Say cheese!
Unlike champagne, gouda is not a protected name, which means that most of the gouda cheese sold all over the world has never been anywhere near Gouda, a Dutch city northeast of Rotterdam. Anyway, even in Gouda most of the cheese nowadays is produced industrially, with vast vats stirring the milk and removing the whey. It’s increasingly difficult to find farm-produced gouda. After it has been made, the cheese is stored to allow ripening. Depending on the length of storage – from a couple of weeks to a few months – it is marketed as young gouda or old gouda. A really old gouda will bring tears to your eyes.
