My first introduction to Gouda was the industrial variety that
the Dutch ship all over the world: beige-ish, wrapped in red
paraffin and fairly pliant. Traveling in Greece when I was
sixteen, we bought Gouda, salami and fresh bread almost every
day, making a quick sandwich for lunch. I thought those
sandwiches were delicious – I think part of it was the fact that
I was generally ravenous when lunch time came around – but, part
of it was also the mild creaminess of the cheese paired with the
salami. The Dutch produce large volumes of cheese and about 75%
of it is shipped overseas. Although they aren’t quite the
largest cheese-producing nation, because they export such a
large percentage of their production, the Dutch are the world’s
largest exporters of cheese. And, 60% of the cheese the Dutch
produce is Gouda. Gouda and Edam are produced in essentially the
same way but the fat content of their milks differ – Gouda is
made with whole milk and Edam with partially skimmed milk. For
both of these cheeses, a neces