the cheese blog

Leyden

Tonight we tried some Leyden that was in the remnant basket of the local Whole Foods. Again, I’m always curious about cheese that have unusual rinds or spices added to them. This caught my eye as it had cumin seeds throughout. Leyden is a Dutch cheese (komijnekaas aka cumin cheese, or Leidsekaas) made from cow’s-milk with an addition of buttermilk. Cumin and caraway seeds are added to season the cheese. It has a semi-soft texture similar to Gouda, but a bit drier. I really enjoyed this cheese. The spices give the cheese a nice dimension, but then again, cumin is one of my favourite spices. Recommended!