The two most famous Dutch cheeses. Both made from cows milk. Taste identical.
Is this some scurrilous Dutchman scam to market one cheese as two? Or am I missing a subtle flavor difference?
It appears that there are some differences in the formulation (Edam is made with part-skim milk), but they are similar enough that they’re both used very similarly (even interchangeably).
Is there such a thing as Old Edam? Old Gouda is very nice, similar to other hard cheeses such as Parmesan.
They’re pretty much of a muchness. There’s probably more variety between different Goudas or Edams than there is between Gouda as a class and Edam as a class.
The difference is that Edam cheese is made backwards.
Ancient Dutch joke, huh?
Edammer kaas wordt achterwaarts gemaakt?
Maybe not . . .
Q de Mercotijn weighing in.
Gouda is from Gouda, and Edam is from Edam. Duh.
In all seriousness, there seem to be very small production differences, but they’re very similar- my conception is that they’re a lot like Brie vs. Camembert.
Edam is dam’ good, and Gouda is no damn goud.
Them’s fighting words…
I appreciate the cheese jokes as much as the informational posts.
So it looks like the main difference is that Edam has slightly less butterfat, huh? I wonder if the towns of Gouda and Edam have intense intercity rivalries, like Harvard and Yale and Macy’s and Gimbel’s. “You enjoyed that fondue? HAH! It’s was full of…GOUDA.”
As for Camembert vs. Brie, I prefer the former because when I lived in Paris in 1980 it was much more prevalent in restaurants and bistros. It was my real start on semi soft cheeses. The United States Brie Frenzy was still a few years off.
There’s so many cheeses that are essentially interchangeable to me out there that I don’t find it specific to Gouda vs Edam. That said, as mentioned above, I’ve never seen an aged Edam. Is that a thing? But aged Gouda (at about 5 years) is my absolute favorite aged cheese. If all you know is young Gouda, you really need to check it out.
Yes to aged Gouda. I also like smoked Gouda, and I’m not partial to most smoked cheeses.
Edam I have only seen sold young and fresh, with a slight blush to its naughty cheeks.
In the U.S., according to federal regulations (21 CFR 133) the difference between Edam and Gouda is Edam has a minimum milkfat content of 40% and Gouda has a minimum of 46%.
Gouda is a lovely little town, picture perfect for frittering away a lazy afternoon of cafes, crisp, cold Dutch pilsners and a bit of sightseeing, (and naturally, cheese tasting) but it is a TINY little town, you can walk from tip to tail in a few minutes, although Wikipedia says that over 70,000 people live there, I can’t see how that is possible.
The stained glass windows of St. Jans Kerk are stunning, and well worth the 25 or 30 minute train ridefrom Den Haag or Rotterdam.
I didn’t say they were the exact same, just that they’re very similar, like those two cheeses.
Going with how it’s marketed in the UK, Gouda has a slightly stronger taste than Edam (2 out of 5 versus 1 out of 5). I imagine that with 2 pieces from the same brand, in a side-by-side test, the Gouda would taste stronger. However, I doubt I’d be able to identify which was which in a blind test of a single piece.
A friend brought me a quarter pound of 7 year old gouda back from the Netherlands once. OMG, that was a divine bit of kaas! Right up there in flavor with my elder cheddars . . .
The one that starts with “E” is much more likely to be pronounced correctly (close anyway) than the one that starts with “G”.
Springfield vs. Shelbyville, and the lemon tree theft…
I like to Edam both because they’re so Gouda.