Gouda have it!
Jun 4th, 2007 by food411
It all started last summer on a biking trip in Holland. We went to a very small cheese farm (farmstead cheese – if you read our cheese email you will know that farmstead describes cheese made solely from milk produced on the same farm.) De Willigen cheese & ice cream farm . Here we met Yolanda, a woman that lives to make her cheese, what a passion! After learning how this cheese is made and sampling it, we purchased 6 wheels (about 4 lbs each). Our favorite was the gouda with nettles (a healing herb). After arriving back in the US and promptly eating all our cheese in much too short of a time period, we began to realize we HAD to have more. The flavor and texture was just perfect. Running the Food411 website, we assumed it would be fairly easy to purchase (a cheese close to this cheese) online or in a local cheese shop. We search and search. The cheese shops sell goudas but not with nettles and none of them had the texture and flavor of ours from De Willigen. The only online source that offered it was igourmet. We ordered it – it was good but it was not our handcrafted perfect gouda.
Knowing that are chances were slim to none, we decided to email them and BEG! When we didn’t hear back, so we emailed again. This time Yolanda wrote back and said she would send 4 wheels if we would direct wire the payment to her bank. You might think who would go to the trouble of having money wired for cheese? We didn’t think twice about it – such small price to pay to have that perfect cheese again! We received our 4 wheels as promised. A day later one wheel had already vanished. This cheese is delicious. She recommends not putting it into the frige. It will stay perfectly for 2 months just wrapped in its wax and in the outer paper. Check out their website, I’m sure if you email Yolanda, she will be happy to send you her perfect cheese. Once you taste it, gouda cheese will take on a whole new meaning.
This sounds like a cheese I must have! Do you have any photos from your trip to this farm?
Do you mind me asking what the cost was for the 4 wheels?
SMC- We will be posting a few pics shortly.
Larry T. – the 4 wheels (4lbs each) was 75 euros including shipping. A great price for this quality cheese ( of course if you buy it at the farm in Holland it only costs about 10.00/wheel!!)
Keep the questions coming we love to talk to our readers…….
wow that sounds amazing, I love gouda cheese. very tempting to order, sounds a bit pricey but not much more than in the u.s…
We have posted a few pictures from the Gouda cheese farm that were taken on our trip last summer! The top picture shows all the wheels after they have been made. The bottom is a picture of the presses.
If the cheese is really that good, its worth the effort to get it. Great cheese is a beautiful thing!
Now that we have had another “fix” – the addition is worst than ever. We just emailed Holland and ordered 8 more wheels! A tip that Yolanda gave to us – alway use a cheese slicer. To appreciate the flavor of great cheese – a thin slice is important. When opening cheeses in waxed wheels – make a small slice at the very end of the wheel with a knife and then use the cheese slice for the rest of the wheel – only removing the wax for the pieces you slice. Wrap the wheel back in the original paper and store on the counter ( away from sun/heat). This cheese stays several months without refrigeration!
It makes sense that handcrafted cheeses taste better. I’ve never heard of nettles, does it make the cheese spicy. I’ve had gouda with cumin and its too strong.
Nettle is a healing herb. It is not spicy, it just adds a delicious touch. Gouda with cumin is spicy and tends to overpower the gouda flavor. There is really no comparision between farmstead cheeses and others. You can taste the difference when the cheese is made with loving care on the very same place that the animals are raised.
i’m a cheese lover too, your search makes perfect sense to me!