National Cheese Lover's Day

January 20, 2016

National Cheese Lover's Day - Gjetost

I cannot let National Cheese Lover's Day go by without commenting on cheese. It is an amazing comfort food and one of my favorite things. I know, I have lots of favorite things, but isn't it better to delight in many blessings than to be glum? Some of my favorite cheeses are goat cheddars, blue cheese, and Jarlsberg. But one of the most unusual fun cheeses I enjoy is gietost or gjetost (goat cheese). It is also called brunost (brown cheese, in Norwegian). Now this is not your everyday goat cheese. It is sweet and caramel-like in flavor with a bit of a goat tang, depending on how much actual goat is included. Some brands have more than others. The most common seen in stores is from a Norwegian company called Ski Queen, and does not have much goat tang compared with other versions I have sampled. Gjetost is a caramelized Scandinavian whey cheese. It seems to have endless uses. Kids in Norway eat it the way kids in the US eat peanut butter. It is great served at breakfast, lunch, or dinner, on the cheese tray, or even in some sauces. It melts very smoothly. I had it in a sauce accompanying reindeer meat in Norway. It was wonderful.
To eat it straight up, I recommend thin curls shaved off with a cheese slicer. Here are a few ways to serve gjetost. In the words of my sister, "I have never met a cheese I didn't like." Happy National Cheese Lover's Day!

Curls shaved with cheese slicer.

Served on a pretty cheese board.

Closeup of my Kongetinn-Royal Pewter cheese slicer depicting King Olav the Holy and his men. King Olav introduced Christianity to Norway, died defending it, and was later declared a saint.