Today I come to present a Norwegian classic and delicacy. The so called brunost.
My girlfriend is fond of baking and often tend to bake her own homemade bread. They’re absolutely delicious except for when she wants to kill me and makes them with nuts.
While homemade bread in general is delicious they’re extra delicious while they’re fresh out of the oven. A little bit cooled down but still warm in the middle. Warm enough for the butter to smelt on top. While the slices are good with any spread on top there’s nothing that beats freshly baked and warm break topped with brunost, or brown cheese which would be the translation into English.
What is brown cheese?
Brunost is a Norwegian classic. It stems from Norway and I don’t think they neither make it nor sell it outside of Norway. At least to my knowledge. Unless you’re a Norwegian or you’ve been to Norway I’m gonna be surprised if you’ve heard about or tasted brunost.
Brunost is made from whey which is basically the residue that comes off when standard cheese is made. It’s like the waste that’s left behind after the cheese is made. The whey is mixed with milk and cream from either cows or goats. This is boiled for several hours until much of the moisturize has evaporated. This leaves behind a brown mass. This mass is then put into casts where it cools off to become a block of brown cheese.
By the pure definition of what a cheese is brunost actually isn’t a cheese. While cheese is also made up of milk and/or cream the whey is always removed. By the definition a cheese is only a cheese if the whey is removed. People found a way to use the whey for something else and that’s how brunost was born. I guess they call it a cheese because it looks much like a block of cheese and is made pretty much the same way except for the whey. The brown color is a bi-product of the long boiling time.
Deliciousness
Every time my girlfriend is baking bread I have to have brunost. Nothing can compare to the taste of a thick layer of smelted butter topped off with a good layer of brunost. I highly recommend you try it out if you ever get the chance.
I’ll round off with a fun fact today. Did you know that the cheese slicer is a Norwegian invention? It was first patented by Thor Bjørklund in 1925 and since then it’s become a standard kitchen tool in most modern households around the world. Go Norway!
The photos in this post are taken by me unless sourced otherwise.