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Fermentation Atlas

Cheese from Netherlands, Friesland and the Westerkwartier

Kanterkaas PDOKanterkaas

Pasteurised, partly skimmed cow milk is set with rennet and a mixed starter at about 30 °C; the curd is washed, left to sour to the right pH, then milled and salted, with cloves or caraway for the spiced kinds. Pressed long into a flat wheel with one sharp edge, it is brined and ripened at least four weeks at 12 °C or more. Made in 8 steps over 28 days. The longest step, ripen at least four weeks, takes at least 28 days (European Commission 1999) and runs at at least 12 °C (European Commission 1999). Mixed culture of lactic starter bacteria chosen for Kanterkaas does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main stepat least 28 daysSet[kanter-sum1999]Ripen at least four weeks
Temperatureat least 12 °CSet[kanter-sum1999]Ripen at least four weeks

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe specification fixes limits, not a recipe. Each cheese weighs 3–8.5 kg.
Cow milk · Delivered at about 4 °C, standardised and pasteurised[kanter-sum1999]
Calf or cattle rennet[kanter-sum1999]
Mixed culture of starter bacteria[kanter-sum1999]
Salt · In the milled curd and in a brine bath[kanter-sum1999]
Cloves (Kanternagelkaas) or caraway (Kanterkomijnekaas) · A very small amount of caraway is sometimes added to Kanternagelkaas too[kanter-sum1999]
Starter: mixed culture of starter bacteria

Total time across the recorded steps: 28 days

Start
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4 °C

What changes: Starting material: cold milk from Frisian grassland farms

Step 1 of 8
Deliver and chill the milk
Time
Not documented
Temperature
4 °C
Set
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactic acid bacteria
Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

What makes this one different

Kanterkaas is a lower-fat Frisian cheese named for the sharp edge at its base. For the clove version the curd is cut into strips and mixed with cloves and salt before milling; spices once also served as a control mark on Frisian cheese.

Milk
Pasteurised cow milk from Friesland and the Westerkwartier
Fat
20+: 20–25 % fat in dry matter, at most 48.5 % moisture at 12 days; 40+: 40–44 % fat in dry matter, at most 41.5 % moisture at 12 days
Ripening
At least four weeks at 12 °C or more
Size
Flat cylinder of 3–8.5 kg; sharp edge at the base, rounded edge at the top
Rind
Smooth and free of mould; natural or coated colourless or yellow (red allowed for the caraway cheese)

Related ferments

Variants

  • KanternagelkaasWith cloves, sometimes a little caraway; yellow-green paste; fragrant and sharp.
  • KanterkomijnekaasWith caraway added after curd washing; rind may be coated red.
  • 20+ and 40+ KanterkaasTwo fat levels, 20–25 % and 40–44 % fat in dry matter.

Safety

The specification requires pasteurisation at about 72 °C for about 15 seconds and ripening of at least four weeks.

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

Frisian farmers creamed their milk for butter and made the skimmed milk into hard, lower-fat cheese. Leeuwarden had cheese scales by 1386, and a Kampen customs register of 1532 records Frisians selling this cheese to Germany. A 1725 rule of the States-General said no cheese could pass as Kanterkaas without spices, a rule later repealed. By 1850 Kanterkaas was the most common cheese in Friesland, and factory making began around 1890.

  1. [kanter-sum1999] European Commission 1999, Publication of an application for registration, Kanterkaas, Kanternagelkaas, Kanterkomijnekaas, G/NL/00059/98.01.22, Official Journal C 378, 30.12.1999, pp. 2–4spec
  2. [reg1903-2000] Commission Regulation (EC) No 1903/2000 of 7 September 2000, registering Kanterkaas, Kanternagelkaas and Kanterkomijnekaas as a PDO, Official Journal L 228, 8.9.2000spec