugars into caramel, which gives the cheese its characteristic brown colour and sweetness. It is ready for consumption as soon as it is packed and refrigerated. Low-fat varieties are made by increasing the proportion of whey to milk and cream.

In Norway, brunost is commonly divided into two types: those that contain only cow's cream and/or milk and the ones that contain some proportion of goat's milk. The latter type is commonly called geitost or gjetost ('goat cheese'). Varieties that do not contain any cow's milk are called ekte geitost ('true goat cheese'). Technically, the name 'true goat cheese' is misleading, since goat cheese is relatively uncommon in Norway, and is commonly called hvit geitost ('white goat cheese') to avoid confusion.

By far the most popular variety is Gudbrandsdalsost, which contains a mixture of cow and goat milk, cream and whey. Heidal cheese is a type of Gudbrandsdalsost. In Norway it is so common that it is simply referred to as brunost or geitost, assuming that unless otherwise specified, Gudbrandsdalsost will be provided. This variety is also the most popular internationally and in the US it is commonly referred to just as gjetost. The second most popular variety is fløtemysost, which has a milder taste due to the lack of goat's milk. The third most popular type is ekte geitost.

Related to brunost are prim (Norwegian) or messmör (Swedish), which is a soft, sweet spread commonly sold in tubes all across the Nordic countries. This is the original, ancient product made by boiling whey for a shorter period of time than brunost and not adding milk or cream. Also, in Norway, pultost is traditionally made from byproducts of the brunost-making process, and has a very distinctive flavour.

Fior Delle Alpi

A jewel of the Swiss mountains hidden in black rind this is a Swiss hard cheese crafted from raw cow's milk, Offering a distinct flavorFresh and clean air, rich soil with powerful herbs, mountain milk of pure nature and honest craftsmanship made in a small mountain dairy. This is what apparently goes into Fior delle Alpi. Made in the cellars of Lustenberger & Durst, it matures for up to twelve months.

Trefaldwyn Blue

Trefaldwyn Cheese is made by dairy farmer Glenn Lloyd and his wife Sandie, on their organic farm near Llandyssil, Montgomeryshire. The cheese was initially crafted by Clare Jones, a former primary school teacher who began making cheese in 2018. She identified a gap in the local artisan food market and began developing Trefaldwyn Blue on her kitchen table. Her dedication led to a creamy, full-flavoured blue cheese made from pasteurised cow’s milk.

Trefaldwyn is the ancient Welsh name for the town of Montgomery, meaning Town of Baldwin. Baldwin de Boulers was a Marcher Lord in the 1130s before Montgomery’s stone castle was built. Montgomery was always a key strategic town located in the heart of the Welsh Marches at a key access point along the Welsh-English border.

In August 2023, Clare entrusted the legacy of Trefaldwyn Cheese to the Lloyds. Glenn, a third-generation dairy farmer, and Sandie have embraced the opportunity to continue producing Trefaldwyn Blue, using organic milk from their own herd. Under this new stewardship, Trefaldwyn Blue continues to be celebrated for its creamy texture and bold, savoury tang, securing its place as a distinguished product in the Welsh artisan cheese landscape.

Kaltbach Alpine Creamy

Kaltbach is a firm pressed, deliciously smooth, Swiss mountain cheese made using the finest, fresh Swiss cream and cows milk. Kaltbach Alpine is matured in caves that are found in the Santenberg mountain in Switzerland, where the cheeses have been matured since the 1950’s.

The cheeses are matured in the humid, cool temperatures of the Kaltbach sandstone caves for around 4-5 months, which gives the cheese a uniqueness and helps to enhance the flavour. Semi firm in consistency, the thick, brushed rind cheese has a rich, melt in the mouth texture.

It has all the qualities you would expect from any alpine cheese. It has a creamy, buttery and slightly nutty flavour and is a delicious alternative to Gruyere when cooking.

Lancashire

Lancashire is an English cow's-milk cheese from the county of Lancashire. There are three distinct varieties of Lancashire cheese. Young Creamy Lancashire and mature Tasty Lancashire are produced by a traditional method, whereas Crumbly Lancashire (more commonly known as Lancashire Crumbly within Lancashire) is a more recent creation suitable for mass production.

It is traditionally paired with Eccles cakes and Chorley cakes.

Waitrose sell the creamy Lancashire which tastes a little like Cheddar.

For centuries, Lancashire dairy farmers' wives made cheese from surplus milk. On small farms there was insufficient milk from a single day to make a cheese, and so each day's milk was curdled and accumulated for several days until there was enough curd to make a cheese. Uniquely amongst all British cheeses, two or three days' curd of varying maturity are blended together, giving Lancashire cheese a distinctive character. The traditional method was standardised in the 1890s by Joseph Gornall of Garstang and Pilling, a county council employee, who visited many Lancashire farms to establish a method and recipe that is still used today – the "Gornall method". His "Gornall Patent Cheesemaker" was sold between 1892 and 1919.

