Cheese of the week: Leerdammer

Name: Leerdammer

Place of Purchase: HyVee Foods in Ames, Iowa

Country of Origin: Holland

Price in Iowa: $14.99/lb

Milk: cow

Processing: swiss-style with only 4 weeks of aging

Texture: semi-hard

Color: pale cream with big holes

Rind: natural, washed rind

Aroma: Sharp, dairy

Taste: Sweet, warm umami, nutty, tart/acidic in the background

Mouth feel: firm and rich

Notes:This cheese probably needs to be paired with chocolate or fruit. The sweetness comes through with the initial flavor, followed by a nutty/meaty taste. But the tartness in the background moves quickly to overpower any other flavors in the cheese. Fruits and chocolate enhanced the sweet and umami notes, and rounded the cheese out very well. This is a nice cheese from the Dutch, but keep in mind that it was crafted to be a sweet, CHEAP, swiss-style cheese. It's good, but not as complex as other swiss-style, washed-rind cheeses.