Summertime. The cows are grazing in meadows full of life, producing a milk full of taste. This milk is the base from which our Aged Artisan Gouda is made. But before the milk is turned into cheese, quite a few things that need to happen first.
The cheese maker adds the fresh, still warm cow’s milk to the milk from the previous evening. Next is to add a starter culture and rennet, which makes the milk turn into a white curd.
The curd is cut, stirred and then splits into two. The liquid part, the whey, is drained. The remaining curd is the basic ingredient for cheese.
The curd is placed in wooden barrels lined by linen cloths. These wooden barrels help maintain the temperature just a little longer than usual plastic barrels. A little difference of great importance that helps to create the cheese’s characteristic creaminess. The curd is pressed into its characteristic shape, followed by a five-day brine bath, which allows the salt to slowly penetrate the cheese for taste.
After this bath, the cheese is transported to the affineur, where it is given plenty of time to ripen further on wooden shelfs. The affineur brushes, coats and turns the cheese for at least 18 months until it has developed its characteristic rich, full taste and smoothness.
Traditional artisan cheese that still has time to ripen and reach full taste.
Raw milk means that the milk is not heated, so that valuable elements and taste are retained. By not pasteurizing, each cheese bath can develop its own taste. As raw milk is a natural product, there can be minor variations in aroma and taste, characteristic of raw milk cheese.
Pasteurization gives the cheese maker greater operational reliability, but the cheese a flatter taste. To make a good, tasty, raw milk cheese, featuring a long time of ripening, real craftsmanship is required.
