Gouda Parmesan Cheese

Marieke® Golden: An award-winning gouda parmesan cheese

Marieke® Golden is an award-winning gouda parmesan cheese blend with an unrivaled freshness, a buttery texture, and a pleasantly sweet aroma. Made with fresh raw milk from the family's farm, Marieke Golden is handcrafted with the finest Old World techniques and aged to perfection on Dutch pine planks. This semi-soft American original boasts a creamy mouthfeel and a rich flavor profile that combines the nuttiness of parmesan with the sweet notes of traditional gouda. Marieke Golden has won numerous awards, including Best of Class at the 2012 World Cheese Championship, multiple second-place finishes at the U.S. Championship Cheese Contest, and first place at the 2023 Wisconsin State Fair.

Marieke Gouda

Born and raised on a dairy farm in the Netherlands, the ancestral home of gouda, Marieke Penterman immigrated to Thorp, Wisconsin in 2003. Just four months after crafting her first batch of gouda in 2006, she captured a gold award at the U.S. Championship Cheese Contest. Today, Marieke produces a unique collection of hand-crafted artisan gouda cheeses aged two months to two years or more. Her specialty cheeses include gouda cheese flavored with smoked cumin, jalapeno, fenugreek, cranberry, bacon, and many other delicious ingredients.

The milk for Marieke Golden and Marieke's other goudas comes straight from the farm's herd of cows, which is well cared for in a free-stall barn that Marieke calls a “cow spa.” Automated back scratchers, cooling sprinklers, and personal Fitbits for every animal to monitor digestion help keep the cows content, happy, and healthy – producing remarkably consistent, full-flavored raw milk.

Wisconsin Cheese: A tradition of excellence

The commitment to excellence and innovation that helped Marieke Penterman win her first gold medal is shared by every cheesemaker in Wisconsin. Our collective desire to expand the universe of cheese products has yielded over 600 varieties, types, and styles of cheese. Along with Marieke's Gouda Parmesan, you'll find cheeses like Dill Havarti and Gran Canaria from Roth Cheese, Luna cheese from Hill Valley Dairy, fresh mozzarella ciliegine from Crave Brothers Farmstead Cheese, and The Blue Jay cheese and The Wild Boar cheese from Deer Creek Cheese.

All about gouda parmesan cheese

The origins of gouda

Named for the city of Gouda in the Netherlands, this mild, yellow cheese has been around since at least the 13^th century. The cheese is made by scalding and washing the curds with hot water to quickly release moisture before pressing it into molds, a process that releases the sweet notes of gouda's hallmark flavor. Initially, large wheels of gouda were brushed with a blend of vinegar and saffron, which eventually became the iconic yellow wax rind by which gouda is recognized today.

How gouda parmesan cheese is made

Marieke Golden is crafted with fresh cow's milk piped straight into the cheesemaking vat. Vegetarian rennet is added to the milk to curdle it, along with the enzymes that produce the gouda and parmesan flavors. The curd is hand packed into 18-pound forms and then pressed and submerged in a salt brine for 60 hours. Next, it's placed in an aging room on Dutch pine planks where two layers of para-coating are applied by hand. The cheese is flipped and cleaned daily for two weeks, then twice a week during its nine months of aging.

Additional gouda parmesan cheese varieties from Wisconsin

Along with Marieke Golden, you'll find several other gouda parmesan cheeses in Wisconsin.

• Door County Duet from The Cheese Brothers, produced with Door Artisan Cheese, harmonizes the essence of aged gouda with rich and nutty parmesan for a cheese that's full of flavor with hints of caramel.
• Pannaro by the Chalet Cheese Co-Op is a flavorful fusion of gouda and parmesan cheese with a rich, creamy, nutty flavor profile.
• Humbird Gouda Parmesan is a smooth cheese like gouda with the flavor of parmesan.

Pairing your gouda parmesan cheese

With drinks

If you're drinking wine, a buttery chardonnay, a cabernet sauvignon, a pinot noir, or a riesling will complement the complex flavor and buttery texture of this gouda parmesan cheese. For beer, try a stout or a malty doppelbock. With spirits, a dark rum, cognac, scotch, or bourbon will make a pleasing pair for this cheese.

In the kitchen

Marieke's gouda parmesan cheese melts beautifully, making it a natural for turkey melts with sautéed onions and grainy mustard. Shred it over French onion or mushroom soup, bake it into potatoes au gratin, slice it over crostini, or mix it in a creamy mac and cheese. Marieke Golden is also great in omelets, frittatas, quiche, and soufflés.

On the grazing table

On the cheese board or charcuterie spread, Marieke's gouda parmesan is great with cured meats, sturdy crackers, olives, honey, dried apricots, and spiced nuts.