The Netherlands and Scandinavia
Starting with northern Europe, cheeses from the Netherlands and Scandinavian countries are traditionally buttery and sweet, and almost all are based on centuries-old recipes that preserve spring, summer, and early autumn milk in the form of cheese for long, cold winters. For centuries, cheese has been an important trade commodity in this region.
The Netherlands
The Netherlands is made up of 11 regions, of which Holland is the largest. Cheese making began here during the eleventh century. The landscape is flat and filled with waterways that have supported a long history of trade and shipping.
In the 1970s, the Dutch led the world in cheese exports, and because exporting cheese has been such an important part of their economy, cheese-making techniques have gravitated to those that ensure uniform cheeses, consistent in taste and texture, and able to travel long distances for lengthy periods of time: Goudas. Goudas are the most famous Dutch cheeses, of which there are young (less than one year old), medium (one to two years old), and aged (up to four years old) varieties.
In the past decade or so, American stores have begun to stock a nice variety of young, medium, and aged Goudas, giving some Americans their first taste of the full range of Goudas that have been produced in the Netherlands for centuries. Edam and Leiden cheeses are also made in large quantities in the Netherlands.
Scandinavia
Of the Scandinavian countries, Denmark and Norway are best known for their cheese. Both have an abundance of seaports and enough flat pastureland to support large dairy industries. Denmark has the largest grazing lands in Scandinavia (in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, acres of salty marshland were converted to agricultural use, thus contributing to the large areas available for grazing.). Cows are the principal dairy animal in Denmark, and both cows and goats are part of Norway's dairy history.
Cooperative farming methods are common in both countries. By pooling the milk of numerous herds, Scandinavian countries have created large signature cheeses such as Havarti and Jarlsberg. The first cooperative dairy of northern Europe was established in 1856 in Norway. Immigrating Trappist monks have also been influential, bringing with them recipes for Port Salud, Camembert, and Brie, and the fishing industry's methods for preserving and smoking fish have been adopted for smoking cheese.
The Norwegian “cheese,” Gjetost, is not technically a cheese because it is not made from curds. Instead, whey from cow's and goat's milk is cooked until it develops a rich, caramel color. The results are sweet and nutty, and Gjetost is a traditional spread for breakfast toast.
As in the Netherlands, Scandinavia has pushed to implement consistent cheese-making techniques that produce cheeses uniform in taste and texture, and transport well. Danish Blue is called Danablu in Denmark. The cheese was developed in the early 1900s by Marius Boel who fashioned it after French Roquefort. It's become one of the most famous blue cheeses in the world.
