Brunost

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Gudbrandsdalsost

Brunost is usually sliced very thinly using a metal cheese slicer.

Brunost, is a brown Norwegian cheese. The name brunost means 'brown cheese', while the specific type gudbrandsdalsost means 'cheese from the Gudbrand valley', and the geitost type means 'goat cheese'.

It has a strong, sweet, yet somewhat sharp flavor with notes of caramel and goat's milk. It tastes best when freshly sliced very thin, and it goes wonderfully with coffee. It is a very popular topping for the customary open sandwiches eaten at breakfast and supper.

Gjetost can be used with much success in cooking, such as various game sauces, and often along with juniper, and gives a subtle caramel taste.

Note that because it is primarily made from whey, and not from casein, the brown cheese is actually not to be considered a cheese at all.

[edit] Production

Cow or goat milk and cream is added to whey. The mixture is boiled carefully for several hours so that the water evaporates. The heat turns the milk sugar into caramel which gives the cheese its characteristic taste. It is ready for consumption as soon as it is packed in suitable sized blocks.

If boiled for a shorter time than usual, one gets the spreadable version prim, or messmör in Swedish. Prim had been made in Norway for a long time when Anne Hov, a farmer's wife got the idea of putting cream into the cheese. She got a good price for her new fatty cheese, and this merchandise is said to have saved the Gudbransdal valley financially in the 1880s.

Today several types of Brunost is offered in most shops in Norway. TINE meierier produce most of the Brunost. Several local dairies produce their own versions. Experimental versions with nuts and honey or chocolate have been tried, without very much success.