Brunost

Brunost (= brown cheese) also known as Myseost or Geitost (= goat cheese) is a Norwegian speciality, and one of those food items that I remember switching from hating to loving. Different varieties are made either from cow's milk, goat's milk or mixtures - but it is always made from whey.

As a child I remember being highly suspicious of this product: not only was it made of goat's milk - it was brown. But my mother loved it (still does) - back then I wasn't sure if this wasn't just part of her loving everything Norwegian. You could buy it in Denmark, but it was rather expensive, so whenever anyone we knew went to Norway my mother would ask them to bring her back a kg or two. Which would always be consumed surprisingly quickly upon delivery: thinly sliced on bread, possibly with slices of cucumber on top. My mother even had a special cheese cutter she only used for this cheese. The latter was due to its unusually soft texture.

Some years ago I saw it in a store in the US and was suddenly curious - would I still not like it, like I used to as a child, or had my tastes developed ? As you can probably guess, my tastes had indeed developed. Suddenly I found the sweet caramel with a hint of sharpness oddly pleasing. I still don't think I am as crazy about as my mother (quite frankly, I don't think I ever will be) - I certainly don't consume as much of it as she does, but from time to time I get some (here in Sweden it is of course readily available).