Cheese for Breakfast
In Scandinavia cheese is an everyday food far more than a course at the end of dinner, and much of it is eaten in the morning on rye bread or crispbread. The tool for the job is Norwegian: in 1925 a Lillehammer carpenter named Thor Bjørklund patented the flat cheese slicer because a knife would not cut cheese thin enough for him. That habit shapes the cheeses too, since the everyday Nordic wheels are mild and pliable and plane into thin sheets without crumbling. Danish Havarti, created in the 1870s by Hanne Nielsen, is the best known of them abroad; our Havarti selection covers the plain and flavored versions. Sweden's hushållsost, whose name means household cheese, has long been a staple of the farmer's breakfast.
Brown Cheese and Aged Swedish Wheels
Norway's caramel-colored brunost, sold in the US as gjetost, is the great oddity of the Nordic kitchen. It is made by boiling whey with milk and cream until the milk sugars caramelize, which leaves a firm, fudge-like block that tastes close to salted caramel. Versions made only from goat's milk are stronger and tangier, and Norwegians shave the cheese thin over toast or crispbread at breakfast. Our guide to gjetost explains how it is made and how to serve it to someone tasting it for the first time. Slice it paper-thin, since a thick piece is too rich to enjoy.
Sweden's aged cheeses sit at the opposite end of the range, beginning with prästost, the priest cheese, named for the days when farmers paid a tenth of what they produced to the local priest. The long-aged wheels of northern Sweden turn dry and grainy with a bittersweet bite close to an aged cheddar, and Swedes serve them with ginger snaps and a cup of hot glögg. Denmark contributes a crumbly blue, tangy but never harsh; it sits in our Danish cheese collection with the country's other semi-soft wheels. Between fudge-like brunost and grainy aged wheels, a small Nordic board covers far more ground than its mild reputation suggests.
Serving and Storing
Serve Nordic cheese the way it is eaten at home, sliced thin with a cheese plane and laid on buttered rye or crispbread, with lingonberry preserves for the milder wheels. Brunost goes on toast, and the aged Swedish cheeses stand on their own with a ginger snap. Wrap cut wedges in breathable paper once opened, and cheese storage bags keep a semi-soft wheel supple while the cut face still breathes. Keep brown cheese tightly wrapped in its own packaging, because it dries and hardens quickly once the surface is exposed to air.
Also Worth Exploring
For a ready-made Nordic board, our Scandinavian gift boxes pair these cheeses with crispbread and lingonberry preserves, while the Scandinavian food collection covers the pantry around them from pickled herring to Danish butter. Our Swedish cuisine guide tells the story behind the smörgåsbord and the country's cheeses.
Scandinavian Cheese: Frequently Asked Questions
Hushållsost, or household cheese, is the everyday staple: mild, semi-soft and a fixture of the Swedish farmer's breakfast. Herrgårdsost, sold in the US as Vadenost, has been made since the 1700s and has a flavor reminiscent of English cheddar. Prästost, the priest cheese, is sharper and takes its name from the old tithe farmers paid to their local priest. Greve, launched in 1964, is a semi-hard cheese with large holes and a fruity, slightly sharp taste. Västerbotten is Sweden's celebration cheese, aged more than eleven months and often called the emperor of cheeses, though it is not sold in the United States, so igourmet carries a similar long-aged Swedish cheese in its place whenever it is in stock. Swedes serve the aged ones with ginger snaps and glögg, and the mild ones sliced thin on crispbread.
Gjetost, pronounced roughly yay-toast in America, is Norway's brown cheese. It is made by boiling whey with milk and cream until the milk sugars caramelize, which turns it tan to deep brown and gives it a firm, fudge-like texture. The flavor is sweet and close to salted caramel, and versions made from a blend of cow's and goat's milk finish with a mild goaty tang. Ekte gjetost, made only from goat's milk, is stronger and more pronounced. Norwegians slice it very thin with a cheese plane and eat it at breakfast on toast or crispbread, and children in particular tend to love it. Hikers carry a block of it for energy on long walks. The name simply means goat cheese in Norwegian, though most versions sold abroad blend in cow's milk and cream as well.