Dairy
Aged Gouda
Aged Gouda (oud to overjarig) is long-matured Dutch cow’s-milk cheese, often a year or more, with a firm, brittle paste, deep amber colour, and pronounced caramel, butterscotch, and savoury notes. Tyrosine crystals form as proteins break down, giving a characteristic crunch against the dense paste. It is broken, shaved, or thinly sliced rather than melted. Age transforms the washed-curd mildness of young Gouda into one of the most concentrated table cheeses of Northern Europe.
Also known as: Oud / Overjarig
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History
Merchants held Gouda wheels for long voyages; extended ageing developed the hard, deep-flavoured style later called oud.
Farmhouse cellars and urban warehouses refined multi-year ripening of large wheels for premium markets.
Retail age grades (oud, overjarig) separated crystalline aged Gouda from mild jong and mid-aged belegen.
Specialty export demand for crystal-laden aged Gouda grew in North America and Asia.
Farmhouse raw-milk and extended-age projects pushed two- to five-year wheels as craft counterparts to industrial blocks.