Beemster (BAME-ster) is a brand of Gouda-type cheese manufactured by a dairy co-op in the Beemster polder, in the northwestern portion of the Netherlands.
A polder is an area of land that once was marshy or under water, but which has been surrounded by dikes or levees and artificially drained. Canals allow continued drainage and irrigation. Approximately one-third of the land mass of the Netherlands is man-made in this fashion.
Beemster was the first polder created in the Netherlands. Between 1607 and 1612, windmills were used to pump the waters of a large lagoon into the sea, creating about 18,000 acres of farmland lying 20 feet below sea level.
The blue clay lining the bottom of the lagoon made for very mineral-rich soil, and the area immediately became known for its fine fields, pastures and dairy herds. The grasses that grow there are said to contribute to a higher-fat milk with an especially "soft" character.
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