Weydeland: North Holland pasture cheese across the full aging range

Who's behind it

Weydeland is a North Holland brand from the Beemster, the polder in the green heart above Amsterdam. The cheese is a Gouda style, a Dutch hard cheese, made from 100% pasture milk. The cows graze outdoors at least 120 days a year, at least six hours a day, and the milk is processed shortly after milking. The rennet is vegetarian, and production carries "On the way to PlanetProof" with CO2-neutral processing and a Lean and Green transport certificate. The vegetarian rennet lets you use the cheese widely on the menu.

From young to crumbly

The fertile clay of North Holland gives grass-rich pastures, and that grass ends up in the milk and so in the flavor. Weydeland covers the whole aging range with one recognizable flavor line. Young (4-8 weeks) is mild and melts smoothly. Mature comes at around 16 weeks, extra mature around 26 weeks, with more salt and body. Old and vintage sit at 10+ months, and the crumbly ages 2 years or longer into a dry, crystalline cheese with protein crystals that crunch between your teeth. The eight ages are stages of the same base cheese.

In your kitchen

Work with moisture content. The young and young mature melt evenly and stay bound, good for gratin, croque and sauces; the young grated saves you handling in the kitchen. Mature and extra mature, grated, give body to pasta and risotto. Save the old cheeses for the plate: old sliceable stays supple on the board, and crumbly breaks into coarse chunks you use as a savory accent. On the menu, name the Beemster and the pasture milk.