What Edam Tastes Like
What Edam actually is
Edam is a cow's milk cheese from the Netherlands, and our Dutch Edam Cheese is made there. The ingredients are short: pasteurised cow milk, salt, starter, microbial rennet and a colour. That is the whole list. Nothing else goes in.
It arrives here as whole wheels. We cut and pack it in Auckland, which is why you will find it on the shelf in a size meant for a household rather than a deli counter. Cutting it ourselves also means the cheese is handled once, close to when you buy it, instead of being portioned on the other side of the world and shipped in its wrapper.
Edam is an everyday cheese in the Netherlands. It is worth treating it the same way here.
What it tastes like
Smooth, mild and family-friendly is how we describe the flavour. That is a fair summary, and it is the reason Edam tends to be the block that gets finished first in a house with kids.
Mild does not mean empty. There is salt in it, as there is in most cheese, and that salt is doing the work of carrying whatever else you put it with. If you have been circling the stronger end of the cheese cabinet and want something that will not take over a sandwich, this is the one.
It is also a good cheese to hand to someone who says they do not really like cheese. Nothing about it argues with you.
How to serve it
Slice it thin for sandwiches. Edam takes mustard, pickle, ham, tomato, cold roast chicken — the ordinary things you already have in the fridge on a Wednesday.
Cut it into cubes and put it on the table while dinner is still cooking. Kids will eat it standing up. Add crackers, apple slices, or a handful of grapes if you want, but it does not need company.
Grate it into a toastie, or over pasta, or through a scramble. Slice it straight from the fridge when you want neat, thin slices; let it sit out on the bench for a while first if you would rather eat it on its own.
Pack it in a lunchbox with crackers. Take it on a walk with bread and an apple. Put it out with a beer on a Friday.
None of this needs an occasion. Buy it, open it, eat it during the week, and buy it again.
How to keep it once it is cut
The pack asks you to keep it refrigerated between +1°C and +5°C. The bottom shelf or the crisper drawer of a home fridge is usually the closest thing you have to that.
Once you have opened it, wrap it again properly. Cheese dries out where it is exposed, and it picks up the smell of whatever is sitting next to it. Fresh wrapping each time you cut a piece is better than pushing the same tired plastic back over the face.
If you want the longer version, we have written it up in How to Store & Handle Artisan Cheese.
Where to buy Edam in New Zealand
You can buy it from us directly. Our Dutch Edam Cheese 210g is a 210 g retail pack, cut and packed in Auckland from the wheels we import.
That size is meant to be used, not saved. It fits in a fridge door, it fits in a lunchbox for a week, and it is small enough that you will get through it while it is still at its best.