Dutch goat's cheese Hollandse geitenkaas granted EU protected name status
Hollandse geitenkaas - a semi-hard, natural or foil-ripened white cheese - is "prepared in a comparable way to Gouda" but using pasteurised cream or whole, semi-skimmed or skimmed milk from Dutch White Goats or Dutch White cross-breeds.
The Netherlands applied to add Hollandse geitenkaas, which translates simply as 'Dutch goat's cheese', to the PGI register in October 2013.
Confirming the addition of Hollandse geitenkaas to the PGI register on May 4, the EC said it had received "no statement of objection."
Hollandse geitenkaas joins Edam Holland and Gouda Holland on the PGI register.
“Hollandse geitenkaas“ a goat cheese from the NL is approved as a new Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) #EU_GIpic.twitter.com/0BW74AjFCX
— EU Agriculture & RD (@EU_Agri) May 12, 2015PGI status - available under the European Union (EU) Geographical Indications (GI) scheme - recognises products and foodstuffs that are closely linked to a geographical area, where at least one stage of production, processing or preparation takes place.
“The protection of Hollandse geitenkaas as a geographical indication is based on the characteristics of geography, product and craftsmanship, the level of organisation and logistics, and its specific reputation,” the October 2013 application reads.
"Soft, mild and clean" taste
Instructions for producing Hollandse geitenkaas, detailed in the Dutch PGI application, can be traced back to 1946.
Goat's milk - collected from Dutch White Goats or cross-breeds of the Dutch White with other typical dairy goat breeds - is first pasteurised at a minimum temperature of 71.8C for at least 15 seconds before rennet and lactic acid are added.
After curdling and treatment, the whey is removed and the cheese is placed in moulded, pressed and soaked in brine.
It can then be ripened naturally in the Netherlands at a temperature of between 10C and 14C for a minimum of 25 days, or ripened in foil packaging, in or outside the Netherlands, for at least 25 days at a temperature of between 4C and 7C.
"The ripening time and temperature are important in order to impact the desired organoleptic qualities to the cheese," says the application.
"The expertise developed in the Netherlands in the ripening of semi-hard cheese is what gives 'Hollandse geitenkaas' its quality and flavour."
Hollandse geitenkaas, which has a "soft, mild and clean" taste, must have a fat content of between 50% and 60% and the salt content must not exceed 4.1% in dry matter.
It was "rediscovered" in the 1980s and now occupies a "prominent position" in Dutch cheese production, says the October 2013 application.
"The product's good reputation is demonstrated by the fact that sales figures have since then risen without any large-scale advertising or marketing," it adds.
