Brunost
Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox food
Template:Lang (Template:Lit.) is a common Norwegian name for Template:Lang (Template:Lit.; Template:Langx; Template:Langx; Template:Langx; Template:Langx/Template:Lang), a family of soft cheese-related foods made with whey, milk, and/or cream. The characteristic brown color and sweet taste result from milk sugars being caramelized after boiling. The term Template:Lang is often used to refer to Template:Lang or Template:Lang ('Gudbrandsdal cheese'), which are the most popular varieties.
Template:Lang is primarily produced in Norway and is popular there, and has spread to South Korea.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It is regarded as one of Norway's most iconic foodstuffs, and is considered an important part of the country's gastronomical and cultural identity and heritage.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
History
Boiling down whey 10:1 to create a brown, cheesy spread (such as the Norwegian Template:Lang and Swedish Template:Lang) has been common in the Scandinavian countries for at least 2,500 years. An archeological find from September 2016 in central Jutland has determined that a cheese residue on pottery from circa 650 B.C.E. is a type of cheese, potentially similar to Template:Lang.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
However, the creation of the modern, firm, fatty Template:Lang is commonly attributed to the milkmaid Anne Hov from the rural valley of Gudbrandsdalen. In the second half of the 19th century, Gudbrandsdalen was suffering economically due to falling profits from grain and butter sales. While working at the Valseter mountain farm near Gålå in 1863, Anne Hov (sometimes spelled Anne Haav) came up with the idea of adding cream to the whey when boiling, and to boil it down in an iron pot until the fluid content was reduced to less than 80 percent, creating a firmer, fattier, more cheese-like product. She originally called it Template:Lang ('fat cheese'). The name later changed into Template:Lang ('cream whey cheese'). The product immediately caught on, and was soon commonly produced and consumed in the area. This variety is currently the second most popular type in Norway. In 1805, Ole Olsen Evenstad, from what is now Stor-Elvdal Municipality, wrote his cheese manuscript, Template:Lang, but Evenstad does not mention goat's milk or cream as an additive.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
When Hov married and moved to Rusthågå farm in Nord-Fron Municipality, she started larger-scale production and invented a variety where she added goat's milk to the mix for a more pronounced taste. The local trader Ole Kongsli liked it so much he thought there might be a market for the product in the capital, Christiania (former name of Oslo). He started exporting it to his business contacts in Christiania under the name Template:Lang (Template:Lit), and it became so successful that it contributed significantly to the economy of the region, thus helping Gudbrandsdalen out of recession. In 1933, at age 87, Hov received the King's Medal of Merit (Template:Lang) for her contributions to Norwegian cuisine and economy.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In modern times, the world's largest producer of Template:Lang is the Norwegian dairy co-operative Tine, which markets a total of 13 varieties, as well as three types of Template:Lang.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The second-largest is Norwegian dairy company Synnøve Finden, which markets two varieties of Template:Lang, as well as two varieties of Template:Lang. There are also a number of smaller, artisanal producers, mainly in Norway and in the US.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Description
Template:Lang is a family of cheese-related foods made with whey and milk and/or cream. The main ingredient, whey, is a byproduct of the cheese making process; it is what is left when the cheese is removed from the milk. Therefore, Template:Lang is not technically cheese. However, it is produced by cheese makers, and is sold, handled and consumed in the same way as cheese. Therefore, it is generally regarded as a cheese. The texture is firm, but slightly softer than Gouda cheese, for example, and lends itself well to cutting and shaping. It does not crumble like hard cheeses. The taste is sweet, and best described as caramel-like, but with a tang that is more noticeable in the variants that contain goat's milk. The variant Template:Lang ('true goat's cheese') contains only whey and goat's milk, and has an intense, chèvre-like taste that cuts the sweetness.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Production
Template:Lang is made by boiling a mixture of milk, cream, and whey carefully for several hours so that the water evaporates. The heat turns the milk sugars into caramel, which gives the cheese its characteristic brown colour and sweetness. It is ready for consumption as soon as it is packed and refrigerated. Low-fat varieties are made by increasing the proportion of whey to milk and cream.
