Gammelost

gammelost a semi-hard Norwegian cheese of exceptional mouldiness and sharp flavour. The name means ‘old cheese’ and used to refer to its old age, but the modern dairy product is ready to eat after two weeks. Gammelost is a sour milk cheese, being curdled with lactic acid-producing bacteria, rather than rennet. The curds are literally boiled in whey for several hours, killing the bacteria and leaving a clear field for the Mucor mucedo mould which will develop the flavour. The traditional farm-made cheeses were much more interesting, being flavoured by a formidable combination of moulds and bacteria. The moulds grow fast, developing a furry coating which is rubbed into the cheese every few days. When mature, the cheese is brown and has a crumbling and decayed appearance. It is drum shaped with a weight of 1.7 kg (3.7 lb). Some people like to moisten a dry cheese with juniper extract, coffee, or port: purists, however, prefer its putrid splendour unadulterated. Hulda Garborg, in 1922, described the properties of a farm-made gammelost like this:

It has the temper of a fine wine, is capricious like a far too pretty maiden; it possesses secretive powers like no other Norwegian cheese.