Norwegian cheese
We wanted to be brave and bought some Norwegian cheese before coming home. The good part is that this cheese travels well: it doesn’t smell much. But we had surprises when tasting them …
Cheese 1: Gudbrandsdalost (from Norwegian: “good valley cheese ?”)
This one wasn’t exactly bad. I even found some people who like it. It looks pretty much like some Edam, or perhaps some Cheddar, no smell at all, but the taste is … sweet ! No kidding, this cheese is sweet, it’s certainly the first time I try something like this (c’mon, sweet, what a weird idea ???). My opinion is that I’m not fond of it, but I don’t hate it either. It’s just plain different. And probably, there must be a way to cook something special with this. My advice: try it!
It seems to keep for months ! I had my colleagues try it. The average feeling is about the same, with a tendency to not liking it, except for two people who liked it a lot.
Cheese 2: Gamalost (from Norwegian: “old cheese ?”)
That one was … bad. Simply bad. I just couldn’t appreciate it at all. I don’t think I’m picky, and I love cheese. But that one, really not. Texture is like some granular outdoor house painting: it goes in pieces in your hands. The color is brownish and not inviting. The smell is not strong, bud bad. I mean, at least it won’t make your fridge smells for ages (not like some French cheese I know), but it doesn’t invite for a taste either. My thought was that a bad smelling cheese cannot taste bad (!), well, it can. I found one that does. Plus, once in your mouth, taste remains for long, and it’s hard to get rid of it. My advice: try it only if you are masochist-like, and send the rest to somebody you want to poison :)
Luckily, this one doesn’t last, and I already past the consumption date. I had all my colleagues try it, and nobody like it …