Brunost
Encyclopedia
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
n whey cheese
Whey cheese
There are several types of cheese, with around 500 different varieties recognised by the International Dairy Federation, over 400 identified by Walter and Hargrove, over 500 by Burkhalter, and over 1,000 by Sandine and Elliker...
. The Norwegian name brunost means brown cheese, and the others mean simply whey
Whey
Whey or Milk Serum is the liquid remaining after milk has been curdled and strained. It is a by-product of the manufacture of cheese or casein and has several commercial uses. Sweet whey is manufactured during the making of rennet types of hard cheese like cheddar or Swiss cheese...
cheese. In North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
a variant with goat milk is referred to and sold as gjetost (Norwegian for goat cheese).
Production
Brunost is made by boiling a mixture of milkMilk
Milk is a white liquid produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals before they are able to digest other types of food. Early-lactation milk contains colostrum, which carries the mother's antibodies to the baby and can reduce the risk of many...
, cream
Cream
Cream is a dairy product that is composed of the higher-butterfat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, over time, the lighter fat rises to the top. In the industrial production of cream this process is accelerated by using centrifuges called "separators"...
and whey
Whey
Whey or Milk Serum is the liquid remaining after milk has been curdled and strained. It is a by-product of the manufacture of cheese or casein and has several commercial uses. Sweet whey is manufactured during the making of rennet types of hard cheese like cheddar or Swiss cheese...
carefully for several hours so that the water evaporates. The heat turns the milk sugar into caramel
Caramel
Caramel is a beige to dark-brown confection made by heating any of a variety of sugars. It is used as a flavoring in puddings and desserts, as a filling in bonbons, and as a topping for ice cream, custard and coffee....
which gives the cheese its characteristic taste. It is ready for consumption as soon as it is packed in suitable sized blocks. A low-fat variant is made by increasing the proportion of whey to milk and cream.
Dulce de leche
Dulce de leche is a thick,creamy, caramel-like milk-based sauce or spread.Literally translated, dulce de leche means "sweet from milk". It is prepared by slowly heating sweetened milk to create a product that derives its taste from caramelised sugar. It is a popular sweet in Latin America, where...
. Prim had been made in Norway for a long time when Anne Haav (Anne Hov in some sources), a farmer's wife in Gudbrandsdalen, got the idea of putting cream into the cheese and invented the Fløtemysost
Fløtemysost
Fløtemysost or Fløytemysost is a conventional variant of brunost which is made of milk from cows, and has a mild and bright color.The mild flavour has made fløtemysost very popular and about 30% of all brunost sold is fløtemysost....
. She found that the cheese was better and easier to cut by increasing the percentage of fat by the addition of cream. She received a good price for her new cheese, and this merchandise is said to have saved the Gudbrandsdalen financially in the 1880s. In 1933, when Anne Haav was 87 years old, she was awarded the King's Medal of Merit in silver.
Brunost is manufactured primarily in Norway, but also has traditionally been produced in Jämtland
Jämtland
Jämtland or Jamtland is a historical province or landskap in the center of Sweden in northern Europe. It borders to Härjedalen and Medelpad in the south, Ångermanland in the east, Lapland in the north and Trøndelag and Norway in the west...
and Härjedalen
Härjedalen
' is a historical province or landskap in the centre of Sweden. It borders the country of Norway as well as the provinces of Dalarna, Hälsingland, Medelpad, and Jämtland...
in Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
. The cheese is sold by specialty cheese shops and some larger supermarkets within North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
and Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. Today several types of brunost are offered in most shops in Norway and Sweden. Brunost has traditionally been considered healthy because of its high content of iron
Iron
Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series. It is the most common element forming the planet Earth as a whole, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust...
, calcium
Calcium
Calcium is the chemical element with the symbol Ca and atomic number 20. It has an atomic mass of 40.078 amu. Calcium is a soft gray alkaline earth metal, and is the fifth-most-abundant element by mass in the Earth's crust...
and B vitamins
B vitamins
B vitamins are a group of water-soluble vitamins that play important roles in cell metabolism. The B vitamins were once thought to be a single vitamin, referred to as vitamin B . Later research showed that they are chemically distinct vitamins that often coexist in the same foods...
, but more contemporary views by nutrition experts differ. The Norwegian nutrition expert Fedon Lindberg says that because brunost has large quantities of both fat and sugar it's comparable to chocolate. He says that Norwegians should cut down on their brunost consumption.
TINE
Tine (company)
-External links:**...
produces most of the brunost in Norway, and currently have 12 varieties to choose among. Fjällbrynt is the biggest producer in Sweden. In Sweden, brunost called Fjällbrynt Mesost is produced commercially by Fjällbrynt in the city of Östersund
Östersund
Östersund is an urban area in Jämtland in the middle of Sweden. It is the seat of Östersund Municipality and the capital of Jämtland County. Östersund is located at the shores of Sweden's fifth largest lake, Storsjön, opposite the island Frösön, and is the only city in Jämtland. Östersund is the...
. In Iceland, the company Mjólkursamsalan produces brunost. Several local dairies
Dairy
A dairy is a business enterprise established for the harvesting of animal milk—mostly from cows or goats, but also from buffalo, sheep, horses or camels —for human consumption. A dairy is typically located on a dedicated dairy farm or section of a multi-purpose farm that is concerned...
in Norway produce their own versions.
Other sources
- Espelund, Arne (1998) Brunosten, historien til et godt næringsemne gjennom 300 år (Trondheim: Arketype forlag) ISBN 82-992430-2-5
External links
Brunost (Store norske leksikon: Preben S. Ottesen) TINE, the main Norwegian producer of Brunost- Norseland, TINE's North American subsidiary company Synnøve Finden, another Norwegian producer of Brunost Milko, the main Swedish producer of mesost Mjólkursamsalan (or MS), the Icelandic producer of mysuostur
http://www.dagbladet.no/dinside/2003/08/15/376020.html