Varieties
Template:See also In Norway, Template:Lang is commonly divided into two types: those that contain only cow's cream and/or milk, and the ones that contain some proportion of goat's milk. The latter type is commonly called Template:Lang or Template:Lang ('goat cheese'). Varieties that do not contain any cow's milk are called Template:Lang ('true goat cheese'). Technically, the name 'true goat cheese' is misleading, since goat cheese (such as the French chèvre) is relatively uncommon in Norway, and is commonly called Template:Lang ('white goat cheese') to avoid confusion.
By far the most popular variety is Template:Lang, which contains a mixture of cow and goat milk, cream, and whey. Heidal cheese is a type of Template:Lang. In Norway it is so common that it is simply referred to as Template:Lang or Template:Lang, assuming that unless otherwise specified, Template:Lang will be provided. This variety is also the most popular internationally, and in the US it is commonly referred to just as Template:Lang. The second most popular variety is Template:Lang, which has a milder taste due to the lack of goat's milk. The third most popular type is Template:Lang.
Related to Template:Lang are Template:Lang (in Norwegian) or Template:Lang (in Swedish), which is a soft, sweet spread commonly sold in tubes all across the Nordic countries. This is the original, ancient product made by boiling whey for a shorter period of time than Template:Lang, and not adding milk or cream. Also, in Norway, Template:Lang is traditionally made from byproducts of the Template:Lang-making process, and has a very distinctive flavour.
Very similar to full cow's milk Template:Lang, but unrelated to it (probably developed independently) is Template:Lang, from the state of Minas Gerais in Brazil. It is produced in a similar way, by boiling cow's milk until it caramelises and darkens to a brown colour, hence the name Template:Lang 'tanned, brown'. Template:Lang has three varieties: Template:Lang 'white', Template:Lang 'with scrapes' (because of the streaks of caramelised milk scraped from the pan), and Template:Lang. The flavour and texture of the latter have a remarkable resemblance to brunost.Template:Cn
Use
Template:Lang is mostly used as a topping for sandwiches, crispbread, and biscuits. It is very common in the traditional Norwegian Template:Lang (Template:Lit), which is a common Norwegian lunch—sandwiches are packed in a lunch box in the morning, and carried to work for consumption in the 30-minute lunch break commonly afforded to Norwegian workers. One advantage of Template:Lang for this purpose is that although its texture changes if not refrigerated, its taste does not. Template:Lang is also popular on Norwegian waffles,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and as an ingredient in cooking, particularly in gravy for game meat.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Nutrition
To what extent Template:Lang is healthy has been the subject of some controversy in Norway.<ref name="kk.no">Template:Cite web</ref> On the one hand, Template:Lang contains high amounts of calcium, proteins and vitamin B, as well as iodine, which is beneficial. It also does not, as other cheeses do, contain salt. It used to contain significant amounts of iron because it was traditionally made in iron pots. In fact, when modern production methods with aluminium pans were introduced by the Norwegian dairy co-operative, the government was worried that it would significantly reduce iron intake in the general population, and ordered iron to be added to the cheese. On 1 September 2001, however, a ban on the addition of iron to Template:Lang was introduced.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> A few years later, exceptions to the ban were introduced after health authorities identified an increasing incidence of iron deficiency in younger age groups.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Modern Template:Lang does not contain significant amounts of iron.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
On the other hand, the (natural) sugar content of Template:Lang is quite high, and also the fat content is significant, causing some to warn against it, and even likening it to milk chocolate.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Some tests have shown major nutritional differences between different varieties of Template:Lang.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Also, it has been pointed out by nutrition experts that the fat content of most Template:Lang is significantly lower than that of numerous other cheeses, such as soft cheeses.<ref name="kk.no" />
Where many sorts of cheese are naturally lactose free, brunost is high in lactose.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Brattli tunnel fire
In January 2013, a lorry caught fire in the Template:Convert long Brattli tunnel in Tysfjord Municipality. The temperature of the burning lorry rose so high that the Template:Convert of Template:Lang it was carrying caught fire also. Its fats and sugars fueled the blaze and prevented firefighters from approaching it until four days later when most of it had burned out. The tunnel was severely damaged, and was closed for repair for several months afterward. The accident was widely publicized in international media, and was dubbed "the goat cheese fire". It was likened to the 1999 Mont Blanc tunnel fire, when a truck carrying margarine and flour caught fire.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
References
Further reading
External links
- Preben S. Ottesen, "Brunost", Store norske leksikon Template:In lang