Every Dutch person likes to eat cheese, but in Spain they also eat their fair share of cheese. Dutch cheese is even present in every supermarket. We always buy Gouda or Edam cheese and these can be found everywhere. A nice cheese for a nice Dutch breakfast.

The last pachage of cheese had something that called my attention. There was a small german flag on the package. Strange, because Gouda for sure is a city in the Netherlands.

Finding out what was going on was easy. I send an email to the cheese manufacturer and within a day I got my answer. It seems that the name Gouda is not protected at all. Only “Holland Gouda” or “Dutch Gouda” are protected names. As long as the words Holland or Dutch do not appear on the package everyone can call their cheese Gouda. If seems that I have been eating non-Dutch cheese for breakfast for years.