MADISON, WI – Wisconsinmade.com, an e-commerce gourmet food and gift store, is pleased to announce that it now distributes 10 varieties of Gouda cheese crafted by master-cheesemaker, Marieke Penterman of Holland's Family Cheese in Thorp, Wisconsin. Wisconsinmade.com carefully selects only the finest-quality products made in Wisconsin and offers them for sale on the Internet. "Marieke's Gouda cheeses are stunning for their complex flavors and rich textures," said Linda Remeschatis, owner of Wisconsinmade.com. "Try any one of them and you know instantly why Marieke has won so many awards. It's almost as if you're tasting cheese for the very first time."
About Holland's Family Cheese: Marieke and Rolf Penterman of Holland's Family Cheese, emigrated from the Netherlands to Wisconsin in 2002 to continue their passion for dairy farming. Once here, they missed Holland's world-renowned Gouda cheese but knew they could replicate it with milk from their own cows. Driven by a new passion, Marieke returned to Holland to study cheese-making. In 2006, she began crafting her own fine Gouda cheeses on their Wisconsin farm. Four months later, her very first batch of Marieke Gouda Foenegreek won Best of Class in the Open Class for Flavored Semi – Soft Cheeses at the 2007 U.S. Championship Cheese Contest. Marieke yearly wins multiple national and international awards for her Gouda cheeses. In the 2010 World Championship Cheese Contest, Marieke took the gold for her Burning Melange Gouda.
The starting point of Marieke's flavorful Goudas is the rich, creamy milk of her Wisconsin cows. The Pentermans know that treating their cows well means they will give the best quality milk. They make sure the animals are as comfortable as possible, and employ a dedicated farm staff to treat their “Gouda” cows with respect and TLC.
The Pentermans pump the morning's milk directly from their milking parlor into the cheese vat…fresh and warm! Marieke uses equipment, cultures, herbs, and spices imported from Holland to craft it into cheese. After two hours of pressing the young Gouda into 18-pound wheels, she places it in a salt-brine for 60 hours. From there each wheel is moved to a special cellar and placed on wooden shelves imported from Holland until the cheese reaches its ideal age…from smooth and creamy after 60 days to sharp and complex as it ages for nearly two years more.
Holland's Family Cheese has become a local point of pride in the state of Wisconsin. 2010 marks the official beginning of national distribution of Marieke's Gouda by Wisconsinmade.com
Source: Holland's Family Farms