Edam cheese
Dutch cheese
Edam (Dutch: Edammer [eːˈdɑmər] ) is a semi-hard cheese that originated in the Netherlands, and is named after the town of Edam in the province of North Holland. Edam is traditionally sold in flat-ended spheres with a pale yellow interior and a coat, or rind, of red paraffin wax. Edam ages and travels well and hardens, instead of spoiling, for an extended period. These qualities (among others) made it the world's most popular cheese between the 14th and 18th centuries, both at sea and in remote colonies.
Content
Most "young" Edam cheeses sold in stores have a very mild flavour, slightly salty or nutty, and almost no smell when compared to other cheeses. As the cheese ages, its flavour sharpens, and it becomes firmer. Edam may have as little as 28% fat in dry matter. Modern Edam is softer than other cheeses, such as cheddar cheese, because of its low fat content.
Accompaniments
Mild Edam goes well with fruit such as peaches, melons, apricots, and cherries. Aged Edam is often eaten with traditional "cheese fruits" like pears and apples.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Edam cheese” is dutch cheese. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Edam, cheese and Dutch, not as a finished interpretation.
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The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 18, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q597473. The Library of Congress control number is sh89002118. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank.
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This entry incorporates text from “Edam cheese” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.