On Gouda

There are many reasons why I look forward to my monthly trip to the Co Op and Whole Foods. For example, the mass of local produce, the fish, the bulk bins and goat's milk and yogurt, the chocolate sauce I can find no where else; the cheese selection.

One of my guilty pleasures is browsing for cheese. I love reading the labels and smelling the cheese through its wrap. It's always exciting to pick a new cheese to take home and try - rarely ever do I pick the same one twice. 

I skim through the bri's and camemberts - but they aren't what tempts me (though I tried La Tur, a bloomy gooey goat, sheep, and cows milk cheese, in June, and it was incredible). I'm far more interested in the hard and semi-hard cheeses, which is why, this time, I went with an aged gouda. 

I know what you're thinking: Gouda? Go ahead and pick the most uninteresting cheese ever why don't cha. Well at least I didn't choose pepper jack (even though I l o v e it!).

Well, I have never tried any other gouda besides the smoked kind. And after recently trying a smoked maple cheddar, I've decided that smoked cheeses seem to have the same taste - the smoked taste - almost saltier? Which is sort of sad when you think about it because you loose the base taste of the cheddar or the gouda; it's masked and cheese becomes one and the same. Smoked cheese. I'll pass. 

I feel like this cheese gave me a chance to finally taste gouda as gouda. Excellent, nutty, dense cheese that begins to melt in your mouth within moments of eating it. Yum. 

The facts:

Cheese's Name: Marieke Farmhouse Gouda

Milk: Raw Cow's Milk (hurray for live enzymes!)

Age: 4 months

Rennet: Animal

From: Thorpe, Wisconsin

Cost: $16.99/lb

I'm no cheese tasting professional, but I think this cheese is fantastic! And it's raw cows milk which is a huge plus in my book because it means the enzymes in the milk were not killed via pasteurization before hand - so it's a better cheese for your digestive flora. :) It is also from within the US, which I consider a 'local' cheese - and I always feel like such a good person when I buy local. Shouldn't we all?

So there you have it: a brief, slightly insignificant post about gouda cheese. To be honest, I took the pictures of the cheese, liked the way the turned out, and figured I would write a post about them. What do you guys think of me writing a post about the 'special' cheese I buy monthly? I think it could be fun. 

Have a gouda Friday!