The Alkmaar cheese market

• Visit the Cheese market
  • When and where
  • Accessibility and Parking
  • Arriving by public transport
  • Tour coaches
  • Cheese Market for groups
  • Dutch Cheese Museum
  • Cheesefarms in and around Alkmaar
  • Order the Cheese Market Magazine here
• Ins and outs of the cheesemarket
  • History of the cheesemarket
  • Putting up the cheeses
  • Cheese father calls the roll
  • Opening of the market
  • Cheese inspection
  • Price bargaining
  • Weighing the cheese
  • Carrying cheese
  • The end of the cheese market
• Cheese carriers’ guild
  • Alkmaar cheese carriers’ guild
  • The forwarding companies
  • Traditions, customs, and habits
  • Positions of the cheese market and in the guild
  • Cheesemaids
• Cheese in the Netherlands
  • A piece of history
  • From Cow to Cheese
  • Cheese types
• More about Alkmaar
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Cheese types

The ages:

• New > matured for 4 weeks
• Semi-matured > matured for 8 weeks
• Matured >  matured for 4 months
• Extra matured > matured for 7 months
• Fully mature cheese > matured for 10 months
• Very aged > matured for 1 year or longer

Types of cheese:

• Gouda cheese   
  The Netherlands’ most famous and important type of cheese. It     has a round and flat form, and weighs about 12 kilos.
• Edam cheese  
  The well-known spherical cheese, weighing 1.7 kilos. Abroad,  this cheese is known for its red wrapper.
  Leiden cheese  
  Cumin cheese; also referred to as “pitjeskaas” for its added  cumin seed.
• Dutch cheese with holes 
  Flattened oval cheese with a round top, usually of the  Maaslander or Leerdammer brand. The holes are caused by  bacteria in the cheese.
• Frisian clove cheese   
  Firmly pressed cheese made of skimmed milk with cumin and  cloves.  
• Herb cheese   
  Cheese with non-traditional herbs such as mustard, onion, parsley, basil, nettle, or pepper.
• Goat’s and sheep’s cheese 
  Spicy, white cheese of goat’s or sheep’s milk
• Smoked cheese  Often in a sausage-like form with a brown rind. Currently,  smoke flavouring is added to the dairy, but it used to be actually  smoked.
• Cheese spread  
  A spreadable type of cheese as a result of the adding of butterfat,  which is available in various variations and flavours. The melted  product is heated, after which it has long storage life.

Hard and soft cheese
Most types of cheese in the Netherlands come within the category of “hard cheese” or “sliceable cheese”. This is connected to the water content in cheese, and its duration to mature. Hard cheese, Emmenthal from Switzerland or Parmesan from Italy, is extremely difficult to slice and consists of 56% water maximum as a result of the long maturation. Gouda and Edam are “sliceable cheeses” and contain about 54 to 63% of water. Soft cheese has matured a short period of time and is creamy. It consists of more than 67% water; examples are Camembert and Brie.

Spring cheese
During the days when cheese was produced on farms, there was a distinct difference in quality between cheese produced in summer or in winter. If produced in winter, it was referred to as “winter cheese”; cows did not eat fresh grass resulting in milk and cheese of poorer quality. Cheese lovers looked forward to spring when cows could graze on the fresh spring grass. The first fresh milk from cows was used for making cheese. After maturing for four weeks, spring cheese was ready for consumption. Today, the quality of cheese is close to equal all year round, but the taste of spring cheese can still be distinguished: it is particularly fresh, mild, and mellow. In early June, the arrival of the first spring cheese is celebrated on “Graskaasdag” (spring cheese day) on the Alkmaar cheese market. It is combined with various events and performances on the market. The first batch of spring cheese is sold by auction, the proceeds of which go to a good cause.