Gjetost: An Interesting Norwegian Goat Cheese

Gjetost is a sweet brown Norwegian cheese made from pure goat's milk or a mixture of cow and goat milk. In most respects this is not really cheese, so a little background on how it is made will shed a little light on what we mean. Gjetost is made by slow cooking the milk until it is caramelized thus removing most of the water, the resulting "curd" is then pressed into block molds to remove any left over water, at this point it is ready for sale or to eat. It should be noted that this process has essentially created milk sugar and gives the "cheese" it's brown color, fudge-like texture and overt sweetness. Since there is no aging process the flavor of fresh goat's milk is still noticeable. The flavor as noted above is sweet (maybe too sweet for some) and can be considered an acquired taste. It has a mouth feel like fudge with a caramel flavor but the goat tang still filters through. The aroma has been described as slightly fishy to barnyard to goaty but not offensive or overpowering.


When shopping for this Norwegian novelty look for the Ekte Gjetost if you want the pure goat milk style or the red box (sometimes labeled as Ski Queen) for the mixed milk variety.

You can serve this in the morning thinly sliced on bread or toast with coffee or with sweet fruits like grapes or pears as a snack. This is best cut thinly with a cheese plane not a knife.


Wine Pairing: It would be hard to recommend any particular wine to go with this since it is a bit unique but it does appear to go well with beefy lagers or maybe a good Irish Stout.