OSTEPERLER®

I would not say it is out of character to write about Ridderost, a pasteurised cheese, but not often that happens in here. Any rule has an exception. This is a Norwegian cheese, washed rind with annatto added so the rind is very yellowish. Paste is very even and smooth, semi-firm and not like traditional washed rind cheeses that have frequent small holes scattered around. They might appear i, but are few. The cheese is sort of semi industrial, made at a small dairy, not saying there is much manual handling. I don’t think so, that there is much manual handling I mean, but I do not know. I would not say it qualifies as being artisan. The cheese was “invented” here, back in 1970, so from a historic cheese perspective it is a young cheese. The name Ridder, as it is sometimes called, means Knight. No specifications as to the milk other than it has to be cows’ and sourced from the two municipalities Vestnes, where the dairy is situated, and neighbouring Rauma, famous for Romsdalen and Trollveggen.

Ridderost – my breakfast favouriteRead More »

There is this beautiful French island Corsica south-east of Nice and south of Genova with a lot of cheese of which my absolute favourite is Brin d’Amour. A ewe’s milk cheese covered with dried local herbs. Creamy when young and firmer with some age. The paste is so beautifully white while the rind can appear anything from rather boring grey to rather colourful. A small scale, farm made raw milk cheese of course. But mind you, it has a pasteurised, more industrial cousin called Fleur de Maquis.

Brin d’Amour from the island of CorsicaRead More »