I recently visited the Netherlands and purchased some cheese that contains some herbs. We asked the proprietor what it contains and she replied (in English) “nettle.” What herb would that be? Normally I would think of “thistle” but that is not something that is normally eaten.
What about nettle? It’s commonly eaten.
Common garden stinging nettle. Makes nice soup.
Herb? The Netherlands?
Only one thing comes to mind…
Oddly enough “that one thing” was once considered to be a member of the nettle family, along with the hop Lupulus, to which it still is considered to be a close relative.
Gouda Cheese with Stinging Nettles is apparently common enough to get an entry in the linked glossary of foods. See also yarg.
It makes me inordinately happy to have discovered that “yarg” is a real word.
To be specific, young nettle plants, the tender leaves from the upper part of the plant. Heat destroys the stinging compounds. A 10 minute soak in warm water, then simmered 10 minutes in fresh water is enough to make them safe to eat.
Artichokes, which are normally eaten, are thistles. . . although I doubt they would be incorporated into cheese.
I too, equally amazed and jovial, upon finding the Cheesewring!
Thanks everyone, and yes it was Gouda cheese! I never knew that nettles could be eaten!
I actually bought a burnt nettle gouda cheese this weekend, in Minnesota.
The nettles don’t add a flavor that jumps out at me.
(By the way, the Dutch word that translates into English as “nettle” is actually the nearly identical-sounding cognate “netel”, so there’s not much chance of mixing up what herb you’re talking about.)