Dutch cheese

The Dutch cheese that we are used to seeing on store shelves is a descendant of the Dutch edamer. It is a solid dairy product, the taste of which depends on the degree of aging. It can be salty, sweet, sour or neutral. The original Dutch edamer is painted in a pale yellow shade. Its taste has subtle sour notes and a slight nutty flavor. The structure of the cheese is considered noble – tender, plastic, but quite dense. What you need to know about the product, which cheeses are considered Dutch and is it safe to introduce them into your daily diet?

General characteristics

Cheese is a food product based on cheese milk, lactic acid bacteria and special enzymes that fold milk protein. The protein that we extract from cheese is digested much easier and more efficiently than dairy. Extractive substances, which abound in cheese, stimulate appetite, promote salivation and prepare the gastrointestinal tract for active work. Useful nutrients from a dairy food product are absorbed by 98%. Among them are retinol (vitamin A), ascorbic acid (vitamin C), tocopherol (vitamin E), B vitamins and minerals. Cheese is a concentrate of milk. The ratio of proteins / fats / carbohydrates / nutrients in it is optimally balanced to cover most of the body’s needs.

Food Component Varieties

Dutch cheese is classified as hard cheese. By hardness, the ingredients are divided into soft, fresh, threaded, hard, semi-solid, hard rifled. Dutch-type cheeses are made predominantly in a rounded oblate or oval shape. They have small eyes or a completely flat smooth surface of the slices. The taste of the product is sharp, slightly salty, neutral varieties are also popular. Mass fraction of fat (on dry matter) is 45%. There are dozens of varieties of product in the Dutch cheeses category. We will analyze the most popular of them.

Gouda

Hard cheese comes from the Netherlands. The base is cow’s milk. Fat content – from 48 to 51%. The product is made in the form of a circle of medium size. The young cheese has a mild creamy taste, which becomes more pronounced, rich and clear with age. As it matures, the structure also changes – it becomes dry and crumbly.

Burenkass

Burenkass is one of the variations of Gouda. It is prepared exclusively on farms from unpasteurized milk. The maturation period is at least 18 months, and the maximum period reaches 4 years. A 4-year-old head of Dutch cheese is covered with an orange crust, the flesh is colored in a pale yellow or linen shade. The product is dense, crumbly, characterized by a nutty taste and a bitter coffee aftertaste. Ripening time affects the brightness of flavors. The older the cheese, the more refined and less sharp its flavor palette. Most of the burenkass cheese batches remain in the Netherlands. The minimum part of ripened heads is exported.

Leerdam

Another Dutch cheese based on cow’s milk. Its taste is very similar to traditional varieties like gouda or emmental. Manufacturers indicate that the flavor palette is nutty and soft. The fat content of leerdam is 45%. The product is traditionally sold with huge heads, the weight of which reaches 12 kilograms.

Edam

Semi-hard cheese, which belongs to the middle price category. The product is made in the form of spherical heads. The taste of the product has distinct nutty notes, and the smell intensifies as it ripens. young edam is not spicy, tender, sweetish with spicy notes. The more mature edamer is dry, unsalted and has an intense taste. The cheese is made from pasteurized cow’s milk. The amount of liquid varies from 40 to 50%, and the calorie content varies from 300 to 380 kcal per 100 grams.

Maasdam

This is a product of natural aging, which is famous for its delicate nutty taste and large eyes. Maasdam is one of the top 3 most popular Dutch cheeses and is in great demand among gourmets around the world. At the first stages of production, maasdam is no different from edamer or gouda. Later, as it matures, voluminous eyes appear in it. This is due to fermentation and the effect of gas on the pulp. The diameter of the eyes varies from 1 to 5 centimeters. Natural fermentation gives not only a special structure, but also aroma. Ripening time – 4 weeks or less. Maasdam has a much shorter maturation period than other Dutch cheeses due to the cheese starters. They contain propionic bacteria, which provide the product with a characteristic fresh taste, large eyes and rapid maturation.

Roomano

A hard Dutch cheese with a structure and taste very similar to Gouda. The main difference lies in the manufacturing technology – pasteurization is used for roomano. The finished product contains at least 48% fat, in Gouda this figure is always less than 48%. Roomano is made from cow’s milk and left to mature for 4-5 years. The taste palette combines both sweet and salty notes, which alternately replace each other and act on taste buds. Gourmets especially note the toffee aftertaste of roomano, which is very rare in hard cheeses.

The chemical composition of squared hard cheese

Benefits and possible harm of hard cheese

The most important element in the composition of Dutch cheese is polyunsaturated fatty acids. They protect cells from the oxidative process, and a person from aging, regulate blood sugar levels, protect against diabetes, restore a harmonious psycho-emotional state.

Dr. Dariusz Mozaffarian heads the Department of Nutrition at Tufts University School of Nutrition and Behavioral Sciences. He believes that lactic amino acids are relatively good for our health. Milk fat is neutral, so it should not be removed from the food basket or abused.

The dairy product is replete with healthy nutrients. It strengthens the protective functions of the body due to ascorbic acid (vitamin C), improves the quality of the skin and vision due to retinol (A) and stimulates the body’s vital functions due to mineral substances. But their usefulness is too small before a possible danger.

The concentration of salt in the cheese exceeds all acceptable indicators. One full bar contains more than the daily intake of sodium (Na). In addition to cheese, a person also uses a number of salty foods. This affects the work and condition of the vessels, leads to edema and affects the functionality during the day.

Cow’s milk may contain hormones and antibiotics. Hormones get there due to the peculiarities of the structure of the animal body, but antibiotics are supplied to milk by the person himself. Farmers give cows special supplements or injections to grow faster and produce more milk. Enzymes do not dissolve in the body of the animal, but go straight to our plate. The result is hormonal disruptions, psycho-emotional disharmony, sudden weight gains and uncontrolled eating behavior.

How to protect yourself? First, make your diet varied. Avoid daily cheese sandwiches in favor of toast with avocado, fruit or meat from the oven. Secondly, try to reduce the use of dairy products to a minimum. Instead of the usual half of the bar, eat a quarter, gradually reducing the dosage. Thirdly, buy only quality cheeses. The producer must responsibly monitor all production cycles, keep the cows in comfortable conditions, produce a painless milk intake and slaughter.

The price affects the quality of the finished product, since it is formed from the total costs of manufacturing the 1st bar. Buy cheeses from the middle or high price category to reduce the risk of antibiotics, hormones and other harmful impurities.