Products, part 1

Say CHEESE!!!

Or better yet: say Gouda cheese!!! And if you are not Dutch, or if you are Dutch but born 'below the rivers' (the southern part of the Netherlands), than you should better train yourself in the pronunciation before you start your next shopping trip.

If you have a sound card, this might help.

Gouda cheese is sold all over the world, but only a very small part of it is really produced in or around Gouda. The brand name is not protected, so Gouda cheese may come from any place in or outside Holland. Most of the cheese is produced in factories. However, there are a number of dairy farms where cheese is produced in the traditional way.

: Farmers cheese

For instance, you could go to the Kaasboerderij Van der Stok , @West-Vlistdijk 19, Vlist, 15 minutes driving distance from Gouda. There you can learn all about the production process.
The fresh milk is poured into a churn. Curdle is added and the milk is stirred. After some time the upper part becomes very watery (the whey) and is removed.
(By the way, we have a soft drink in Holland produced on basis of whey; it is sold under the slogan ' you have to be crazy, but the taste is real good'...)
The heavier part, the curd, remains and is cut by mechanical knives.

Then the cheese is put into casks.

A towel is put over the cheese, and then the humid mass is pressed to get the liquid out.

Finally, the cheeses are put into a salt bath.

Then, the cheeses have to ripe. They have to be turned regularly. After a number of weeks, the cheeses can be sold as 'young cheese', after a couple of months you can sell them at a higher price under the name 'old cheese'.
This is the regular procedure, but there are also special cheeses, like nettle-cheese (cheese made with stinging nettle, the middle one in the picture).

In Germany, Dutch cheese is promoted by 'Frau Antje', a Dutch girl selected for her beauty, and dressed in a traditional costume that is a jumble of different styles. Don't you agree that the authentic Frau Antje is much more beautiful and worthwhile to be immortalized?