Jarlsberg ( , ) is a Norwegian mild Swiss-type cheese made from

cow's milk Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of lactating mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfed human infants) before they are able to digest solid food. Milk contains many nutr ...

. It originates in the former countship of Jarlsberg and is named after Jarlsberg Manor. Besides Norway, the cheese is also produced in

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

and in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

, licensed from Norwegian dairy producers. Jarlsberg in Wholefoods

Description

Jarlsberg cheese has a yellow wax rind (outer layer) and a semi-firm yellow interior. It is a mild, buttery cheese. The flavour has been described as "clean and rich, with a slightly sweet and nutty flavour". It is an all-purpose cheese, used for both cooking and eating as a

snack A snack is a small portion of Human food, food generally Eating, eaten between meals. Snacks come in a variety of forms including Food packaging, packaged snack foods and other processed foods, as well as items made from fresh ingredients at ho ...

. It has a characteristic smooth, shiny-yellow body, and a creamy, supple texture. It is aged a minimum of three months and is distinguished by medium to large holes. Some variations are aged a minimum of 9, 12 or 15 months. It is usually produced in wheels with an approximate diameter of and a height of . The characteristic holes or "eyes" are the result of the action of the bacteria ''

Propionibacterium freudenreichii ''Propionibacterium freudenreichii'' is a gram-positive, Motility, non-motile bacterium that plays an important role in the creation of Emmental cheese, and to some extent, Jarlsberg cheese, Leerdammer and Maasdam cheese. Its concentration in Swi ...

'' which naturally occurs in milk and is added back into the cheese during production according to a closely guarded secret formula.

History

The history of this cheese can be traced back to the middle 1850s. Anders Larsen Bakke (1815–1899), a farmer and pioneer in Norway's dairy industry, produced cheese in the village of Våle in what was then the county of Jarlsberg and Larviks Amt (now

Vestfold Vestfold () is a county and a current electoral district in Norway. Located on the western shore of the Oslofjord, it borders Buskerud and Telemark counties. The county administration is located in Tønsberg, Norway's oldest city, and the larg ...

), south of

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

. The cheese shares similarities with

Emmental The Emmental (, ) 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 dairy farming. The ...

, introduced to Vestfold by

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

cheese makers during the 1830s. The cheese was first noted in the annual county report of Jarlsberg and Larviks Amt in 1855. After several years of popularity marked by a large volume of production Jarlsberg disappeared from the market. Modern Jarlsberg cheese was developed in 1956 by Ole Martin Ystgaard of the Dairy Institute at the Agricultural University of Norway. Ystgaard's interest was sparked by the thesis of a dairy sciences student, Per Sakshaug, on the cheese historically made in Vestfold. It was named for a Norwegian nobleman, Count Wedel Jarlsberg, who owned land near Oslo in an area where an earlier version of the cheese was produced in the early 1800s, or for the eponymous county. The recipe was developed from formulae originating with Swiss cheesemakers who moved to Norway at that time.

Production and distribution

"Jarlsberg" is a

trademark A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a form of intellectual property that consists of a word, phrase, symbol, design, or a combination that identifies a Good (economics and accounting), product or Service (economics), service f ...

first registered by Tine SA in 1972, and the exact nature and formula for the process of making Jarlsberg cheese is a

trade secret A trade secret is a form of intellectual property (IP) comprising confidential information that is not generally known or readily ascertainable, derives economic value from its secrecy, and is protected by reasonable efforts to maintain its conf ...

. The largest producer of Jarlsberg cheese is Tine SA. Tine is the largest Norwegian dairy product

cooperative A cooperative (also known as co-operative, coöperative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomy, autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned a ...

. Jarlsberg cheese accounts for 80% of Tine's total exports. Tine's United States subsidiary, Norseland, has sold 150 million wheels of Jarlsberg cheese in the U.S. . Jarlsberg cheese was introduced in the United States in 1964. Imports to the U.S. in 1965 were . Since 1979 imports to the U.S. have been limited to . Jarlsberg is the most popular imported cheese in the U.S. , of Jarlsberg cheese was made in the U.S. in Ohio. It is also produced in

by Dairygold. Annual sales of Jarlsberg cheese in the United Kingdom are £6.9m . Jarlsberg cheese is also popular in Australia. Jarlsberg is used as the topping for Grandiosa, the best-selling frozen pizza in Norway.

References

External links

Jarlsberg.com
site of brand owner. {{Norwegian cheeses Cow's-milk cheeses Norwegian cheeses Cheese with eyes

Description

History

Production and distribution

See also

References

External links