Velveeta for the Rockefellers

The fortuitous meeting of milk and bacteria has produced some pretty neat stuff.

One of these is Gjetost ("Yay-Toast") in Norwegian--a solid hunk of fudge-like heaven for your tasting parts. It comes in a dense orange block. The color looks a little chancy, until you realize that its supposed to be this way (The color is a result of carmelization).

Introduced to me by Stanley, who keeps his neatly wrapped in the fridge, I have fallen in love with this creamy wonder of cheeses.

How to to describe it?

It seems to be only appropriately eaten in 2-millimeter thick slices.
"Eat," come to think of it, is too violent at verb. Instead, Gjetost is slowly absorbed, like the starfish that ponderously decimates a coral reef.

Its so sweet, rich, and tasty, that the pleasure parts of my brain scream wildly during this process.

Though, in my experience, it is difficult to find in Los Angeles (see some places below), it appears that you can make it yourself. Professor David Fankhauser will tell you how here:

http://biology.clc.uc.edu/fankhauser/Cheese/Gjetost/Gjetost.htm

The best part is, it doesn't seem at all difficult. All you need is a gallon of fresh whey and a big pot.


If that's not available, try these places (looking for "Ski Queen" brand):

Silverlake Cheese Shop
Most Whole Foods
San Vicente Market
check out Kirk Samuel's EXCELLENT site: www.365cheeses.com

(Photo Courtesy of www.365cheeses.com)