Oakdale Aged Gouda
United States
Oakdale Aged Gouda
Gouda-style cheeses are popular mild cheeses, great eaten just as-is for a snack, but also good in cooked foods, salads and sandwiches.
Texture & Flavor
Gouda generally needs time to develop its flavors. It takes months for those caramel aromas to emerge and about a year to develop crunchy protein crystals.
Oakdale's Aged Gouda is aged for seven months to the point where its nutty flavor is balanced with a sweet finish. No crystals at this stage but lovely creaminess and perfect salting.
The Oakdale cheese has enough acidity to keep it from being cloying. The pale gold interior offers aromas of butter, caramel, butterscotch, pineapple and warm cream.
Wine Pairings
Serve alone, with fruit, or nuts but best paired with wine.
Background
The milk comes from a dairy farmer in Oakdale, near Modesto, whose herd produces especially high-fat milk.
The cheesemaker's work begins the night before when he makes sure that the fresh milk we receive from a local dairy is properly transferred and chilled.
Before the sun rises the next morning, following a traditional Gouda recipe, he starts the pasteurization process and adds cheese cultures to the milk.
Within a few hours, curds start to form and the whey is separated from the batch.
Shortly after, the curds are pressed into a large block and cut into 10 pound pieces which are placed in their molds, fitted with a lid and pressed into wheels.
The next day, the wheels are transferred to a brine solution to cure. Two days later, the cheese is transferred to wooden drying racks, coated with wax, and begins the aging process where it matures to perfection.
Availability, Ordering and Shipping
Sourced from creameries all over the world many of our cheeses are from small family-owned, alpine farms and only produced in limited quantities or at one-time each year. We take most of their production which goes straight out to our club members.
Our cheeses are sold in an 8 ounce cut. When ordering more please use “quantity” in multiples of 8 ounces i.e., for one pound order a quantity of 2.
Because our cheese club members take precedence we may have limited inventory of some cheese products.
If you order a cheese that is unavailable our customer service team will contact you with delivery details or a substitute cheese product.
Your cheese selections are individually wrapped in sustainable, recyclable, low environmental impact food wrapping which will extend the life of the cheese in your refrigerator.
The cheese is then carefully packed in an insulated container with “cool” ice packs and sealed in its shipping box to be sent via overnight air arriving fresh and cool at your home or office.
We search the world for fresh, natural cheeses made from milk produced by family-owned, free grazing animals and crafted by artisan, quality-focused cheese makers. Each year we choose only the best cheeses to pair for our wine and cheese club members to enjoy.
| Milk | Cow |
|---|---|
| Texture | Semi-Firm |
| Country | United States |
