Living in the upper Midwest and spending far too much time perusing the cheese section every time I visit the grocery store I have been aware of Gjetost cheese for quite some time but have never tasted it. Weird, sweetish, brown(?) colored Norwegian goat cheese? Well today I finally brought home a block of the Ski Queen brand from Jewel. I understand now why the packaging is opaque - it resembles caramel far more than it does cheese and I suppose some might find it off putting. I was surprised the odor was so much less pungent than I expected considering everything I have read about it mentions the strong smell. Maybe I’m just used to that goat cheesy smell.
Anyway, I have sliced it very thin and am enjoying it on crackers with a glass of Gewurtztraminer and a dollop of Dalmatian fig and orange spread. I doubt that is traditional but it sure is working for me.
Anyone have any other suggested uses for this unique dairy product?
You bought proper cheese at Jewel? Okay, I’ll drag myself out of the closet a bit: I bought three green olives stuffed with bleu cheese to see what they were like.
Dude, we have an assortment of independent delis, offering similar products at half the price, all around Chicagoland. There is no reason to buy proper food, not just landfill, at Jewel.
It was 10:30pm on a Sunday. Whole Foods was closed. What were my choices?
Honestly, the only other place I have seen this cheese has been at places like Wikstrom’s in Andersonville. I was actually craving some Shropshire Blue, but with Whole Foods closed there weren’t any other choices. I finally grabbed the Gjestost because it was the only thing they had in the cheese section I recognized as a “better” product. And I’m glad I did.
BTW, did you have any serving ideas or just snark?
Brunost / Mysost / Gjetost is wonderful; but it is not actually a “proper” cheese since it is made from whey. Still, it’s really, really good. Sweetish, caramel like flavor. It is very much a Norwegian thing, and here in Denmark it isn’t that common. The most well-known brand here is Gudbrandsdal, but there are many others.
How to eat it? I normally just shave a few thin slices on some freshly baked bread. Mmm. Some people eat them on waffles with a bit of sour cream on top (I haven’t tried).
The Norwegian name is “brunost”. If you google “brunost recipes” quite a few sites turn up.
If you like it, it is easy to make and a byproduct of making a regular cheese. SOrt of more bang for the milky buck.
Make your regular cheese, then take the whey and put it in a pot and set the heat on low. All it really is is super condensed and slightly carmelized whey. You can get it in goat, cow, sheep and waterbuffalo +)
Many years ago when I told my brother that I was going to Disney World and Epcot Center in Orlando he told me the most important thing to do was to go to the Swedish pavilion in Epcot Center and eat some of the brown cheese it served. I did and it was one of the highlights of the visit! I loved it.
We had a friend from Norway stay with us for quite a while when I was a kid, and she had us eating “brown cheese” by the pound by the time she left. She insisted the best way to eat it was sliced thin on graham crackers, and that is how I prefer it to this day. Now I wish I had some right here.
So this is just an American brunost? I had it for the first time a week and a half ago? Good stuff, I kind of had an inkling what it was upon seeing it, so I tried it for the hell of it. Pretty good stuff.
I very much enjoy gjetost. It is wonderful stuff, and you can even make it at home (and I have done this before I found they sell it here if you know where to look.)
Thanks for the suggestions. I’m not sure about graham crackers because the sweetness of both may be too much. I’ve been enjoying it with stone ground wheat crackers. I think the salty cracker contrasts better with the sweetness of the cheese.
Having it on warm bread or toast would be very good I would imagine. I also think the suggestion of having it on a waffle could be tasty.
In my OP I mentioned my surprise it wasn’t more goaty or smelly. Last night before I went to bed I did notice a distinct goat cheesy pungency on my hand from when I was handling it.
I’m most surprised that it isn’t as sweet as I expected though it is distinctly caramel-like. Definitely glad I finally tried it.
I love Gjetost! I never heard it has a strong smell though.
It’s a very firm cheese that does indeed resemble caramel. Because it’s so firm it can be sliced very thinly and placed on just about anything.
I’ll keep an eye on this thread for interesting flavor combos, but my favorite is simply gjetost on crackers. If you have a wine I’d suggest something not too sweet though, as the cheese would contrast in flavor too much. A decent merlot works for me.
We had a wine and cheese tasting party one evening at my church. Hey, we’re Episcopalians, we do stuff like that. I brought gjetost and a dry red wine. I don’t remember the wine, but everyone commented on the cheese! Nobody else said they’d heard of it.
