Gouda cheese

The Spruce Eats: What Is Gouda Cheese? Gouda is an gouda cheese Dutch cheese with a colorful, wax-coated rind and sweet flavor. Our guide on Gouda includes where to buy, substitutes, how to serve, and storage.

Gouda is synonymous with the Netherlands, where this style of cheese dates back to the 1500s and possibly as early as the 12th century. In fact, Gouda is named after the town of Gouda, home to one of the country’s bustling cheese markets. Between the 1500s and 1700s, the Dutch became masters of cheesemaking by innovating techniques to create durable, long-lasting cheeses like Gouda and Edam. These regulations define criteria around the production of cheeses that may be sold under a specific label. Because of this, the quality of gouda varies widely, with both commodity cheeses and small-scale artisan wheels marketed under the name. Boerenkaas is the Dutch word that’s equivalent to “farmstead” cheese in the United States.

That is, cheese made from the milk of animals who live on the same farm where the cheese is made. The rest of the Gouda made in the Netherlands comes from dairy cooperatives who pool milk from many farms to make cheese. One well-known Dutch co-op is Beemster, which sells its Gouda across the United States. Raw or pasteurized milk is heated, then cultures are added to begin fermentation and acidify the milk.