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Gouda Cheese: Best Chased with Beer

15th August, 2010 - Posted by health news - No Comments

If you are a wine and cheese believer, I have bad news for you. As a partner with cheese, beer rarely lets us down.

Let’s say for example one day, you bought some beer and you want to buy some cheese to go with it. Looking at your beer, you want to find the best cheese that you can pair it with. You have two options for this scenario: first, you can go and specifically choose the right type of cheese for the right kind of beer. Or, you can buy the cheese that goes well for any kind of beer. If you are type that does not want to get caught up details, then you should take option number two. And of course… highly recommended to go with any beer is Gouda Cheese.

Just like plaid skirts, diets and exercise videos, several cheeses go in and out of fashion. Even Holland’s best-known cheese, Gouda, has felt a decline in its reputation for quite some time. Sneering connoisseurs believe that this particular cheese is ridiculously bland, with a texture that only kids can appreciate, and has no character at all. But before you look down on this sweet and tasty little cheese, Gouda cheese has more than what meets the tongue.

Gouda cheeses are indeed mild in flavor, having a smooth and butter texture. But depending on how long it has been aged, Goudas vary in texture and taste. You see, the texture of the cheese depends on how long (or how quick) the cheese was aged. Most uptight cheese experts turn up their noses at young Goudas, but have much respect for the more mature members of the family. Just like other more aged cheeses, aged Gouda tends to be harder in texture than young Gouda, almost the same texture as Parmigiano Reggiano. It also has a complex flavor an intense butterscotch caramel, salty but leaning on the sweeter side. Gouda cheese is even described with a caramelized or toffee-like taste.

And because of its exceptionally sweet taste, Gouda cheese is considered as the best pair for beer. Actually, beer is the de facto complement for cheese in several cultures all around the world. When you come to think of it, cheese and beer practically grew up together on the farm and the grain used to make beer is almost all the time the same as that which is fed to milk-animals that produce cheese. On top of that, the flavors of beer and cheese that earthly, yeasty, musty, fruity, rich and floral taste jives in such a way that wine and cheese cannot.

Gouda cheese is salty-sweet, nutty, and sharp. What better way to chase this flavorful cheese with a refreshing swill of Ale? Invite your friends for a few bottles and get Gouda cheese today!

What are you waiting for, buy Gouda cheese at your local gourmet cheese shop.