Dairy
Leyden
Leyden (Leidse kaas) is a Dutch cow’s-milk cheese in the pressed, semi-hard family, flavoured with cumin seeds and traditionally made partly from skimmed or lower-fat milk so the paste is firmer and drier than full-cream Gouda. The cumin gives a warm, aromatic bite against a clean, mildly tangy dairy base; wheels are often marked with crossed keys, the symbol of Leiden. It is sliced for bread and boards, and sometimes used in cooking where a spiced hard cheese is wanted. Related cumin cheeses exist across the Netherlands, but Leyden remains the classic named style.
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History
Cheese making around Leiden supplied urban markets in Holland with pressed cow’s-milk wheels.
Cumin-spiced Leidse kaas became a distinctive regional type of the Leiden area.
Part-skim and cumin practices were standard for keeping quality and flavour in export trade.
Boeren-Leidse met sleutels and related designations protected traditional farmhouse Leyden styles.
Factory and farmhouse cumin Leyden continued as everyday spiced Dutch table cheeses.