Anybody ever ship cheese?

[strohman]

I live in the U.S. but I was fortunate to visit Holland a few years ago. A friend of mine spent a few years living there on business. He introduced me to fresh gouda made in small wheels. It's nothing like the cheese we can get here in the U.S. I brought a couple of small wheels home with me, but that didn't last too long.

My wife talks about that cheese all the time, but no luck finding it here. It was very reasonable to buy in Holland. Has anyone ever bought any cheese and shipped it to the U.S.? I know that in the small wheel it doesn't have to be refrigerated and can last a while.

I sure would love to get some more of that Dutch Gouda cheese!

 

[RayH]

Go here. http://www.igourmet.com/cheese.asp

 

[gearchow]

So strohman, are any of those Gouda cheeses listed under Holland at that web site like the one you are talking about?

And off topic, let me just say I love aged Gouda. Never had it before till a couple of months ago and I just love the stuff.

-jim

 

[galopede]

I live in Cheltenham, which is a few miles from the city of Gloucester. The local cheese is single and double Gloucester.

Guess where Gloucester is twinned with? Yep, Gouda!

Gareth

 

[Navig8tor]

Mmmmmmmm cheese!

 

[strohman]

That website does look like a possibility. It's probably the baby gouda. It did come in a small wheel about 6 inches across, but it might have been a bit larger than the wheel on the website.

I'm probably going to order some anyway. It's such a good cheese and it's not like anything we can get here.

I was watching a movie once and a guy said something about all American cheeses tasting like s**t since they were pasteurized. After tasting cheese from Europe, I have to agree!

 

[Edcculus]

You might want to double check. If its coming into the US, I'm pretty sure it has to be pasteurized. I've heard stories of chefs smuggling in rare cheeses made from raw milk in France.

It can still be a fresh cheese without being from raw milk also. There is a good chance if you poke around with some importers, you might be able to find this specific cheese. That is unless you are 100% sure its from raw milk.

 

[lamina]

If you like Gouda maybe you will like too S.Jorge cheese. It's a hard cheese, D.O.C like the wines, its'a big wheel, some weights 5 or 6 kls (but you can buy just a slice as any big cheese) and made at the Azores Islands, at S.George island and it's a Gouda recipe left by the Dutch influence on XVI and XVII century in the Azores and adapted to local circumstances.

That said, the producers in St.George exports to US regularly, due to azorean immigration (Nelly Furtado, why do you leave us?!) and i think the product is available in US mainland and deserves an opportunity being so go(ou)d(a)!!

 

[pyrrhusmj]

You might want to double check. If its coming into the US, I'm pretty sure it has to be pasteurized. I've heard stories of chefs smuggling in rare cheeses made from raw milk in France.

It can still be a fresh cheese without being from raw milk also. There is a good chance if you poke around with some importers, you might be able to find this specific cheese. That is unless you are 100% sure its from raw milk.

I had a small package of non-pasturized cheese I had been eating on during a flight from Spain to the US last year. Had maybe a bite or two left...... Stuck in my bag not thinking of the possible ramifications..... Let's just say the dog smelled it and I ended up in a different line being questioned by customs and missed my next flight after hearing about the dangers of un-pasturized cheese and dairy, not just for m but our nations food supply.

Michael

 

[TickTock]

10 years ago when I was in grad school I made a lot of spending money by going to the University surplus center and buying old computers and selling the parts online. A guy in Holland wanted some ethernet adapter thingy I had and I told him to buy the equivalent $ amount in aged gouda and chocolate and just mail it over.

Anyway, it took more than a week to get here (midwestern US), the chocolate was completely melted and rehardened into a weird-looking lump, and the cheese was the best I ever had despite the journey.

Extra aged gouda is really remarkable. I wouldn't try anything younger for a random temperature voyage, though.

P.S. If cheese is aged for long enough then unpasteurized is OK, I think. It's the fresh ones like real Camembert that are forbidden.

 

[galopede]

P.S. If cheese is aged for long enough then unpasteurized is OK, I think. It's the fresh ones like real Camembert that are forbidden.

Aah, Camembert! I get through loads of it. I nearly got thrown of a morris tour bus because of the smell of my breakfast Camembert and tomato sandwiches. They were warming up nicely but all the others on the bus seemed to be put off by the pong! Heathens!

It always confuses the shop staff when I search through all the Camembert on offer looking for the oldest stuff! If there's any past the sell by date, that's for me...

