For a cheese lover, selection of artisan cheese from Giftswish is unparalleled. Imported from around the world, Giftswish has some of the finest cheese you might have tasted in a long time. Today we look at Danish foods and through the taste of the wonderful gourmet cheese and other foods of Denmark , we shall get a taste of the culture of Denmark, how its people lived and get to know it better. Danish cuisine/foods showcases/ features all those products that are suitable to its cool and moist northern climate. Since it shares its climate and agricultural practices with the other Scandinavian countries, Danish cuisine has much in common with them. Nevertheless, it has its own distinguishing features, which were formed by a variety of influences during the country’s long and difficult history.

Good food is an important ingredient in the Danish concept of -hygge- a word that can be best translated as a “warm, fuzzy, cozy, comfortable feeling of well-being. The attainment or achievement of -hygge- is a near-universal goal in Danish culture. Generally speaking, good food, good company, good wine, all contribute to the feeling of -hygge-. And that is what makes Danish food so special. Dairy products are one of the specialties of Denmark. Before the industrialization of Denmark (ca. 1860), small family-based agriculture farms formed the majority of Danish society. Long winters and a lack of refrigeration facility at that time meant that foods which could be stored for a long time came to predominate. With their abundance of milk and the need to preserve the milk over long time, the Danish society developed many types of cheese which are now world famous.

One of those world famous cheese is called -Havarti-. Havarti is a semi-soft Danish Table Cheese made with cow’s milk which can be sliced, grilled or melted. It was initially created and designed by Hanne Neilsen in Denmark who ran an experimental farm named Havertigaard during the mid-19th century. Havarti is made like most other cheeses, by introducing rennet to milk to cause curdling. The curds are pressed into cheese molds which are drained, and then the cheese is aged. Havarti is a washed curd cheese, which contributes to the subtle flavor of the cheese.Havarti is an interior-ripened cheese that is smooth and the color vary from cream to yellow depending on type. It has very small and irregular openings or pin sized holes in its mass. Havarti has a buttery taste and can be somewhat sweet to very sweet on the pallet, and it is slightly acidic. It is typically aged for about three months, although when the cheese is older it becomes more salty and acquires a taste like hazelnut.