Maker · Cheese
Kaasfort Amsterdam
A fort from 1903 from the Stelling van Amsterdam, nine aging cellars each with its own climate, and an affineur who is the first Dutch Maître Fromager. Cheese doesn't finish here from a cold cell but from thick fort walls that stay cool and damp on their own.
The story
Who's behind it
Kaasfort Amsterdam is the work of René Koelman, the first Dutchman to hold the title Maître Fromager. He is an affineur: he doesn't make the cheese himself, but buys young cheeses in and brings them to flavour under his hand. The business stems from Bourgondisch Lifestyle, which Koelman started in 2001 as a wholesale and export business with five aging rooms and shops in Beverwijk and Amsterdam. Those two shops still carry the old name.
In November 2021 the aging facility moved to Fort Zuidwijkermeer in Assendelft, a fort from around 1903 that was meant to defend the North Sea Canal and is part of the Stelling van Amsterdam, UNESCO World Heritage since 1996. After the war it was ammunition storage for the military, later film depot for Eye. The renovation into an aging facility happened together with Landschap Noord-Holland.
What really makes the difference
The fort does the work that elsewhere a climate cell does, but by itself. The walls are so thick that temperature stays low and stable and humidity stays high. Koelman uses nine separate cellars, each with its own climate control, so a white mould doesn't lie in the same room as a raw milk hard cheese. Together there are about three hundred cheeses aging, divided into five families: goat and sheep, white mould and creamy, semi-hard and hard, red mould and blue mould.
Because he ages in small batches, he times each cheese to the moment it comes out. That explains why the same name eats differently in March than in July. Koelman supplies restaurants and cheese shops in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany and exports as far as Japan and France.
How to set yourself apart
You're not buying standard wholesale cheese here but cheese brought to flavour at a specific moment. That's a story you can tell at table: a fort from the Stelling van Amsterdam, nine cellars, an affineur with a French title. Build a board from the five families and you let your guest taste the whole process in one course.
Practical: ring about the aging status when you order, because it shifts. For those wanting cheese knowledge in the team, Kaasfort also runs training, from Cheese Connoisseur and Cheese Specialist to Fromager. Handy if you want your sommelier or host to explain the cheese cart with authority.
Chef’s tip
Ask about the aging status when you order, not about the cheese in general. Koelman ages in small batches, so a Comté or a blue cheese can shift week to week. Order at the peak that fits your dish and take the cheese out of the cooler an hour before service.
How to use it
Ideas for your menu
Blue cheese with pear and walnut
Bleu de Gex or Shropshire Blue at room temperature, poached pear, toasted walnut. The salt tang of the blue against the sweet.
Warm goat cheese with ash
Selles-sur-Cher or Chèvre d'Ardenne briefly under the salamander, on toasted sourdough, with thyme honey. The charcoal layer holds the shape.
Cheese board from five families
One cheese per aging family, built from fresh to mature. Let your guest taste the tower's structure through one course instead of loose cheeses.
Vacherin with truffle as closer
Vacherin aux Truffes brought to spoon-soft, with knäckebröd and a glass of white Burgundy. Little work, big impression.
For your menu
“Aged in the fort by Kaasfort Amsterdam, Fort Zuidwijkermeer (Stelling van Amsterdam)”
Products from Kaasfort Amsterdam
What we carry from this maker
Blaue Kornblume
Bleu de Gex
Bouyguette au Romarin
Briquette de Chevre Domino
Cashel blue
Prices and availability are in the portal. Not a customer yet? Become a customer or log in to order.
Taste it in your own kitchen
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