If a store has a big international cheese section, I usually poke around and look for my favorite Norwegian cheese, Nökkelost. It's a light yellow cow's milk cheese with caraway seeds in it.
Sadly, the most popular Norwegian cheese is Gjetost, a nasty medium brown goat's milk cheese.
My mom was trying to get me to eat a Gjetost sandwich when I was about 12 and when I refused she handed one to my dad and said that he eats it and I should too. My dad took a bite and spit it back out and told me I didn't have to eat Gjetost. My mom was angry that he didn't cooperate, but I've never forgotten that moment.
Even at Norwegian import stores you can buy all sorts of other ethnic food, but they never have Nökkelost. They say it doesn't come in very often and when it does it gets bought up and disappears quickly. Well, of course it does -- the other cheese you sell is nasty!
So I did a little research last night and I found out more about these two cheeses. Nökkelost even has a Wikipedia page. In it I learned that my favorite Norwegian cheese is flavored with cumin, caraway seeds and cloves, is "expensive and somewhat rare" and that an American version was made in the 1960s by Kraft. It was called "Caraway" then later called "Kuminost Spiced Cheese" and it vanished in the 1970s.
Then I found an online store where I can buy my "expensive and rare" cheese. It's $57.66 for a 2.2 pound wheel. Holy cheeses! That's like a whole tank of gas. It's a good thing my birthday is coming up soon...
Alvey :
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C'est cheese
GrimJack
EZ Street
Jon Sable, Freelance
Comments (3)
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Steph 1893 days ago
Okay being half-german and half-italian I have a couple of thoughts about cheese. You should try the Gjetost again. I always loved trying the 'stinky' german cheeses my mother would by as a treat for herself. However, I must rant a moment about my most favorite cheese, the Italian Burrata. I have discovered that the region my grandfather came from, Puglia, is not as quick to get on the import/export wagon as the more popular Tuscana or Tuscany region. It's primarily rural and agriculture, not tourism is it's major business. Recently I was back visiting family and was able to enjoy the burrata cheese (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burrata). It looks like plain old mozzarella with a silky surprise inside. It's filled with rags of cheese and cream called stracciatelle. The writer of this article http://www.latimes.com/features/food/la-fo-calcook26apr26,1,3646024.story?coll=la-headlines-food really understands how I feel about it. If you are dining in an Italian restaurant, please do yourself a favor and try the burrata. You won't regret it. If you want to gush about the experience, you know you can always call. Oh and if you know what's good for you, don't share it with the kids. Just hand them a couple of sticks of string cheese and keep this one to yourself. ;)
Jackie (MOM) 1896 days ago
As I remember, your father ran into the bathroom and spit it in the sink. His having been born and raised in Virginia by a Southern family who used a horrible brown soap that looked exactly like Gjetost was the real problem.....but Gjetost is an acquired taste. Fresh white mountain loaf, butter, and Gjetost can't be beat. Maybe now that you are not a kid anymore, you could give it another go. I would really like the boys to appreciate Norwegian food.
Jennifer 1896 days ago
They have your cheese up here, 'remind' me next time I'm coming to the States and I'll bring you some. :-)
Love you.