Featured Norwegian Product, #1: Geitost

*In an attempt to resurrect the past, this is a re-publishing of the last post I made before The Transplanted Baker on Blogspot was lost.  It stirred up quite a bit of interest and response, so I’m re-posting it here on the new (and improved!) site. The original post date was May 20th, 2009.

This is the first in a little series I’m doing on Norwegian foods and ingredients.

This week’s feature: Geitost

Although Norway hasn’t made as large of a contribution to international cuisine as, say, Italy or China; and the name Norway has become synonymous with lutefisk, I thought it might be nice to start profiling different Norwegian foods and ingredients to provide readers with a more balanced and honest perception of what the Norwegian culinary traditions are today. I confess to taking a somewhat skeptical stance regarding the Norwegian diet- a Midwestern girl can only take so much boiled cod and potatoes, but I truly believe that Norway has made some fantastic contributions to world cuisine and it deserves a little due credit for making the best of such a harsh Northern spot on the globe.

In the past, I’ve written a bit about how the Norwegian landscape and climate has shaped the diet of the nation- when you live somewhere with such dramatic mountain ranges combined with this long of a coastline, it’s only natural that cattle and corn never made it big. On the contrary, Norwegians are raised on what they can produce on the home turf. Things like cured fish and meats, like artic berries, root vegetables, hearty lamb and sheep, and things like forest mushrooms, nettles, wild salmon and whole grains. Nearing the top of my list of quality Norwegian foods, are the aged dairy products like good salted butter and caramelized goat cheese.

100% Pure Goat's Milk Geitost at my Local Farmer's Market

Geitost, also known as gjetost, brunost, mesost, myseost, and brown cheese, is a uber traditional Norwegian cheese made from whey.

Whey? You know whey. It’s what Little Miss Muffet ate on her tuffet right after she finished off her curds- or, the thin liquid that remains after milk has been curdled and strained while making cheese. It’s also what the Italian cheese, ricotta is made out of. Sounds a little less weird now, doesn’t it?

Geitost is made by boiling a mixture of milk, cream, and whey until the milk caramelizes and the water evaporates. In the states, geitost comes in one or two varieties, usually under the names Ski Queen and Ekte Geitost. In Norway, however, you can visit even the most backroads grocery store and find a dozen varieties of geitost. It seems as though back in the day, every farmer’s wife came up with her own recipe for geitost- encorporating various different amount of cream, many adding cow’s milk to the goat’s milk, some even adding herbs and spices, to create the signature geitost of the region.

For the first time taster, geitost is....sweet and....”different”. I truly believe that a person is born with either the geitost-loving gene, or the geitost-hating gene. Children adore the stuff (naturally, because it’s sweet!) Me, I’m a lover too. I eat it at least once a day- usually on my breakfast rye bread or flatbread, sometimes on warm waffles, and almost always with coffee or milk. It’s a real treat with an eggy sweet bread like challah or brioche. The trick is to slice it really thin with yet another Norwegian invention, an ostehøvel, cheese slicer. Only first timers and addicts take a knife and slice off a hunk of geitost before eating.

My Ostehøvel Collection- a Necessity in the Norwegian Kitchen

So what else can you do with geitost? 

You can add it to a warm sauce such as meatball gravy. You can throw a nub of it into a pan for a great wild game au jus (it’s particularly good with junipers and venison), or try it on a grilled sandwich with sautéed mushrooms.

Or you can make this: a geitost bling.

Geitost Bling

*inspired by a small cafe in Bergen

Serves: 2

2 long, thick slices of a dense, coarse-grained bread (any whole-wheat or rye will work)

6-8 thin slices of geitost

2 teaspoons crème fraiche

2 teaspoons lingonberry or cranberry jam (any tart jam or jelly will do)

1 teaspoon very finely diced red onion

2 teaspoons chopped fresh chive

To assemble your geitost blings: Layout your slices of bread on two plates. Place the geitost over the slices, overlapping a bit. Place a dollop of crème fraiche and a dollop of jam over the geitost. Top with a scattering of the diced red onion and snippets of fresh chive. Enjoy with good coffee, a tall glass of milk, or orange juice.

Up Next in my series on Norwegian foods and ingredients: Midsummer Berries!

Comments

[Heather]

I don't know which gene I have! I don't like the ones sold in the States, but loved loved loved one of the many you served us. Maybe it's just the I love sweets gene?

