This must be one of my most interesting eats so far. Sweet caramel cheese? It’s one of those foods that non-Scandinavian neophobics (people with an aversion to novel foods) are likely to crinkle their nose to and mutter a You want me to try THAT? at frequencies inaudible to their offering host.
But I absolutely absolutely love it! Brunost is a sweet Scandinavian whey cheese that is (almost) Norway’s national breakfast food. And if you’re a poor student, it makes some great lunch food too. Brunost is a special type of cheese made from goat’s milk (traditional) or more commonly now, a mixture of goat’s milk and cow’s milk. Unlike typical cheese production*, it is made by concentrating a mixture of milk or cream with whey by evaporation until approx 80% dry matter. This slow process of heating promotes the Maillard reaction of the sugar (lactose) and proteins. This gives the cheese it’s characteristic brown colour and rich caramellic taste.
*Typical cheese production involves the acidification of milk (with acid or starter culture), curding, pressing of curd and ripening.
How to Eat Brunost
- Butter on bread and a slice of brunost (safest, simplest and most rewarding).
- Add some jam to no.1 (lovely combination, and if you’re a stickler for variety).
- Add a thin slice of apple or cucumber to no.1 / no.2 (for people with complex taste preferences, like yz and myself haha).
- Make it into a brown cheese sauce (that’s what I heard, but never tried).
- On crisp bread (simple and awesome snack).
I loved it so much, I’ve brought back 700g of Brunost with me, which I pack with my ryebread sandwiches and snacktimes!
How to Eat Brunost Adventurously
- Try it on vanilla ice cream — it’s almost like topping with caramel fudge and it adds extra creaminess! Five stars.
- With tuna in a sandwich — smoothens out the harsh taste of canned tuna and adds an interesting flavour dimension.
- Little bits on bran flakes — you’d be surprised how well the tastes go together (initiative of an impulsive snacker in her bid to reduce rate of calorie intake).
- Combined with a slice of ‘normal cheese’ in your sandwich — if the sweet taste is too disturbing for you, combining it with another cheese lessens the caramel note, but still keeping it detectable and adding to the sensory pleasure!
- I’m going to try it next in a sauce to go with blood pudding that I’ve just bought from Sweden. Watch out for this post!
Acknowledgment to hlyf for feeding me with brunost.
