Old Amsterdam

Old Amsterdam

Old Amsterdam is a mature, distinctive cheese that has been specially developed by the family firm Westland. These inventive cheese makers with a passion for special flavours brought the cheese to market for the first time in 1985. Old Amsterdam, with its characteristic black crust, is now almost as famous and loved as the Gouda cheese and is eaten all over the world. The starter and the ripening stages give this cheese its unique taste.

Special Gouda Cheese

A spicy and yet creamy cheese
Many people like a spicy old cheese. Often, however, it is difficult to cut, it crumbles quickly, and the crust is so hard that it is easy to cut your finger when cutting it. The family therefore developed a cheese that is smooth, but also has the typical intensity of an old cheese. With success: in 2014, Old Amsterdam was awarded the Superior Taste Award in Brussels.

Created in the heart of Amsterdam

For the first few years, the Old Amsterdam cheese was ripened in a warehouse on the Lijnbaansgracht, in the middle of Amsterdam. This is how the cheese got its name. The typical Amsterdam expressiveness has therefore ended up in the cheese, and that can be tasted. It is a cheese that is inspired by the characteristic entrepreneurial spirit and the free thinking of the Amsterdam residents, which has been expressed here since the Golden Age.

A ripened cheese with many crystals

Old Amsterdam is made from Dutch meadow milk, but the secret recipe for the unique taste originated in Italy. Cheese farmers have been making easy-to-cut crystal cheeses there for generations. The whey, the liquid part of the milk, makes the difference here. In order to start the cheese process, rennet and starter is first added to the milk. This separates the whey from the curd, the solid components of the milk. The curd consists of proteins, fats and minerals. The Italian cheese farmers collect the whey separately and let it cool down, after which it is returned to the process. The Italians see that as the moment when the cheese gets its 'soul'.

The ideal starter
Rennet and starter are therefore important ingredients in the preparation of cheese. The starter is what gives the Old Amsterdam its unique taste. In order to find the ideal composition of the starter, much time has been spent experimenting. In the end, Milk container 4 proved to contain the perfect mix of natural ingredients. This is called the M4 starter, and that is still the best kept secret of Old Amsterdam.

Old Amsterdam Cheese | Premium Quality

A wonderful gift idea

This beloved cheese with its stylish black crust makes a perfect gift. Old Amsterdam is available in a gift box, as a boat or in pieces of the desired weight. The cheese is freshly cut and vacuum packed, so that it can be kept for up to six weeks. That's why Old Amsterdam is ideal to send and surprise your friends or family. In a gift box you can combine it with other types of delicious Dutch cheese, such as Edam or Gouda, and various types of cheese tools. With each order you will also receive a free cheese slicer as a gift.