Noord-Hollands cheese vs Gouda: what’s the difference?

In any cheese shop, you’ll find them sitting side by side: Goudse and Noord-Hollands cheese. They look alike, they’re made the same way, and yet there’s a difference. One you can taste.

Goudse: a style, not a place of origin

This is where most of the confusion comes from. Goudse cheese doesn’t refer to cheese from Gouda. It’s a type of cheese, a method of production. Goudse is made all over the world, from Argentina to New Zealand. As long as you follow the Goudse recipe (washing the curd, pressing in round molds, brine-ripening), you can call it Goudse.

That means the name alone is no guarantee of quality. There’s a world of difference between an industrially produced Goudse from a factory in Germany and an artisanal cheese from Noord-Holland.

Noord-Hollands cheese: always Goudse, but better

Noord-Hollands cheese is, by definition, Goudse. It’s made the same way. But a few things set it apart:

• The milk: Noord-Holland’s cows graze on clay soil along the coast. The salty grass and mineral-rich land give the milk its own distinctive character.
• The craft: many Noord-Holland cheesemakers still work on a smaller scale, with more attention to the process.
• The quality mark: the Gouda Holland quality mark guarantees that the cheese is made from 100% Dutch milk and aged in the Netherlands.

Curious about the difference between factory cheese and artisanal cheese? Read more about what farmhouse cheese actually is.

The difference is in the taste

Put a piece of standard Goudse next to a Noord-Hollands extra mature and take a bite of each. The Noord-Hollands has more depth, a fuller mouthfeel, and a subtle salty undertone you simply won’t find in the standard Goudse.

That difference grows the longer the cheese ages. In a young cheese it’s subtle. In a mature or aged cheese, it’s unmistakable.

Aging stages

Both Goudse and Noord-Hollands cheese go through the same aging stages:

• Young: 4 weeks, soft and mild
• Semi-mature: 8 to 16 weeks, a little firmer with more flavor
• Mature: 16 to 36 weeks, full-flavored
• Extra mature: 36 weeks or more, intense with the first flavor crystals forming

At every stage, the quality of the milk and the craft make more of a difference. That’s exactly why aged Noord-Hollands cheese is so beloved among connoisseurs.

Want to taste for yourself?

At Cheese In A Box, we carry these cheeses freshly cut in our range: