You will always know a Scandinavian cheese by the ending "öst" in the name, which simply means "cheese" in Swedish.
Swedenöst is a cheese company that makes a variety of Swedish cheeses, including Präst or Prästöst.
Präst means priest or pastor in Swedish; the cheese is named after the pastors and their wives who historically made it.
In rural Sweden in past centuries, church tithes were usually paid with donations of farm produce, often milk. When the pastor's family would receive an overabundance of milk, his wife would use it to make cheese, then sell the cheese at the local market. The story goes that the popularity of the cheese was used to gauge both the pastor's popularity with his flock, and also his wife's cheesemaking skills.
Today, Präst cheese is popular and manufactured year round in Sweden's large cheese factories.
This flavorful but mild cheese is made with pasteurized cows' milk. It is a somewhat aromatic cheese with a nice "cheesy" smell but no stink. The flavor and texture hint at the creaminess and sweetness of a young Gouda, but Präst is sharper and tangier. The texture is semi-crystalline, with a light packing of curds that permits tiny holes and plenty of moisture to remain in the finished cheese.
At less than $9 a pound at Sam's, Swedenöst Präst is an excellent cheese for eating with crackers, slicing for sandwiches, melting on grilled cheese, and for cooking in general. While not a stunning highbrow cheese creation, it is certainly snappier and more interesting than most $8 a pound deli cheeses such as American "Swiss" and Colby, which we use for slicing and melting.
Even though cheese is sold in large chunks at Sam's (which actually has quite a good import cheese selection), you won't have trouble finding many uses for Präst.
Serve it with a strong, bitter beer or light red wine.
Fritatta with Caramelized Onions, Sage and Prästöst
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