Cheeses of Gouda
A Dutch market town whose weigh house and summer cheese market gave its name to one of the world's most made cheeses.
Made, aged and sold here
Best time: April to August, the season of the summer market.
Gouda is a canal town in South Holland, between Rotterdam and Utrecht. Its name became that of a cheese because farmers brought their wheels here to be weighed and sold, and the right to hold a cheese market dates to the Middle Ages. The weigh house, built in 1668, still stands on the market square, where a summer cheese market is held for visitors.
Gouda cheese
Gouda is a cow's milk cheese whose curd is washed with warm water, which takes away some lactose and gives a sweet, mild flavour. It is pressed into round wheels with bulging sides, brined and coated. Young Gouda is supple and creamy; old Gouda, aged a year or more, is hard, deep gold and full of crunchy crystals, with a caramel taste.
Market and farms
In the weigh house the old scales are still on show, with a museum of cheese and crafts. In summer, farmers and traders strike deals with a ritual of hand slaps on the square, a show of the old trade. Around the town, in the polders of the Green Heart, farmers still make boerenkaas, farmhouse Gouda from raw milk.
A trail idea for Gouda
- Goudse Waag The 1668 weigh house and its cheese exhibition.
- Summer cheese market Watch the hand-slap trading on the square in season.
- Sint-Janskerk The long church famous for its stained glass windows.
- A cheese farm Taste raw-milk boerenkaas in the polders around the town.
Written by the EveryCheese desk with AI assistance. Background: "Gouda, South Holland" on Wikipedia. Opening hours, markets, caves and tours change; check locally before travelling. If something is wrong, tell us.
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