Västerbotten
(Västerbottenost)
Västerbotten is a Swedish cheese made from cow's milk. The name refers to the Västerbotten region in northern Sweden. The paste is adorned with tiny eyes and has a firm, granular texture. In flavor, the cheese is salty and sweet, similar to a cross between Cheddar and Parmesan.
Every wheel must age for at least 14 months before it can be consumed. It is believed that the cheese was invented in 1872 by Ulrika Eleonora Lindström, a dairy maid who was left alone while stirring the curd, but she also had regular meetings with her lover, so the cheese was considered a failure at first, but when it was tasted, people thought it had a special flavor.
Nowadays, Västerbotten is left to age on spruce shelves, and in order to know when the cheese is ready, one of the master cheese makers extracts a small piece of the cheese with a drill and then assesses it. It is recommended to pair this cheese with pickled herrings, knäckebröd, and fruit such as grapes, cloudberries, and figs.
Part of
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