What Black Lemon Gouda Tastes Like
What Black Lemon Gouda actually is
Most people meet this one as a photograph. A wheel that is black the whole way through, cut into wedges that look like slate.
Underneath the colour it is a Gouda. A firm cow's milk cheese, pressed and aged the Dutch way, and made in the Netherlands. The ingredients printed on the pack are pasteurised meadow cow milk, vegetable oil (corn), licorice powder at 2.3 per cent, salt, microbial rennet and star.
We bring it in as whole wheels. The cutting and packing happen here in Auckland, so what arrives at your door is a wedge cut off a wheel rather than something moulded into a block. That is also why the size of a piece can vary a little from one to the next. A wheel is a round thing, and rounds do not divide neatly.
What it tastes like
The colour sets up an expectation that the flavour does not follow. Black usually reads as smoky, or salty, or very aged.
Here is our note on it: a smooth, creamy Gouda with a gentle savoury depth and a lift of citrus brightness.
Read that in the order it is written, because that is roughly the order it arrives in. Smooth and creamy first, with the texture of a Gouda rather than a dry, crumbly cheese. Then a savoury depth that stays gentle. Then the citrus lift at the end, which is where the lemon in the name turns up on the palate.
So it is a gentle cheese in a dramatic colour. Worth knowing before you buy it for someone who says they do not like strong cheese.
How to serve it
Take it out of the fridge a while before you plan to eat it. Cold flattens flavour, and this is a cheese with a quiet middle you would miss.
Slice it thin with a sharp knife. On a board it does the visual work by itself, so keep what sits next to it plain: a pale mild cheese, some crackers, bread without much going on.
It is easy food as much as board food. Slice it into a sandwich with ham. Cube it into a lunchbox. Put it out on a plate with apple or pear while dinner is still cooking. Hand it round after a meal with some nuts, if that is how your house does things.
If you are serving it to people who have not seen a black cheese before, cut some slices before anyone asks. A wedge sitting whole on a board tends to get looked at and left alone. Slices get eaten.
Nothing here needs a special board or a special day. Open it on a Tuesday.
How to keep it once it is cut
The pack asks for it to be kept refrigerated between +1°C to +5°C. In a home fridge that means the coldest part, usually a bottom shelf, not the door.
Wrap the cut face. Waxed or greaseproof paper first, then something loose over the top, like a container or a paper bag, so the cheese can breathe without drying out. Skip wrapping it tight in plastic film for days at a time.
Give it fresh paper each time it goes back in the fridge. There is more detail in How to Store & Handle Artisan Cheese.
Where to buy it in New Zealand
We import the wheels and cut and pack them in Auckland. You can order Black Lemon Gouda from us directly. The retail pack is 180 g.
That is enough to slice out for a board and still keep some back for sandwiches during the week. If you are buying it as a gift for someone who likes Gouda, the colour does most of the explaining for you.
If you would rather cook with it than lay it out, our crostini with honey and thyme is the shortest way in.