Dutch cheese refers to a family of cow’s milk cheeses produced in the Netherlands, dominated by two styles that account for the vast majority of the country’s output: Gouda and Edam. These cheeses share a distinctive trait: they’re made using a technique called curd washing, which removes lactose from the fresh curds and limits acid development. The result is a milder, slightly sweet flavor profile that sets Dutch cheese apart from the sharper, more acidic cheeses common in France or Italy.
The Netherlands is one of the world’s largest cheese exporters, and its cheese tradition dates back centuries, with merchant cheese markets operating since the Dutch Golden Age of the 17th century. Five of those markets still run today.
How Dutch Cheese Is Made
The defining step in Dutch cheesemaking is curd washing. After the milk is curdled and cut, warm water is added to the fresh curds. This rinses away lactose, the sugar that bacteria would otherwise convert into lactic acid. With less acid, the final cheese is what cheesemakers call a “sweet make,” producing that characteristic mellow, buttery quality rather than a sharp tang.
After washing, the curds are pressed into molds and brined in saltwater, which forms the rind and adds flavor. From there, aging determines how the cheese tastes. A young Gouda aged four weeks is creamy and mild. The same cheese aged two years or more develops intense caramel and butterscotch notes with crunchy protein crystals throughout.
Major Varieties
Gouda
Gouda is the most widely produced Dutch cheese, with a mild, nutty, slightly tangy flavor and a smooth, fudgy texture when young. As it ages, the paste becomes firmer and more crumbly, and the flavor deepens considerably. Gouda ranges from “jong” (young, about 4 weeks) to “overjarig” (aged over a year), with each stage offering a noticeably different eating experience.
Not all Gouda is equal in terms of origin. The European Union protects two specific versions: Gouda Holland PGI, registered in 2010, which must be made from milk sourced from Dutch dairy farms across the Netherlands, and Noord-Hollandse Gouda PDO, registered in 1996, which can only use milk from the province of Noord-Holland and tends to be less salty. Any producer anywhere can label cheese as “Gouda” since the name itself isn’t restricted, but only these two designations guarantee Dutch origin and traditional production methods.
Edam
Edam is the other pillar of Dutch cheese, recognizable by its ball shape and red wax coating (used for export; domestic Edam is typically sold without wax). It has a smooth texture and a nutty, salty flavor that sharpens with age. Edam is generally made with partially skimmed milk, making it slightly lower in fat than Gouda.
Maasdam
Maasdam is the Netherlands’ answer to Swiss Emmental. It’s a semi-hard cheese with large, round holes created by propionic bacteria, the same organisms responsible for the eyes in Swiss cheese. These bacteria also produce a distinctive sweet, nutty flavor. Maasdam was developed relatively recently as a domestic alternative to imported Swiss cheese and has become popular across Europe.
Leyden
Leyden (Leidse kaas) is a semi-hard cheese from the Leiden region, spiced with cumin and caraway seeds that give it a warm, peppery kick. The spiced curd is layered in the middle of the cheese during molding, creating a concentrated band of flavor. Traditionally, farmers in the Leiden area colored their wheels with annatto, giving the cheese a reddish hue. Leyden has an interesting origin story: it was born from practicality. Dutch farms primarily produced butter for local markets, and the leftover semi-skimmed milk was turned into low-fat cheese. Adding cumin seeds made the leaner, less rich cheese more flavorful, and the lower fat content actually helped it keep longer than full-cream cheeses like Gouda.
The Fat Content System
If you shop for Dutch cheese, you’ll often see labels like “48+” or “30+.” This refers to fat in dry matter (f.i.d.m.), meaning the fat percentage is calculated on the cheese’s dry mass after removing water content. A 48+ cheese contains 48% fat in dry matter, which is standard for full-fat Gouda. A 30+ cheese is noticeably leaner. The actual fat percentage of the whole cheese is lower than these numbers suggest because cheese contains significant moisture, but the system gives you a reliable way to compare richness between wheels.
Nutrition at a Glance
A one-ounce serving of Gouda (about a thumb-sized piece) contains 101 calories, 7.1 grams of protein, and 7.8 grams of fat. It’s a strong source of calcium at 198 milligrams per ounce, roughly 15 to 20% of most adults’ daily needs. Sodium runs moderately high at 232 milligrams per ounce, about 10% of the daily value, which is worth noting if you’re watching salt intake. Dutch cheese is also a notable source of vitamin K2, particularly aged varieties, because the bacteria involved in ripening produce it in significant quantities. K2 plays a role in directing calcium into bones rather than arteries.
Traditional Cheese Markets
Five traditional cheese markets still operate in the Netherlands: Alkmaar, Gouda, Edam, Hoorn, and Woerden. These aren’t museums. They’re living reenactments of a trading system that dates to the 1600s, complete with rituals that have barely changed.
At the Alkmaar market, which has opened every Friday since 1593, teams of guild cheese porters (identified by colored straw hats representing their company) carry wheels on wooden barrows weighing up to 130 kilos. They walk in a synchronized shuffle called the “cheese carriers’ dripple” to keep the load steady. Samplers in white coats use a special scoop to pull cores from the wheels and inspect the interior. Buyers and sellers negotiate prices through “handjeklap,” a ritual of clapping hands and calling out bids until they reach agreement. Once sold, the cheese goes to the weigh house to be measured on the company scale. The market closes promptly at 1:00 pm.
In Gouda, the Thursday morning market runs from April through August in front of City Hall, where farmers stack their wheels and haggle with traders in the same spot where the cheese has been traded for over three centuries.