Gjetost: a Unique Scandinavian Cheese (2024)

FAQs

What does Gjetost cheese taste like? ›

Like A Three-way Between Cheese, Caramel, and Fudge

Gjetost (yeh-toast) is a traditional brown cheese from Norway that tastes a lot like butterscotch and sticks to the roof of your mouth like peanut butter. It's not fancy, it doesn't have mold, and it's not even really cheese – but It's damned delicious.

There is much that makes Norwegian gjetost cheese unique. First of all, it has a distinct color. Gjetost (pronounced YAY-toast) is light brown, the same color as a caramel candy. Secondly, the flavor, which is sweet.

A: Refrigeration is necessary. The cheese will remain edible for several months if wrapped in plastic. Also, you have to get a cheese slicer. Gjetost tastes too strong if you use a standard knife to cut it.

In Norway, Gjetost generally pops up when eating breakfast or the last meal of the day—a post-dinner sort of return to breakfast food called kveldsmat. It pairs especially well with coffee or dark beers like stouts or porters. When spread thinly on bread with jam, it makes an excellent grilled cheese sandwich.

It is decadently rich, so much so that unlike cheddar or mozzarella, it should only be sliced thinly instead of being served in chunks. Shaved onto apples, or mixed into a grilled cheese, gjetost adds decadence and depth of flavor.

Gjetost cheese, pronounced "YAY-toast" by Americans or "yed-OOST" by Scandinavians, is also known as Brunost cheese. Gjetost is a brown Norwegian cheese made of goat's milk or a blend of goat and cow's milk. Gjetost Cheese from Norway is produced by slowly heating a vat of whey, cream and milk.

1. Pule Cheese - $600 Per Pound. Pule cheese is the most expensive cheese in the world because it is produced exclusively at Serbia's Zasavica Special Nature Reserve. This rare cheese is made from the milk of Balkan donkeys which are endangered and native to Serbia and Montenegro.

Pule cheese or magareći sir, is a Serbian cheese made from 60% Balkan donkey milk and 40% goat's milk. The cheese is produced in Zasavica Nature Reserve. Pule is reportedly the "world's most expensive cheese", fetching US$1300 per kilogram.

The 2023 world cheese champion has been revealed. Winning cheesemakers from Gangstad Gårdsysteri, husband and wife Ole and Maren Gangstad, with their champion cheese Nidelven Blå. A Norwegian blue cheese bested contenders from around the world Friday to become the world's new No. 1 cheese.

Thanks to the leftover lactose (milk sugar) in the whey, Gjetost is a little bit sweet and tastes like a savory caramel. And, it lasts just about forever in your fridge.

What cheeses don't go bad? ›

Fiore Sardo (and Other Types of Pecorino)

"Hard cheese is durable and doesn't spoil; they're really built to last," says fromager Utano. "This aged sheeps' milk cheese from Sardinia has an intense flavor that becomes more pronounced when the cheese is out of refrigeration but doesn't become stinky."

Blue cheeses like Stilton, Roquefort and Gorgonzola can have a shelf life of several months when unopened if they're refrigerated properly. Semi-hard cheeses like Swiss cheese also have a relatively long shelf life, often several months past their 'best by' date when kept in the refrigerator before opening.

From that tradition of passing the bowl, the term “Skål” is now also a toast — ”cheers!”

Norwegian breakfasts tend to revolve around the sea, with meals including smoked salmon, fish in various sauces and marinades (such as sardines in mustard or tomato sauce, or pickled herring), or smoked whitefish served with hard-boiled eggs or caviar.

The heat turns the milk sugars into caramel, which gives the cheese its characteristic brown colour and sweetness.

Very similar to full cow's milk brunost, but unrelated to it (probably developed independently) is requeijão moreno, from the state of Minas Gerais in Brazil. It is produced in a similar way, by boiling cow's milk until it caramelises and darkens to a brown colour, hence the name moreno 'tanned, brown'.

It is generally sliced directly from the block into thin pieces and then placed on top of various items such as bread or waffles.

When asked about the flavor of brunost, you'll typically hear one say that it's sweet and caramel-like. Depending on the milk used – cow, goat or a combination of the two – the creamy, fragrant cheese can also have a nutty or tangy taste.