i have been there. i bought a brick of extra sharp cheddar. the black package. it was significantly cheaper than the CostCo price.
I think I pay around $8.79 per half kilo or more. That's 6.39 euros. That's for the imported from the Netherlands not Wisconsin gouda.
I love Dutch cheese, but frankly it's not as interesting as Swiss or French cheese. An old Gouda style cheese is great, but what else is there? You have a problem if you need to put cloves or mustard seeds into cheese to spice it up. Swiss and French cheeses offer far more variety. And an old Gruyere or Comte beats any Dutch cheese hands down. Just my opinion.
if the Gouda is made in Het Nederlands, i would expect it to cost more than if made in Wisconsin. nicht wahr? ( ok, it's German, but whuddya want from a mutt like me? )
What Dutch cheese do you get where you live though? Even in a non-specialist Dutch supermarket, even a tiny one, you have a choice of about 15 Dutch cheeses! Gouda alone has a shedload of varieties, ranging from garlic to cumin through to smoked and nettle (yes nettle), from young to very mature, from factory made to farmers Gouda (which is what sensible Dutch people buy as it's unpasteurised and has a higher fat percentage and everybody knows cheese needs fat to taste good). You get factory made Gouda don't you?Dutch cheese lovers never buy factory made stuff! They go to the market to their cheese stall where they let them taste a variety of cheeses, Itheypick one, they cut a piece of from a whole cheese wheel and wrap it in cheese paper the way it should be done. With all due respect you can't really compare that to factory made export Gouda! It's not just Gouda either, there's a load of Dutch cream cheeses again in a shedload of varieties, then Leerdammer, Edammer, goats cheeses, etc etc. Don't get me wrong I love all cheeses and agree that the Italians and the French have a greater variety of cheese but for your every day cheese needs, the Dutch is where it's at. By the way next time you buy an allegedly French or Italian cheese though, check the label. The Dutch are the biggest dairy exporters in the world and think nothing of posing as Meditteraneans hehehe.
first, don't capitalize my name, you twit. second, it's one word, you malodorous pile of parrot droppings. third, you made me laugh aloud.
Err no, I don't buy factory Gouda that is wrapped in plastic (never wrap cheese in plastic, obviously). I get my cheese from my local market, the cheese counter in Waitrose (which has far more types of cheese that say Albert Hein), and a lot straight from the Netherlands as my wife is Dutch, and my schoonouders visit us all the time (with cheese). Admittedly most of my Dutch cheese eating is done around Groningen or based on cheese bought in Groningen, which is not one of the most civilised areas. But I have eaten many pasteurised and unpasteurised cheeses in many Dutch places, and the difference between Leerdammer (nice, but a bit dull), Edamer (nice, but a a bit dull) and Gouda (ok, and a bit dull, but great when aged) is negligible compared to the difference between say a Compte, a Munster, a good Camenbert and a Roquefort. That's why you need to fiddle with kruidnagels, mosterd zaad, komijn - fight the boredom. But having said that I still love Dutch cheese, it's just not as varied as cheese from some other countries. Anyway I guess we basically agree here - Dutch cheese is nice but a bit limited. On a sidenote, Swedish cheese is very underrated. I love Vaesterbotten. Although they tend to wrap everything in plastic up there.
There's nought wrong with Groningen! I think I've said it before but the Dutch don't eat Edam. It's only got thirty percent fat, enough said. Yes the foreigners have a lot more fancy cheeses but when I was in Asia for months where they did have Camembert etc but not plain Dutch cheese I confess I got a tear in my eye when at a Dutch embassy party they served up 'diplomatically imported' gouda. And bitterballen. Bitterballen are crap food compared to fancy French food but there are times when you much prefer bitterballen, I'm sure you get what I mean.
http://www.applepiepatispate.com/wp.../08/juustoleipa-leipajuusto-cheese-sliced.jpg This is a fantastic cheese. Juustoleipa is made from reindeer milk. I don't know how to put a picture in the post so here is a link.
Finnish cheese ( juusto -- / -- leipa is bread ) is just like the Finns themselves. You know how you can tell a Finnish extrovert: he stares at your shoes.
That apple pie Pati's whatever link got me wondering, has anybody had a slice of cheddar on their apple pie? I used to live in Vermont ("Go Voltage!"). Apparently that is the official way of indulging in apple pie there. Actually sounds kind of good.
