Jarlsberg is a Norwegian cheese similar to Swiss cheese, with a creamy, nutty flavor and large holes. It was originally created in the 1830s by Swiss cheese makers in Norway, but disappeared from the market until it was recreated by scientists in the 1950s. It is made in a laboratory environment from pasteurized milk and is available in young and aged varieties. It is a popular export for Norway and is found in many supermarkets worldwide.
Jarlsberg is a Norwegian cheese that is tremendously popular in the United States and many other parts of the world. The cheese is related to Emmentaler and other “Swiss” cheeses, with characteristic large holes and a creamy, nutty flavor. Jarlsberg tends to lend itself more readily to melting, and is found on finger sandwiches, fondues or quiches, and anywhere else a savory, semi-hard cheese might be needed. Jarlsberg is one of Norway’s biggest exports and is considered by some to be a financial success story for the Scandinavian country.
The story of Jarlsberg is the story of the cheese that almost wasn’t. In the 1830s, Swiss cheese makers came to Norway to show Norwegian dairies how to make their classic nut-based, sweet, and skin-on cheeses. Swiss-style cheese became very popular and was produced in large volumes for several years before disappearing from the market altogether. In the 1950s, scientists at the Agricultural University of Norway became curious about the cheese and attempted to recreate it, releasing Jarlsberg in 1956 and exporting the cheese in 1961. The cheese is named after the Norwegian county where it was originally made in the 1830s.
Jarlsberg is often marketed as a Swiss-style cheese because it has many of the same characteristics. Jarlsberg, however, has a slightly nuttier flavor and tends to be stronger than Emmentaler, as well as sweeter. The cheese is semi-firm and very smooth, without a grainy texture, and is delicious eaten plain, on hot plates or in a grilled cheese sandwich. Plus, the large holes make drinking immensely enjoyable.
Jarlsberg is a unique cheese, in that it was scientifically developed in a laboratory and the cheese is still produced in a carefully controlled laboratory environment from a pooled milk supply that comes from all over Norway. It is made from pasteurized milk which is fed into rennet and special cultures before being cut into curds and whey. The curd is pressed into cheese wheels, salted and left to age for between one and 15 months.
The young Jarlsberg comes to market at two to three months old and is delicious with a slight spicy flavour. The older aged cheese is sold as Jarlsberg reserve and has a stronger and more complex flavor. Both types are readily available with or without rind in many parts of the world, as Jarlsberg has become a ubiquitous supermarket offering.
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