Prima Donna

Milk: Cow, Pasteurized

Country: Netherlands

Texture: Firm

Accompaniment: Sweet whites, fruity and fuller-bodied reds, beer

Lovingly referred to in the store as a Dutchman on holiday in Italy, this cheese is made like traditional Gouda but with a very particular cheese culture that gives the cheese the Parmigiano mouthfeel and some of its taste. The cheese is not aged for a set amount of time but rather to a particular flavor profile. Our preferred Prima Donna is the more aged variety which means that it has developed the tyrosine crystals that come with aging a compressed cheese.

Like all Gouda style cheeses the initial flavors to hit the palate are milk and cream, closely followed by the crystalline crunch, then the piquant bite of the Parmesan kicks in with the slight sourness of that kind of cheese that replaces the traditional sweetness of the Gouda.