One of the prominent countries in Central Europe, Germany, is located at the borders of nine countries. Denmark at its north, Czechia and Poland at its east, Switzerland and Austria at its south, France and Belgium at its west. It is also bordered by two bodies of water, which are the North Sea and the Baltic Sea.
With Germany’s geographic location, it is a home of delicious cheeses that are known in various parts of Europe. Since cheese production would usually require colder temperatures to store and mature for a specific number of months before consumption, German cheeses made their way to be one of the desired dairies delights anyone could possibly have.
Bavaria Blu
Bergader brought Bavaria Blu to the market in 1972, and it is a German blue cheese. The cheese is prepared from pasteurized cow’s milk from the Bavarian Alps and is handcrafted. The rind is mold-ripened and has a smooth, creamy feel.
The smells are complex and rich, while the tastes are crisp, creamy, and powerful. There are other low-fat variants of this cheese available, such as Bavaria Blu Rich and Creamy and Bavaria Blu Fitness. Bavaria Blu is best served with fragrant reds like Lagrein or Dornfelder or whites like Silvaner or Riesling.
Harzer
Originated in the Lower Saxony region of Germany, Harzer is a cow’s milk-based German cheese, where its name is derived from the Harz mountain range. Before it is ready to eat, the cheese is allowed to mature for a few days to a week. Since this cheese only contains just one percent fat, it is very popular among athletes in the fitness sector.
Harzer has a strong and pungent scent, and it is commonly formed into little or long legs that are wrapped in cellophane before being sold. Harzer comes in two varieties: one that is covered with yellow bacteria and another that is splattered with red bacteria and has a spicier taste than the yellow variant.
Butterkase
Another tasty German treat, Butterkäse, is a semi-soft German cheese made from cow’s milk with a smooth and creamy texture. Living with its name Butterkäse, it has distinct flavors of mild and buttery. The cheese ripens for one month and develops a natural golden rind. It also melts exceptionally well, which is the reason why it is used in some pretty good stuff, such as grilled cheese sandwiches, fondues, omelets, and burgers. In some cases, people would pair it with a glass of ice-cold beer on the side.
Cambozola
If you happen to see this cheese, do not be confused if it is yogurt or solidified cream. This strange-looking yogurt is called Cambozola, which is a triple-cream cow’s milk cheese from Germany. Käserei Champignon has been making the cheese in the Allgäu area since the early 1970s, though it was initially introduced in the 1900s. The bloomy skin of this Camembert-Gorgonzola hybrid covers a creamy, silky paste below.
Grey mold may be seen on the outside, while pockets of blue veins can be found on the interior. The fragrance is powerful, with sharp, nutty, and somewhat sweet tastes. Cambozola is best served with honey, crackers, and fruit, and it’s best paired with a glass of Chardonnay.
Limburger
First off, this is not a piece of bread, in case you ask; it is a German cheese called Limburger. This cheese is a semi-soft, smear-ripened cheese manufactured from cow’s milk that has a strong aroma. Trappist monks in the Duchy of Limburg, which is today divided between Germany, the Netherlands, and Belgium, created it in the nineteenth century, while the majority of Limburger cheese is now made in Germany.
The cheese features a washed rind that is straw-colored, and the flavor is light, grassy, and suggestive of mushrooms. As it ripens, the texture changes: it starts off crumbly and hard, but after six weeks, it becomes smooth and creamy. The cheese gets its characteristic fragrance after three months, which is the consequence of smear-ripening. Germans would usually pair this cheese with two slices of rye bread or in a sandwich with slices of onion.
One interesting trivia about Limburgers is that malaria mosquitoes are in love with its similarly reminiscing foot odor. Those mosquitoes just can’t get enough of its distinct aroma.