As it happens i cross the mountains from east to the west of Norway. Sort of in the middle there is a roadside small grocery specializing in all local and edible. A usual stop, as it was about a week ago when I passed. I bought a couple of Norwegian farmstead cheeses, one of which was Trolltind from Derinngarden dairy on the north west coast of Norway. This is an area where they are clever making cheese, and where also Kraftkar comes from. Quite a while since I tasted this as it is not well distributed, at least not in the Oslo area where I live. Derinngarden dairy makes cheese from organic raw cow’s milk provided by the 10 to 14 cows they have on the farm.
Trolltind from Derinngarden dairy, Eide på Nordmøre, Norway.
Every time I find the French magazine Profession Fromager in my letterbox I know I have a few challenges ahead. With my school French, still somehow there, Google translate and whatever is available I by and large manage to get through the magazine. Much easier this time as the complete magazine was a huge list of French raw milk cheese producers and some facts about the development of French PDO cheeses. The French magazine Profession Fromager.
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Not often I wander around the City of Trondheim as it is some 500+ kilometres north of Oslo. So the occation was my mother-in-law’s aniversary, inviting the whole family for a week-end to Trondheim. She and her husband have lived much of their adult life there, but moved to metropolitan Oslo almost twenty years ago. On my way to a guided tour of the cathedral Nidarosdomen I passed through a farmer’s marked and ran across a farmstead dairy offering British style cheeses among other things.
In spite of both a cultural, geographic and tradewise close connection to the British Isles, not much cheese inspiration has crossed the North Sea. British style cheese is something we often find in the USA, especially up north east in beautiful New England. That is something hailing from the Mayflower and all the consequences that brought, but I am puzzled that our small scale dairies have seen almost no value in learning from British cheese makers. However, without claiming perfect knowledge of who has found their inspiration where, there are at least two farmstead dairies doing it the British way. Torbjørnrud – a hotel, a farm and a dairy – with their cheddar style cheese; one from cow’s milk and one from ewe’s milk, I have been ware of quite a while. The “new” dairy that I found is Hindrum gårdsysteri at Vanvikan, Fosen. Fosen being the peninsula across the fjord from Trondheim. And Trøndelag, in case you wonder, is the county. Two of the cheeses from Hindrum gårdsysteri, Cheddar og Cheshire style respectively.
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It is still Christmas, and as the year is about to ebb, it is time for reflection. Some do and some don’t, but if you’re sitting down for some reflection don’t do it alone. Bring a glass of Malus Danica and a delicious slice of Stichelton. Both artisanal products in their own right, but far apart. Paired though, they’re lifted to a higher unity that just might bring your mind off track and on to a path of pure taste and indulgence. In that case it was probably meant to be. Malus Danica, as the name partly indicates, is a Danish ice-wine made from a variety of apples. Stichelton is a Stilton style cheese as Stilton ought to be. In my opinion, anyway. Danske Malus Danica and the English Stichelton in Christmas harmony.
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