Kanterkaas

Kanterkaas is a semi-hard Dutch cheese traditionally made in the village of Bodegraven and the surrounding polders of South Holland between Gouda and Woerden. It is a close cousin of Gouda cheese, made from cow's milk, but it is usually ripened slightly longer and treated with a culture that produces small irregular openings rather than the smooth paste of young Gouda. Wheels are flat, rindless or thinly coated with yellow paraffin, and weigh between 2 and 12 kilograms.

The cheese was popular with bargemen who worked the canals between Leiden, Gouda, and Utrecht, hence its nickname Kanterkaas — kanter being the Dutch word for a barge and kant meaning edge or shore. The characteristic flavor is mild and creamy when young, with a hint of hazelnut, and develops a more crystalline, nutty taste after six to nine months of maturation. It is sold as a table cheese, sliced for sandwiches, and cubed for the borrelplank.

Today Kanterkaas is produced by small dairy farms in the Green Heart of Holland, including family creameries around Bodegraven, Reeuwijk, and Driebruggen, and by larger firms such as the FrieslandCampina range. Eat it with mustard, pickles, and rye bread at a Dutch brown café (bruin café) in Leiden or Gouda, or buy it at the weekly cheese markets of Gouda, Edam, and Alkmaar. The cheese travels well and is exported across Europe and to North America.