Gareth

 

[strohman]

I brought a couple of small wheels of gouda back with me from Holland. They were still sealed in wax, but I came through customs with no problem. They looked through my bags and even asked about the cheese, then let me enter.

It's amazing some of the things you can find in Europe that just don't exist in the U.S.

 

[gearchow]

I had a small package of non-pasturized cheese I had been eating on during a flight from Spain to the US last year. Had maybe a bite or two left...... Stuck in my bag not thinking of the possible ramifications..... Let's just say the dog smelled it and I ended up in a different line being questioned by customs and missed my next flight after hearing about the dangers of un-pasturized cheese and dairy, not just for m but our nations food supply.

Michael

10 years ago when I was in grad school I made a lot of spending money by going to the University surplus center and buying old computers and selling the parts online. A guy in Holland wanted some ethernet adapter thingy I had and I told him to buy the equivalent $ amount in aged gouda and chocolate and just mail it over.

Anyway, it took more than a week to get here (midwestern US), the chocolate was completely melted and rehardened into a weird-looking lump, and the cheese was the best I ever had despite the journey.

Extra aged gouda is really remarkable. I wouldn't try anything younger for a random temperature voyage, though.

P.S. If cheese is aged for long enough then unpasteurized is OK, I think. It's the fresh ones like real Camembert that are forbidden.

Can somebody please explain why fresh cheese is a problem? I understand agri products - bugs - but cheese?

Aah, Camembert! I get through loads of it. I nearly got thrown of a morris tour bus because of the smell of my breakfast Camembert and tomato sandwiches. They were warming up nicely but all the others on the bus seemed to be put off by the pong! Heathens!

It always confuses the shop staff when I search through all the Camembert on offer looking for the oldest stuff! If there's any past the sell by date, that's for me...

Gareth

I only understood half that. Speak English Man!! Oh, errr, check that, carry on!



But seriously, to me, pong is a word applied to some games: pong or ping pong. By context I can guess it's smell in this case?

-jim

 

[TickTock]

gearchow, it's raw milk cheese that's the issue (and raw milk itself), since without pasteurisation, there is the chance of bacteria and whatnot infecting humans. If a cheese is aged enough, then it is allowed in the US since acidity/salt content will kill any dangerous germs. It's young, oozing cheese that's the issue. There have been (rare) cases of fresh raw milk cheeses causing food poisoning outbreaks.

There are two proponents of raw milk products, 1) foodies, who think that traditional cheeses taste better, and 2) some health food fans who make nutrition claims about raw milk itself (i.e., that pasteurisation removes nutrients). There was a raid recently on a health food store and a bunch of milk was confiscated which hit the news.

I had a friend stay with some friends in Italy a while ago and was given, by a farmer's wife, some raw milk. The friend was all excited about it and raved about the taste, but later on the farmer's wife said, "You didn't drink it, did you?!?!?!!" -- she thought my friend wanted it to cook with or make cheese out of, and thought she was crazy for just drinking it.

My opinion? Fresh cheese, made by artisans = worth the (very small) risk. Raw milk to drink = not worth it.

 

[Shavely Manden]

You might want to double check. If its coming into the US, I'm pretty sure it has to be pasteurized. I've heard stories of chefs smuggling in rare cheeses made from raw milk in France.

Pretty much everybody coming from France smuggles a few cheeses back in my experience. However, a lot of European companies will make pasteurized cheeses specifically for US export (whether or no that's a good thing).

 

[galopede]

I only understood half that. Speak English Man!! Oh, errr, check that, carry on!



But seriously, to me, pong is a word applied to some games: pong or ping pong. By context I can guess it's smell in this case?

-jim

pong [pɒŋ] Brit informal
n
a disagreeable or offensive smell; stink
vb
(intr) to give off an unpleasant smell; stink
[perhaps from Romany pan to stink]
pongy adj


Britain and the US - two countries separated by a common language!

WE invented it!

Gareth

 

[oversaturn]

If you like Gouda maybe you will like too S.Jorge cheese. It's a hard cheese, D.O.C like the wines, its'a big wheel, some weights 5 or 6 kls (but you can buy just a slice as any big cheese) and made at the Azores Islands, at S.George island and it's a Gouda recipe left by the Dutch influence on XVI and XVII century in the Azores and adapted to local circumstances.

That said, the producers in St.George exports to US regularly, due to azorean immigration (Nelly Furtado, why do you leave us?!) and i think the product is available in US mainland and deserves an opportunity being so go(ou)d(a)!!

Hhhhhhmmmmmmm...! Cheeese...!

S. Jorge cheese is very good, indeed!