Pro tip: it's not Lou-den.
It may be Lay- or Lie-den. Depending on what time zone you're from.
This is a cheese with not many look-alikes and no taste-alikes, a bold and daring departure from the usual smooth buttery goodness of Gouda that Holland usually puts out; Leyden. Also known as Leidsekaas, it is actually relatively easy to find in the US and is a treat for the tastebuds, a present for the palate, a fastball for the Foliate papillae. That last one didn't make any sense.
Origin: Holland
Milk: Cow, pasteurized
Rennet: Animal
Affinage: Handful of months
Notes: Not only does this cheese have cheese, it has cumin seeds as well. Cumin seeds. Think ground beef taco seasoning.
Thoughts: I tried this cheese on a bit of a whim, it was on sale or some such, maybe it was just cheaper than the other cheeses on the shelf, in any case I bought it, brought it home, and got quite a surprise. The cheese itself is creamy, rich, sharp even, but the dominant tone here is from the cumin. I couldn't place the flavor right away, then my friend who was making some sweet tacos at the time hit the ground beef with that fine flavor powder. The smell of... that... filled the air. It was exactly like the flavor in my mouth from the cheese. Turns out the cumin in the cheese gives it a wickedly meaty and savory flavor with notes of spicy and salty floating in and out. Certainly not delicate, certainly not refined, certainly hearty, bold and rugged and D-licious. I've made a vendetta recently against bad cheeses with random spices and such thrown in marketed as good cheeses, but make no mistake. This cheese has flavor, to which is added more flavor. No complaints.
Caution
If you melt it into your next Tex-mex dish you might just have a cumin-flavor-explosion. Flights would be grounded for weeks on account of all the delicious hanging thick in the air.
It may be Lay- or Lie-den. Depending on what time zone you're from.
This is a cheese with not many look-alikes and no taste-alikes, a bold and daring departure from the usual smooth buttery goodness of Gouda that Holland usually puts out; Leyden. Also known as Leidsekaas, it is actually relatively easy to find in the US and is a treat for the tastebuds, a present for the palate, a fastball for the Foliate papillae. That last one didn't make any sense.
Milk: Cow, pasteurized
Rennet: Animal
Affinage: Handful of months
Notes: Not only does this cheese have cheese, it has cumin seeds as well. Cumin seeds. Think ground beef taco seasoning.
Thoughts: I tried this cheese on a bit of a whim, it was on sale or some such, maybe it was just cheaper than the other cheeses on the shelf, in any case I bought it, brought it home, and got quite a surprise. The cheese itself is creamy, rich, sharp even, but the dominant tone here is from the cumin. I couldn't place the flavor right away, then my friend who was making some sweet tacos at the time hit the ground beef with that fine flavor powder. The smell of... that... filled the air. It was exactly like the flavor in my mouth from the cheese. Turns out the cumin in the cheese gives it a wickedly meaty and savory flavor with notes of spicy and salty floating in and out. Certainly not delicate, certainly not refined, certainly hearty, bold and rugged and D-licious. I've made a vendetta recently against bad cheeses with random spices and such thrown in marketed as good cheeses, but make no mistake. This cheese has flavor, to which is added more flavor. No complaints.
Caution
If you melt it into your next Tex-mex dish you might just have a cumin-flavor-explosion. Flights would be grounded for weeks on account of all the delicious hanging thick in the air.
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