[Theresa Kline]

hey Siri!
Well done, my little friend! Love your blog. I'll keep track of you through it. You are a sweetie. Hope you had a marvelous trip in Austria.
Your friend,
Teri Kline

[Jenn AKA The Leftover Queen]

This is a wonderful post! When I lived in Norway I ate brunost at least twice a day. I used to love it on waffles with jam on top! Such good stuff. It is really hard to find here in FL. I found some months ago, and I have a small bit left, that I just can't seem to eat because I don't know when I will come across it again. Isn't that sad?

Glad you are back!

[Sassy Molassy]

MMMM...I love the ski queen!

[Lindsay]

So, I know this is an older post, so hopefully you'll check back and see the new comment!! I have seen brown cheese everywhere since i've been in norway - I even got a little taste at an outdoor farmer's market the other day! My question is - is there a difference between brunost and flotemysost? is flotemysost a type of brunost? I bought a package of flotemysost on a day when i was feeling adventurous. It's super good (after the initial shock of sweet cheese..). :)

[Siri]

Lindsay-

As for your brunost question, it simply means "brown cheese", so any cheese that fits that description, color wise, can be classified as brunost- be it a 100% goat's milk cheese, a 100% cow's milk cheese, or a mix of the two (including fløtemysost). Fløyte is good, isn't it? It just means "cream and whey cheese", so it's a bit creamier and less lean than some of the others and is heavier on the cow's milk percentage- also the popular one with kids. My favorite is the Gudbrandsdalost, in a red package. It's a little darker but still not too "goaty", as some would say.

Hope that help clears it up. As you can see, I guess I can officially call myself immersed in Norwegian culture after learning the ins and outs of the brown cheese world.

And one more thing- if you come across another type, Bestemorsost, you should try it out. That is, if you like something REALLY sweet and carmally.

Let me know if you have other questions, Siri

[hag]

I grew up with geitost ( partial Norwegian background) thanks for posting other ways to enjoy this cheese! I am looking forward to reading your blog in the future.

[Ronald]

Hello, like your blog. I just returned from my first trip to Norway. Bought 750 gram Geitost at Prestholt after a fabuleus climb to the gletsjer. Eat it eery day. I thought there was some condensed milk in it, but now I know it is milk and cream. Hope to be able to buy this in Holland as well.

[Constance]

I came in here because I remembered seeing during my web wanderings many months back a fabulous recipe for raisin cardamon buns, on the site of an American blogger living in Norway. You'll be pleased to know it didn't take google all that long to help me find you again.

And so after relocating that recipe again (thank you!), I decided to stay and read a few more of your posts. That was at least a couple of hours ago. And now here I am, at the very beginning, reading about Geitost,a cheese I tried for the very first time yesterday after picking up a block of it at a Wisconsin cheese mongers. The store owner told me to use thin shavings, and so I did. But it was so d***ed good, I started making them thicker and thicker. Either a beginner or an addict, for sure.

Your site is wonderful, you recipe choices immensely appealing, your photos memorable and beautiful, and that baby of yours even more so. As was that picture of you with the bun still in the oven. Congratulations to you!

[propecia]

When did humans start drinking cows milk, or any other type of
non-human milk? Did they feed it to just infants first, or humans of
all ages? Is it possible to know why they started?

[Patty]

Stumbled into Geitost at my local Whole Foods here in Texas. May be strange, but I like to eat it with apples. The tastes seem to compliment each other, sort of like a caramel apple.

[Whitney]

Hi Siri! I must agree I LOVE the stuff and usually have a chunk of it in my fridge. I look forward to reading more of your posts in the future-don't forget to stop by "Thanks for the Food" to see what we're up to in Stavanger!

You can also find TFTF on Twitter, You Tube and Facebook.

[Eloïse]

Hello! Does anybody know where to get goat geitost in canada? It seems we have only sky queen, and I'm intolerant of cow milk but not goat milk, so I really need that 100% pure goat geitost!! I make a great green apple and geitost omelet since I came back from Norway, and I've been missing that great taste!

[Siri]

Eloïse- The only variety of 100% goat geitost I know of is called "Ekte Geitost" and is made by TINE. Ekte simply means "true" or "pure". It's sold in a 500 gram block (which wouldn't last long in our house). I used to work at a cheese shop in Minneapolis that sold it, so I know it's attainable in North America. Maybe try googling cheese shops in Canada and see if someone is able to ship so to you? It's hardy stuff, and I'm sure it would be great in that fancy omelet of yours :)