Everywhere on the internet, there are claims that Gouda dates back to 1184 and is one of the oldest cheeses in Europe still made today. But not only is this mysterious record almost impossible to identify or track down, Gouda as we know it today is in fact a product of 17th century Dutch cheese making innovation.

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Sources
Abels, P.H.A.M., K. Goudriaan, N.D.B. Habermehl and J.H. Kompagnie, eds. Duizend Jaar Gouda: Een Stadsgeschiedenis. Hilversum: Verloren, 2002.
Caesar, Julius. The Gallic War. Translated by H. J. Edwards. London; New York: William Heinemann; G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1919.
Donnelly, Catherine, ed. The Oxford Companion to Cheese. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016.
Ellerbrock, I. J. Die Holländische Rinndviehzucht und Milwirthscharf. Braunschweig: F. Vieweg and Sohn, 1853.
Flint, C. L. Milch Cows and Dairy Farming. Boston: Crosby and Nicholas, 1862.
Harbutt, Juliet, ed. World Cheese Book. London: Dorling Kindersley, 2015.
Kindstedt, Paul. Cheese and Culture: A History of Cheese and Its Place in Western Civilisation. White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green Publishing, 2012.
Kurlansky, Mark. Milk: A 10,000-Year History. London: Bloomsbury, 2018.
Palmer, Ned. A Cheesemonger's History of the British Isles. London: Profile Books, 2019.
TeBrake, William H. "Land Reclamation and the Agrarian Frontier in the Dutch Rijnland, 950-1350." 5, no. 1 (1981): 27-36.
Tunick, Michael H. The Science of Cheese. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014.
Valenze, Deborah. Milk: A Local and Global History. New Haven & London: Yale University Press, 2011.

Images
Map of Dutch Provinces (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi..., Alphathon, CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/..., via Wikimedia Commons)
Map of Europe (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi..., San Jose (map), Hayden120 (retouch) - Derivative work of Europe countries map en.png by San Jose, based on the Generic Mapping Tools and ETOPO2, CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/..., via Wikimedia Commons)
View of Gouda Seen from the Southeast with the Janskerk in the Center (17th Century), Metropolitan Museum of Art (https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collect..., Public domain)
Gouda city map 1585, in Georg Braun and Franz Hogenberg, Vol IV (14) Gouda), Cologne: Peter von Brachel, 1588 (David Rumsey Map Collection, David Rumsey Map Center, Stanford Libraries https://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/serv... CC BY-NC-SA 3.0)

00:00 Introduction
01:45 Was Gouda first made in 1184?
03:33 Dutch Cheese History
07:32 Making Gouda
13:44 Outro

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