Creamy Lancashire cheese is made by this traditional method and matured for a period of four to twelve weeks. It has a fluffy texture and creamy flavour, and is good for toasting, as it does not become stringy when melted.

Wensleydale

Wensleydale is a style of cheese originally produced in Wensleydale, North Yorkshire, but now mostly made in large commercial creameries throughout the UK. The term "Yorkshire Wensleydale" can only be used for cheese that is made in Wensleydale. The style of cheese originated from a monastery of French Cistercian monks who had settled in northern Englan and continued to be produced by local farmers after the monastery was dissolved in 1540. Wensleydale cheese fell to low production in the early 1990s but its popularity was revitalised by frequent references in the Wallace & Gromit series.

Wensleydale is a medium cheese that is supple and crumbly. It has a slight honey aroma they say.

The flavour of Wensleydale is suited to combination with sweeter produce, such as sweet apples. Many restaurants and delicatessens serve a version of the cheese that contains cranberries and sometimes other fruits. In Yorkshire and North East England, the cheese is often eaten with fruit cake or Christmas cake.

Wensleydale was first made by French Cistercian monks from the Roquefort region, who had settled in Wensleydale. They built a monastery at Fors but some years later the monks moved to Jervaulx in Lower Wensleydale. They brought with them a recipe for making cheese from sheep's milk. During the 14th century cows' milk began to be used instead, and the character of the cheese began to change. A little ewes' milk was still mixed in since it gave a more open texture, and allowed the development of the blue mould. At that time, Wensleydale was almost always blue with the white variety almost unknown. Nowadays, the opposite is true, with blue Wensleydale rarely seen. When the monastery was dissolved local farmers continued making the cheese until the Second World War, during which most milk in the country was used for the making of "Government Cheddar". Even after rationing ceased in 1954, cheese making did not return to pre-war levels.

The first creamery to produce Wensleydale commercially was established in 1897 in the town of Hawes. Wensleydale Dairy Products, who bought the Wensleydale Creamery in 1992, sought to protect the name Yorkshire Wensleydale under an EU regulation; Protected Geographical Indication status was awarded in 2013.

George Orwell rated Wensleydale second only behind Stilton in his 1945 essay "In Defence of English Cooking".

In the 1990s, sales of Wensleydale cheese from the Wensleydale Creamery had fallen so low that production in Wensleydale itself was at risk of being suspended. The cheese experienced a boost in its popularity after being featured in the Wallace & Gromit series. The main character of the series, Wallace, a cheese connoisseur, most notably mentions Wensleydale as a particularly favourite cheese in the 1995 short A Close Shave. Animator and creator Nick Park chose it solely because it had a good name that would be interesting to animate the lip sync to rather than due to its origins in northern England where the shorts were set. He was also unaware of the financial difficulties that the company was experiencing. The company contacted Aardman Animations about a licence for a special brand of Wensleydale cheese called, "Wallace & Gromit Wensleydale", which sold well. When the 2005 full-length Wallace & Gromit film, The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, was released, sales of Wensleydale cheeses increased by 23%.

Wensleydale is one of the cheeses mentioned in the Cheese shop sketch of Monty Python's Flying Circus that Mr Mousebender attempts to purchase, without success. There is a glimmer of hope the shop may have this variety of cheese, only for the proprietor to reveal that his name is Arthur Wensleydale, and he thought he was being personally addressed.

Cambozola

Cambozola is a cow's milk cheese that is a combination in style of a French soft-ripened triple cream cheese and Italian Gorgonzola. The combines the words Camembert and Gorgonzola. There is also a reference in there to Cambodunum, the Roman name of Kempten, the city where Champignon is located.

Cambozola was patented and industrially produced for the global market by the German company Hofmeister-Champignon. The cheese has been sold since 1983 and is still produced by Champignon. In English-speaking countries, Cambozola is often marketed as blue brie.

It is made from a combination of Penicillium camemberti and the same blue Penicillium roqueforti mould used to make Gorgonzola, Roquefort and Stilton. Extra cream is added to the milk, giving Cambozola a rich consistency characteristic of triple crèmes, while the edible bloomy rind is similar to that of Camembert. Cambozola is considerably milder than Gorgonzola piccante and features a smooth, creamy texture with a subdued blue flavour.

The first five cheeses

I have been using the cheese advent calendar. The cheeses are processed adn wrapped in plastic, I should probably let them breathe a bit before eating and I should have the with a cracker or something but there we are. (Looking around I see that the calendar is offered by some suppliers with chutney or biscuits). No doublers yet. So far we have had

Ilchester Aged Red Leicester

This traditional English cheese has been carefully matured for a minimum of 9 months giving it a distinguishable smooth, tangy and nutty taste.

llchester Cheddar

This traditional English cheese has been carefully matured for a minimum of 9 months giving it a distinguishable smooth, tangy and nutty taste.

