Edam is a cheese whose reputation has suffered.
Even if the type of cheese is the same, the taste may vary greatly. Adobe Stock / AOP
There are edamas and there are edamas. If you’ve eaten tasteless kumiedami, it’s not the cheese type’s fault. This is the opinion of the cheese seller of Lentava lemä located in Hakaniemi’s hall Laura Mauno.
– Edam is a completely spoiled type of cheese. Nowadays, it is always the cheapest solution. For example, pre-sliced edam is available at hotel breakfasts, kindergartens, workplace canteens, schools, Mauno gasps.
Edam is ripened from the inside, meaning it does not have a natural rind, which keeps the cheese juicy. Mauno regrets that pre-sliced and sealed Edam is no longer real Edam.
– In this way, the last flavor comes out of it. There is not even a hint of real edam in the sliced cheese. Children never get to taste real edam, and the same has happened to adults too, because I’ve heard comments that I don’t eat any edam at all, Mauno laments.
Edam cheese is born in the Netherlands in a town called Edam. Adobe Stock / AOP
Back in the day, Valio used traditional methods to make Punaposki, ball edam with wax shells. But its production stopped more than 20 years ago, in 2001.
There is indeed a generation in Finland that has not eaten palloedam as a basic cheese. Mauno has noticed that it has become a hit among young people because of its specialty.
– My sons have taken balls of cheese to their friends as birthday presents. Elementary school kids wonder what this is when it tastes different than the edam they are used to.
But the cheese shop also has customers who want to buy edam specifically.
Mauno reminds us that cheese doesn’t have to be strong to be tasty. Cheese may be easy to eat and to everyone’s taste, but it is still a great cheese.