Beemster

Beemster Cheese For Breast Cancer Research

October has fast become the pink month with more and more products taking on a rosy hue to benefit breast cancer. Beemster is the only official cheese sponsor and it will be going pink for the second year in a row by partnering with Susan G. Komen for the Cure to help raise money and awareness for breast cancer research.

The limited edition Pink Ribbon Vlaskaas cheese will be available from September 15 through October 31, and for every pound sold, Beemster, will donate 50 cents to benefit Susan G. Komen for the Cure. After donating $23,308 in 2009, the Gourmet Dutch company is pledging a minimum of $25,000 in 2010 and has set a goal of $40,000.

Beemster Vlaskaas is a gourmet Dutch cheese with a long history. Vlaskaas translates to flax cheese-- the sweet and creamy cheese was made only during the harvest festival of the flax for the workers to eat on thick slices of bread and with porridge while they worked and celebrated. In 2004 the harvest festival celebration was recreated as a community event. While digging through archives for information on the exact way to recreate the harvest festival, the recipe for Vlaskaas was discovered and Beemster was asked to make the Vlaskaas recipe. The cheese won a Gold Medal in its category and third place overall in the Wisconsin Cheese Makers Competition, one of the toughest cheese competitions in the world.

Tags: beemster, breast cancer, breast cancer awareness, breast cancer awareness month, breast cancer research, cheese, susan g komen, susan g. komen, susan g. komen for the cure, Susan G. Komen Foundation

How to Serve Gourmet Cheese for the Holidays

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining, Wine

For more than a century, Beemster has been hand-making gourmet cheese on its sustainable farm in the Netherlands. The cheese is matured for a minimum of 18 months and carefully crafted by master cheese makers. Michael Blum, Beemster's resident cheese expert, has some tips for holiday entertaining ranging from presentation to accompaniments and wine pairings:

1. Consume at Room Temperature: Cheese is most flavorful to consume at room temperature. All cheeses are best stored below 7 degrees Celsius/45 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Make the Cut: allow cheese to sit at least one hour at room temperature before cutting. Remove the rind by cutting back into the cheese half an inch before grating. Cut small snack-sized squares for cheese-plates or salads and grate cheese into small slivers for pasta or pizza.
3. Go Nutty: Cheese pairs excellent with nuts. Spruce up your cheese plate by including pecans, walnuts, macadamias or cashews. If you or your guests have a nut allergy, other snacks that go well with cheese are apples, grapes, pears, figs, dates, olives and picles.
4. Old and Sweet: Older cheeses, such as Beemster X-O, pair well with sweeter wines like Rieslings and ports.
5. Get Fresh: Young and fresh cheeses taste best with lighter beers. A good rule of thumb is the more mild the cheese, the lighter the beer.

Tags: Beemster, cheese, food-pedia, holiday 09, Holiday09, main-pedia, Netherlands