Ilchester Double Gloucester

A hard cheese with a savoury, mellow flavour, famous for being the cheese that is rolled down Coopers Hill yearly, in May, for the UK’s most extreme cheese race!

Ilchester Mature Cheddar

This cheddar comes from the West Country, close to where Cheddar originated in the Mendip Hills. Take a bite and let the creaminess melt in your mouth, with its earthy tangy notes.

Ilchester Red Leicester with black peppers

This smooth and nutty traditional English cheese is flecked with cracked black pepper to give a delicious savoury, smooth flavour and a little bite.

Advent Calendar

As a treat for Christmas I have purchased a cheese advent calendar.

Looking forward to enjoying it soon.

Smoked Cerwyn

Caws Cerwyn is a young, creamy cows’ milk cheese made by Pant Mawr in Rosebush, Pembrokeshire in Wales. It is a moderately hard cheese, similar to a Cheddar, which has been matured for a short period to give it a smooth, buttery taste and plenty of bite. The cheese is named after the highest mountain in the Preseli range, which sits behind the family farm.

Caws Cerwyn is beautiful as part of a cheeseboard or eaten with fresh, buttered bread. It has been a Silver award winner at the British Cheese Awards.

Pant Mawr Cheeses is run by David and Cynthia Jennings and their son Jason on their traditional Pembrokeshire hill farm.

The smoked version retains the creamy texture of the original Caws Cerwyn but has a deeply savoury tang, having been cold smoked over oak from sustainable forests.

Mountain Meadow

A hard, Swiss cow's milk cheese (usually unpasteurised) covered with herbs and wild flowers, with a fully edible rind. The Swiss call it bergwiese.

Paneer

Paneer, also known as ponir, is a fresh acid-set cheese common in cuisine of the Indian subcontinent made from full-fat buffalo milk or cow milk. It is a non-aged, non-melting soft cheese made by curdling milk with a fruit- or vegetable-derived acid, such as lemon juice.

The word paneer entered English from the Hindi-Urdu term panīr, which comes from Persian panir 'cheese', which comes from Old Iranian. Armenian panir Azeri pəndir, Bengali ponir, Turkish peynir and Turkmen peýnir, all derived from Persian panir, also refer to cheese of any type.

The origin of paneer is debated. Ancient Indian, Afghan-Iranian and Portuguese origins have been proposed for paneer. One theory is that like the word itself, paneer originated in Persianate lands and spread to the Indian subcontinent under Muslim rule. Paneer, according to this theory, was developed and moulded to suit local tastes under these rulers, and the Delhi Sultanate and Mughal Empire are when paneer as currently known developed. Another theory states that paneer is Afghan in origin and spread to India from the lands that make up Afghanistan

According to others, paneer is indigenous to the north-western part of South Asia and was introduced in India by Afghan and Iranian travellers.

Yet another theory is that the Portuguese may have introduced the technique of "breaking" milk with acid to Bengal in the 17th century.

It is usually fried in apan like halloumi.

Mimolette

Mimolette is a cheese traditionally produced around the city of Lille, France. In France it is also known as Boule de Lille after its city of origin or vieux Hollande because it was originally inspired by the Dutch Edam cheese.

Mimolette has a spherical shape and is similar in appearance to a cantaloupe melon. It normally weighs about 2 kg (app 4.5 pounds) and is made from cow's milk. Its name comes from the French word mi-mou (feminine mi-molle), meaning "semi-soft", which refers to the oily texture of this otherwise hard cheese. The bright orange color of the cheese comes from the natural seasoning, annatto. When used in small amounts, primarily as a food colourant, annatto adds no discernible flavour or aroma. The grey-coloured rind of aged Mimolette is caused by cheese mites that are added to the surface of the cheese. They serve to enhance its flavour.

Mimolette can be consumed at different stages of aging. When younger, its taste resembles that of Parmesan. Many appreciate it most when it is "extra-old" (extra-vieille). At that point, it can become rather hard to chew, and the flesh takes on a hazelnut-like flavour.

It was originally made by the request of Louis XIV, who – in the context of Jean-Baptiste Colbert's mercantilistic policies – was looking for a native French product to replace the then very popular Edam. To make it distinct from Edam, it was first coloured using carrot juice and later seasoned with annatto to give it a distinct orange colour.

The cheese was known to be a favourite of French President Charles de Gaulle.

In 2013, the Food and Drug Administration in the USA detained about a ton of the cheese, putting further imports to the USA on hold. This was because the cheese mites could cause an allergic reaction if consumed in large quantities. The FDA stated that the cheese was above the standard of six mites per cubic inch. The restriction was lifted in 2014.