Gouda Holland

Appearance & taste

Gouda Holland has the shape of a flat cylinder whose round side merges smoothly into the flat top and bottom; its height is a quarter to a third of its diameter. Block and loaf shapes with straight or rounded sides are also allowed. A cheese weighs 2.5 to 20 kg.

The rind forms by drying during ripening. It is closed, smooth, dry and free of mould. The paste is ivory to yellow and has visible holes, sometimes unevenly distributed. After four weeks it is somewhat soft to supple; with longer ripening it becomes firmer and its structure shorter. The taste is aromatic and, depending on age, mild to full-flavoured. Cumin may be added. The cheese is eaten no earlier than 28 days after production, sometimes only after more than a year.

Before pressing, each cheese receives a casein mark with the name “Gouda Holland” and a combination of numbers and letters that is issued only once. The Dutch inspection body COKZ keeps a register of them. Whole cheeses carry the name on the label on the flat side or on a band.

Production

The milk comes exclusively from dairy farmers in the Netherlands. It is cooled to no more than 6 °C on the farm and taken to the dairy within 96 hours. There it is processed directly or first thermised, that is, heated without pasteurising, and stored chilled for a short time. The fat content is then adjusted so that the finished cheese contains 48–52 % fat in dry matter, and the cheese milk is pasteurised for 15 seconds at no less than 72 °C.

The milk coagulates at about 30 °C. The only cultures allowed are non-genetically modified mesophilic starter cultures, if necessary with thermophilic adjunct cultures. The rennet may come from calves’ stomachs, consist of bovine peptides or be of microbial origin; genetically engineered rennet is excluded. The curd is separated from the whey, washed, pressed into moulds and then immersed in a brine bath.

Gouda Holland ripens exclusively in the air. During this time it is regularly turned and checked, and the dry rind forms; ripening in foil is not allowed. Cutting and packaging are also permitted outside the Netherlands if a complete control system guarantees the origin of each piece.

Origin & history

“Holland” in the name stands for the Netherlands. The specification attributes the suitability of the milk to the country’s location, mostly below sea level, to the maritime climate and to the grasses of the clay and sandy soils. The cold chain and short transport routes help to preserve the quality of the milk.

According to the specification, Dutch cheese culture developed from the Middle Ages onwards and flourished in the 17th century. From the 18th century, the cheese traded in the town of Gouda was called “Goudse kaas”. Later the name was used for any flat-cylindrical, full-fat cheese made in Holland. What had been made on farms and in local dairies became a product made throughout the country. At the beginning of the 20th century, Gouda cheese was given national legislation, which also laid down the name “Gouda Holland”.