Leerdammer () is a Dutch semihard

cheese Cheese is a dairy product produced in wide ranges of flavors, textures, and forms by coagulation of the milk protein casein. It comprises proteins and fat from milk, usually the milk of cows, buffalo, goats, or sheep. During productio ...

made from cow's

milk Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfed human infants) before they are able to digest solid food. Immune factors and immune-modulat ...

. It has an ageing time around 3–12 months. It has a creamy white texture and was made to be similar in appearance and flavor to

Emmental The Emmental ( en, Emme Valley) is a valley in west-central Switzerland, forming part of the canton of Bern. It is a hilly landscape comprising the basins of the rivers Emme and Ilfis. The region is mostly devoted to farming, particularly dair ...

. Its sweet and somewhat nutty flavour becomes more pronounced with age. It also has distinct holes. Advertisement campaigns have used the slogan "De lekkerste kaas tussen de gaten" (''"the taste is around the holes"''). The cheese is produced exclusively by the

Groupe Bel The Bel Group (a.k.a. Groupe Bel or Fromageries Bel in French language, French) is a multinational cheese marketer centered in France. Overview The Bel Group is headquartered at 2 allée de Longchamp in Suresnes (near Paris). It manufactures and ...

. The Leerdammer name is a trademark of Bel Leerdammer B.V. On 22 March 2021, Groupe Bel announced it was handing over the brand and its related assets to

Lactalis Lactalis is a French multinational dairy products corporation, owned by the Besnier family and based in Laval, Mayenne, France. The company's former name was Besnier SA. Lactalis is the largest dairy products group in the world, and is the sec ...

in exchange for the shares Lactalis held in Groupe Bel, bar a retained 0.9% stake. Leerdammer cheese is produced in

Schoonrewoerd Schoonrewoerd is a village in the Dutch province of Utrecht. It is a part of the municipality of Vijfheerenlanden, and lies about 25 km south of the city of Utrecht. Leerdammer cheese is produced in Schoonrewoerd. It was a separate munici ...

in the municipality of

Leerdam Leerdam () is a city and former municipality in the western Netherlands, in the province of Utrecht. The municipality was merged with the municipalities of Vianen and Zederik on 1 January 2019. The name of the new municipality is Vijfheerenlan ...

, the city which gave Leerdammer its name. Generic Leerdammer-style cheese is sold as Maasdam cheese. Groupe Bel has a second factory producing Leerdammer in

Dalfsen Dalfsen (; Dutch Low Saxon: ) is a municipality and a town in the Salland region of the Dutch province of Overijssel. The municipality of Dalfsen was increased to its current size on 1 January 2001 through the amalgamation of the municipalities ...

, in the eastern province of

Overijssel Overijssel (, ; nds, Oaveriessel ; german: Oberyssel) is a province of the Netherlands located in the eastern part of the country. The province's name translates to "across the IJssel", from the perspective of the Episcopal principality of U ...

. It is also produced in France. The cheese was developed by Cees Boterkooper, who had owned a small dairy in Schoonrewoerd since 1914, and Bastiaan Baars, who ran a cheese shop in a nearby village. The two met in 1970, and soon afterwards decided to collaborate. They worked on a cheese that could compete with Gouda and Edam. Leerdammer was launched in 1977. It is also available in supermarkets throughout Europe, Russia, and the US.

References

External links

Dutch Leerdammer Site

itscheese.com Leerdammer page
{{Dutch cheeses Dutch cheeses Cow's-milk cheeses

See also

References

External links