Cheese

History
The Dutch have been producing cheese since before 400 AD. The importance of cheese making increased as the process of cattle breeding improved. In the Middle Ages official dairy markets and weigh houses were introduced which controlled both the quality and the weight of the cheese.

All the produced cheese came from farms in the provinces of Noord Holland, Zuid Holland, Friesland, and western Utrecht. Although production has been taken over by factories, there are still over 600 farms today (mostly in the provinces of Zuid Holland and Utrecht) that produce cheese, known as "Boerenkaas" (farmers cheese), made from unpasteurized milk.

Cheese types
“Gouda,” “Edam,” and “Leiden” cheeses are among the most prominent of all Dutch cheeses. More than 50% of the total cheese production consists of Gouda cheese. Edam cheese is the only cheese in the world to hold a perfectly round shape and is the second most important product in the variety of Dutch cheeses representing 27% of the total Dutch cheese production. Leiden cheese distinguishes itself from the others by the addition of cumin seeds.

Soft young cheese (“jonge kaas”) is ripened for about three weeks. Sharp cheese ("belegen kaas") ripens between two and seven months while the very sharp varieties ("oude kaas") need to ripen for at least twelve months.

Cheese markets
In the olden days, the farmer would take his cheese once a week to a nearby cheese market looking for a bidder. Today, the cheese markets in Gouda and Alkmaar (open during the summer months) still feature the old rituals and traditions of the cheese trading process.

The bidding process goes as follows: a buyer approaches a farmer and offers him a price. This price is immediately rejected and the buyer leaves, only to return shortly with a second bid. At this time, the farmer raises the price and the buyer walks away again. He returns a third time when a price is finally agreed upon and the cheese is officially weighed.

At the same time the buyer is also engaging in what is known as "cheese bashing." He bangs the palm of his hand against the cheese to determine whether the holes in the cheese are the right size. The banging continues until the price is agreed. Each slap of the hand means that either the buyer has increased his offer or the farmer has decreased the price.

Once this procedure has ended, the buyer samples the cheese to test for flavor and age. This is done with a six-inch cheese borer that the buyer plunges into the cheese.

The cheese porters wear white uniforms and lacquered straw hats. They carry the cheese on barrows painted in the color of their section (80 cheeses per barrow, weighing approx. 353 pounds in total). The cheese is carried to the weigh house, where the Weighing Master calls out the correct weight and writes it down on a blackboard. The porters subsequently take the cheeses to the buyers’ warehouses or to lorries waiting to transport the cheeses.

Alkmaar's cheese market
The Alkmaar cheese market is unique in the world. It attracts many visitors, as it is one of the best-known sights of Holland. The market is held every Friday morning at 10 a.m. (from April to September) in front of the historical weigh house, in the pretty town center. The market derives much of its appeal from the performance of the cheese porters.

It is thought that the city probably had scales for weighing cheese as early as 1365. Today’s market is as true to tradition as possible, and cheese is still being traded here. The function of the weigh house has changed though: it now houses the local Tourist Information Office (VVV), a restaurant and the Dutch Cheese Museum. Demonstrations of old crafts are given around the market square.

Gouda's cheese market
The name “Gouda” is associated throughout the world with Gouda cheese, an important export product. For centuries, farmers from the surrounding towns have brought their produce to the cheese market in Gouda.

The “Waag” (weigh house) in Gouda is one of many beautiful monuments in town and dates from 1668. During the summer, cheese is weighed here every Thursday morning in an attractive ceremony drawing many tourists. Anyone interested or hungry can also take the opportunity to taste some authentic Gouda cheese.

Cheese museum Alkmaar
The cheese museum in Alkmaar is housed in the old weigh house on the main square. The cheese museum has displays on the history of cheese as well as on cheese-making equipment. Emphasis is placed on the tools used in the 18th and 19th centuries before the advent of dairy factories.

Cheese museum Gouda
The old weigh house of Gouda is also a cheese museum nowadays. The Dutch dairy-industry and the city of Gouda are placed in the framework of cultural history, economy, architecture, society, agriculture, trade and industry by means of visual displays and modern interactive media devices.