Prästost is a cheddar-style cheese originating from Sweden. Its name means Priest Cheese, referring to the fact that it was made in churches in the 16th through 19th centuries, and the cheese was used as a form of payment instead of money.
Nowadays, it's mostly produced in factories. Prästost has a creamy semi-soft texture, the aromas are intense and rich, while the flavors are strong, salty, and spicy. Due to its strong flavors, it's often enjoyed as a snack or in soups. There are also versions of this cheese that are cured in whiskey (Saaland Pfarr cheese) or Absolut vodka (VODCheese).
Leipäjuusto or Juustoleipä is a Finnish cheese characterized by the sound it makes against the teeth when one bites into its firm and chewy body, which is why it’s also known as Finnish squeaky cheese.
The cheese is made from cow’s or reindeer’s milk (rarely goat's) and has a pleasantly sweet and fresh aroma. Its flavor can best be described as mild, salty, and sweet, while its name can be translated to bread cheese or cheese bread, since it is lightly toasted during the preparation.
In the past, people often let the cheese get fully dried so it could be stored for up to several years.
Pair with
Norway probably isn't the first country that comes to mind when we think about great cheese. However, that might change as Norwegian producer Tingvollost won the main prize and the title of the world's best cheese at the 2016 World Cheese Awards in San Sebastian, Spain for its blue cheese called Kraftkar.
More than a hundred judges assessed over 3,000 cheeses according to a number of qualities such as color, texture, and flavor before they came to the conclusion that Kraftkar is undoubtedly the champion. This blue cheese is produced from cow's milk from the family farm located in the village of Torjulvågen.
Produced on Norwegian mountain farms for 500 years, Geitost is a processed brown cheese made with whey and cream (goat's milk) that are slowly cooked for 8 to 10 hours. Technically, geitost is a type of brunost and it's not a cheese at all because it's made from a secondary product.
Geitost is pressed into square molds and turns brown because of the lactose sugar. Its flavor is sweet with hints of burnt caramel, which is the reason why Norwegian children often eat it for breakfast. Geitost is traditionally sliced extra-thin, and it is typically served on Norwegian flatbread.
Norzola is Norway's answer to Gorgonzola. This Norwegian blue cheese is produced by TINE (a cooperative owned by milk producers). The cheese is made from pasteurized cow's milk, cream, salt, and rennet. Underneath its natural rind, the texture is buttery, smooth, and supple.
The aromas are intense, while the flavors are rich and full-bodied. There's also a blue-green marbling running throughout the body. The cheese was launched in 1974.
Brunost is a Norwegian and Scandinavian brown processed cheese made from cow's and goat's milk whey. Technically it's not a cheese at all because it's made from a secondary product. The whey is boiled down to a caramelized sugar. Depending on the length of the boiling, the cheese can be less or more dark and rich in color.
The blend is placed into bags and left to cool so that the sugars crystallise. Once chilled, it is packaged into a block and it's then ready to be enjoyed. Brunost has a dense texture, while the flavors are sweet and caramel-like. It is recommended to serve it on rye toast with strawberry jam.
VARIATIONS OF Brunost
Hushållsost is a cylindrical, creamy, semi-hard, traditional cheese made from cows' whole milk on Swedish farms, literally translated as 'household cheese'. Consistent to its name, it is the most popular cheese in Sweden, with 15,000 tons of it consumed every year.
It has small holes dispersed throughout its body, slices easily and has great melting properties. Hushållsost cheese weighs between one and two kilograms, gets wrapped in a plastic casing and is then matured for sixty days and develops a mild, yet sour flavor.
Aura is a semi-soft Finnish cheese made from cow’s milk. It originates from the city of Turku, but since 1935 the production has been transferred to the region of Äänekoski. This blue cheese has a creamy texture and a strong, tangy, salty, and sharp flavor, similar to Roquefort.
It was named after the Aura River. Nowadays, the cheese is sold in two versions – regular, aged for six weeks, and Aura Gold, aged for twelve weeks. Aura is often used as a filling for rolled stuffed salmon, but it is also commonly used in the preparation of cheese soups.
Pair with
Ädelost is a Swedish blue cheese that was originally created as an alternative to the imported French blue cheeses. The cheese is made from cow's milk and it ages for 8-12 weeks. It has a thin, pale rind that's dusted with specks of grey, white, and blue mold.
The interior is creamy in texture and pale in color, scattered with blue-grey pockets and broken veins. The flavors are sharp, spicy, salty, and tangy. Ädelost is usually crumbled over salads or used as a table cheese, but it can also be combined with balsamic vinegar and olive oil to create a piquant salad dressing.
Nøkkelost is a traditional Norwegian semi-hard cheese made from cow's milk. Also known as Kuminost, the cheese matures for 3 months and it's flavored with cumin, cloves, and caraway. It has a natural rind and a creamy texture, while the flavors are spicy, tangy, and nutty.
It is recommended to melt Nøkkelost over meat or potatoes and pair it with a glass of red wine on the side.
Pair with
TasteAtlas food rankings are based on the ratings of the TasteAtlas audience, with a series of mechanisms that recognize real users and that ignore bot, nationalist or local patriotic ratings, and give additional value to the ratings of users that the system recognizes as knowledgeable. TasteAtlas Rankings should not be seen as the final global conclusion about food. Their purpose is to promote excellent local foods, instill pride in traditional dishes, and arouse curiosity about dishes you haven’t tried.