Seeing This Wheel Of Cheese,

reminded me,

of the huge one we saw at Borough Market on our last visit there, but the cheese above is in a class if its own, Västerbottensost cheese is known as the “Emperor of Cheeses” in Sweden, and apparently is impossible to be made elsewhere, the secret to why Västerbottensost cheese can only be produced in Burträsk has been dubbed one of Sweden’s most intriguing mysteries. Over the years, people have tried expanding production of this famous cheese in various parts of the northern country, but to no avail. They tried making it in Falkenberg, a municipality in southern Sweden, in Bollnäs, a settlement in central Sweden, and even in the city of Umeå, close to Burträsk village. but the resulting cheese just didn’t taste like the original. The same recipe and production protocol were respected to the letter, but the Västerbottensost cheese made in Burträsk always tasted better, photograph Wikimedia Commons,

despite using forensic DNA analysis techniques to decipher the link between Västerbottensost and the Burträsk dairy factory, cheese experts have been unable to offer an irrefutable explanation. When the local factory expanded, large holes between the old building and the new one were left uncovered so the air could flow freely, just in case the factory flora was indeed key to the cheese, Västerbottensost  is a slow-maturing cheese, requiring at least 14 months on the shelves of the dairy factory in Burträsk. It’s complex taste and creamy texture make it very popular in Sweden, but because it’s always in short supply (around 4,000 tonnes of it are made per year), its price is about double that of other aged cheeses, how strange that even with all types of testing it can not be made anywhere else, what a mystery.