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Bread cheese ( or ''juustoleipä'' ; ; or ''brödost''), sometimes known in the United States as Finnish squeaky cheese, is a Finnish fresh
Bread cheese can be eaten warm or cold, and is served in a number of ways:
* The traditional way is to serve it as slices, as a side dish with
cheese
Cheese is a type of dairy product produced in a range 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 prod ...
traditionally made from cow's colostrum. In America, cow's milk is generally used but can also be made with goat milk
Goat milk is the milk of domestic goats. Goats produce about 2% of the world's total annual milk supply. Some goats are bred specifically for milk. Goat milk naturally has small, well-emulsified fat globules, which means the cream will stay ...
. Commercially available versions are typically made from cow's milk. The cheese originally comes from Southern Ostrobothnia
South Ostrobothnia ( ; ) is one of the 19 regions of Finland. It borders the regions of Ostrobothnia (administrative region), Ostrobothnia, Central Ostrobothnia, Central Finland, Pirkanmaa, and Satakunta. Among the Finnish regions, South Ostrobo ...
, Northern Finland, and Kainuu
Kainuu (), also historically known as Cajania (), is one of the 19 regions of Finland (''maakunta'' / ''landskap''). Kainuu borders the regions of North Ostrobothnia, North Savo and North Karelia. In the east, it also borders Russia (Republic o ...
.Magnus Nilsson. The Nordic Cookbook (2015) 768 pag. ,
Finnish name
Traditionally, the cheese has been called ''leipäjuusto'' mainly in Ostrobothnia and Lapland and ''juustoleipä'' in Kainuu. Nowadays the two words are interchangeable, but ''leipäjuusto'' is the more common spelling. Other dialects have various names (such as narskujuusto) that refer to the way that fresh leipäjuusto "squeaks" against the teeth when bitten.Susan Raisanen. Squeaky Cheese: The Ultimate Guide to Making Finnish Leipajuusto. (2016). 52 pag. ,Preparation
The milk iscurd
Curd is obtained by Denaturation (biochemistry), coagulating milk in a sequential process called curdling. It can be a final dairy product or the first stage in cheesemaking. The coagulation can be caused by adding rennet, a Kefir cheese, ...
led and set to form a round disk from two to three centimeters thick. After this, bread cheese is baked, grilled, or flambéed to give it its distinctive brown or charred marks.
Traditionally, bread cheese was dried and could then be stored for up to several years. For eating, the dry, almost rock hard cheese was heated on a fire which softened it and produced an especially appetizing aroma. Even today, the cheese may be dried by keeping it in a well ventilated place for a few days. It has a mild flavour.
Methods of serving
Bread cheese can be eaten warm or cold, and is served in a number of ways:
* The traditional way is to serve it as slices, as a side dish with coffee
Coffee is a beverage brewed from roasted, ground coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content, but decaffeinated coffee is also commercially a ...
.
* A few pieces are placed in a cup, with hot coffee poured on. The Swedish name ''kaffeost'' ("coffee cheese") refers to this.
* Served as diamond-shaped pieces, roughly 5 to 7 cm long and a little less wide, with cloudberry
''Rubus chamaemorus'' is a species of flowering plant in the rose family. Its English common names include cloudberry, Nordic berry, bakeapple (in Newfoundland and Labrador), knotberry and knoutberry (in England), aqpik or low-bush salmonberry ...
jelly or fresh cloudberries.
* Slices of the cheese are cut into a cup or plate, with some cream poured on the pieces so that they soak a little, some cinnamon and sugar sprinkled over it, and grilled in the oven for a moment. Served with cloudberry jelly.
* In modern Finnish cuisine, diced bread cheese is often used as a mild replacement for feta
Feta ( ; ) is a Greek brined white cheese made from sheep milk or from a mixture of sheep and goat milk. It is soft, with small or no holes, and no skin. Crumbly with a slightly grainy texture, it is formed into large blocks and aged in brin ...
in various salads.
* As a dessert, bread cheese can be served like Camembert
Camembert ( , , ) is a moist, soft, creamy, surface-ripened cow's milk cheese. It was first made in the late 18th century in Camembert, Normandy, in northwest France. It is sometimes compared in look, taste and texture to brie cheese, albe ...
, fried on a pan with butter until it softens, and served with jam, traditionally cloudberry.
See also
*Cheese curds
Cheese curds are moist pieces of curdled milk, eaten either alone as a snack, or used in prepared dishes. They are most often consumed throughout the northern United States and Canada. Notably, cheese curds are popular in Quebec, as part of th ...
(North American
North America is a continent in the Northern and Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Caribbean Sea, and to the sou ...
squeaky cheese)
* Fried cheese
Fried cheese is a dish of cheese that is fried in oil. Fried cheese can be dipped in a batter before frying, and can be pan-fried or deep fried. It can be served as an appetizer or a snack.
Fried cheese is typically served hot, right after bei ...
* Halloumi
Halloumi or haloumi is a cheese that originated in the Eastern Mediterranean. It is traditionally made from a mixture of goat milk and sheep's milk, and now, due to shortages, it increasingly contains cow's milk or milk from other animals such ...
* List of cheeses
This is a list of cheeses by place of origin. Cheese is a milk-based food that is produced in wide-ranging flavors, textures, and forms. Hundreds of types of cheese from various countries are produced. Their styles, textures and flavors dep ...
* Saganaki
In Greek cuisine, saganaki () () is any one of a variety of dishes prepared in a small frying pan, the best-known being an appetizer of fried cheese. It is commonly flambéed in North America.
Etymology
The dishes are named for the frying ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bread cheese Finnish cheeses Cow's-milk cheeses Goat's-milk cheeses