By Johs. B. Thue
Inner Sogn has been a cheese region since ancient times, with brown and white goats cheese a particular speciality. However, the pungent “gamalost” cheese also had a devoted following. The Undredal Stølsysteri cheese-makers and the Vik Dairy are the proud bearers of a long and well-rooted culinary tradition which is based on local ingredients and the passing down of local knowledge for generations. In fact, you’ve not really visited Sogn till you’ve tasted the cheese.
Tradition is important when it comes to food. Produce tend to bear evidence of the soil, climate and environment of the area where livestock live and graze. The tasty goats cheese from the valley of Undredal most certainly owes its character to these factors. The goats of Undredal graze on fjord-green grass, juicy buds, shooting leaves and scented heathers: they soak up their energy from steep mountainsides in ecological balance. The waterfront at Undredal is a colourful carpet of flowers, as if the very rainbow had shattered, fallen to earth and settled in for the benefit of our eyes and the goats’ palates.
Yet, the art of making delicious cheese is not only down to quality grass and leaves or flowers. This is a complicated, demanding craft based on knowledge. And the people of Undredal know their craft better than most, having modernised their methods while retaining the traditional full flavour and rich aroma. Their cheese is made from goats milk with a good dollop of cows cream added. The fjord-side villages distinguish themselves in this respect as well. Our very first humanist, Absalon Pedersen Beyer, grew up at Skjerdal in Aurland. He wrote that the cows of Inner Sogn graze on mountain grass so rich they produce pats of butter. He may well have passed this comment in the 16th century, but the mountain grass growing by the edge of the everlasting snow is still as rich. This is the reason why goats cheese from Undredal has a flavour of Norwegian fjords and mountains which gives us the nourishment and nutrients we need.
Goats cheese is an indispensable part of the diet for any Norwegian male or female athlete when taking part in long-distance races. On occasion, the cheese has even been concealed and smuggled into foreign countries, so as not to let other competitors in on the reason why Norwegians can cope better with gruelling toil than anybody else. And why is it that people from Voss have been particularly successful in winning home World Championships and Olympic medals? It is of course due to the proximity of Voss to Undredal. Do you remember biathlon star Eirik Kvalfoss, Mr. Golden Foss himself? His mother came from Undredal, and he won just about everything on the biathlon scene due to his craving for goats cheese, which made him ski even faster towards the end of a gruelling race.
The white goats cheese, which Pascale Baudonnel has developed further in recent years, is one of our most scrumptious culinary delights. Have you ever tried buttered flatbread from potatoes with thick slices of white goats cheese, topped with cured fjord trout or marinated herring? Be assured, we’re not talking food here; this is sheer medicine, a true cure-all. Also, white goats cheese topped with salmon smoked in traditional Lærdal fashion brings tears to our eyes, in praise and gratitude.
When celebrating significant anniversaries, the Royal Family sometimes organise grand parties. The bountiful spread will inevitably include “gamalost” cheese from Vik, round andwell matured. The cheese is a good conversation starter; “gamalost” is a familiar talking point, a link between all Norwegians; everyone has a story about the sharp flavour, and about Sogn. “Gamalost” cheese is Norwegian, low in fat, and strong. And it forms an indispensable part of the royal table, suitable for kings and queens, and for you and me. The craving for “gamalost” cheese is part of our identity; part of being Norwegian, free and democratic. Consistently democratic.
Sogn is the Norwegian cheese region par excellence. The partnership between Vik Dairy to the cheese-makers at Undredal Stølsysteri is unique, and no other region can compare. Brown and white goats cheese, and the pungent “gamalost” cheese, form part and parcel of our cultural baggage.