Life in the Netherlands is quite great by itself (canals, thousands of cafes, museums,bicycles and what not), but what makes it better is cheese (kaas). What makes it even better is that cheese goes incredibly well with a bottle of white wine. But about this in some other post…
Let’s start with the cheesy facts first:
Just these few facts prove that Netherlands is the cheese heaven. If you still don’t believe me, check out the video
Living here it is a must to know the dutch vocabulary to be able to order the right cheese according to your own taste preferences.
Cheese variety
The most famous dutch cheese is Gouda (Goudse kaas) and Edam(Edammer kaas). However, there are many more you could try: Leidse kaas, Hollandse gatenkaas, Friese nagelkaas, Kruidenkaas, Geiten- en schapenkaas, Rookkaas, Smeerkaas. I am not a kaasverkoper (cheese specialist – yes, there are such people here), but I heard that the local cheese lovers choose Boerenkaas – a fresh local farmer’s type of cheese, made of raw, unpasteurized milk. Another interesting type you could taste is unique grass cheese – Graskaas – don’t worry it is not made of grass. It is prepared with the the milk of the cows, which are fed only with young, fresh spring grass. Oh, if you like strange things, try the green cheese made with pesto, it is delicious!
Hoe langer een kaas rijpt, hoe harder hij wordt – The longer a cheese matures, the harder it becomes.
I think now you are absolutely prepared to go and choose the best dutch cheese out there. If you did not have enough of cheese, let me leave you with a great dutch saying:
Ieder kaasje heeft zijn gaatje
Literally it means ‘Every cheese has its hole’, used to express that we all have our flaws, meaning “nobody’s perfect’.
Citywordhunt Dutch 