{"id":2763,"date":"2024-04-14T16:26:19","date_gmt":"2024-04-14T16:26:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sutyo.com\/3-highlights-from-ostfestivalen-my-favorite-swedish-cheese-festival\/"},"modified":"2024-04-14T16:26:19","modified_gmt":"2024-04-14T16:26:19","slug":"3-highlights-from-ostfestivalen-my-favorite-swedish-cheese-festival","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sutyo.com\/tr\/3-highlights-from-ostfestivalen-my-favorite-swedish-cheese-festival\/","title":{"rendered":"3 Highlights from Ostfestivalen: My Favorite Swedish Cheese Festival"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"Swedish<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n

It\u2019s my belief that the world\u2019s best cheeses come from Sweden. It\u2019s a bold claim, but it\u2019s one I\u2019ll stand by because proof is yours for the taking every February, when cheese producers from all over the country descend upon Stockholm for three days of tasting and triumph.<\/p>\n

This year, however, the Swedish Cheese Festival<\/a> (Ostfestivalen in the local language) took place in May following pandemic postponement. I was there as the doors opened on a Friday afternoon\u2014delighted to return for my fourth attendance of this glorious event\u2014and I wasn\u2019t the only one. A long line of people trickled from the lobby of M\u00fcnchenbryggeriet, the spacious venue that I knew would be lined with booths proffering samples of locally crafted cheeses. <\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Svedjan<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n

Indulging in Svedian Ost <\/h2>\n

My first stop was Svedjan Ost<\/a>, where I enjoyed a few minutes of catch-up with Johanna and P\u00e4r Hellstr\u00f6m. I spent three memorable nights on their farm in the summer of 2018, slumbering in a 19th-century cabin on an expansive cattle pasture overlooking Lake Stork\u00e5getr\u00e4sk while I learned about cheesemaking traditions in the Swedish north<\/a>. Their prize-winning G\u00e5rdsost\u2014an aged hard cheese with subtle notes of nuts and fruit\u2014has been a favorite since my first sample during 2016\u2019s Swedish Cheese Festival.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Grillost\"<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n

The Popularity of Grillost <\/h2>\n

As I made my way around the exhibition hall, I noticed that quite a few producers were offering samples of grillost<\/strong>, or \u201cgrill cheese.\u201d This is Sweden\u2019s answer to the beloved halloumi of Cyprus\u2014it\u2019s wonderfully grillable and achieves a crisp, golden surface while retaining a soft texture within. Cheesemakers who are part of Sveriges G\u00e5rdsmejerister<\/a>, the Association of Sweden\u2019s Dairy Farmers, may sell their grillost as Eldost<\/strong> (\u201cfire cheese\u201d), a trademarked name indicating both membership and the exclusive use of Swedish milk in the cheese\u2019s production.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

Having counted no less than seven booths offering samples of this type of cheese, I asked Alexander Lowejko of Bj\u00f6rken\u00e4s Ost<\/a> why there seemed to be so much grillost at the festival this year. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s easy to make,\u201d he told me, politely ignoring my reach for a third bite of Bj\u00f6rken\u00e4s Eldost, which I found especially delicious with his homemade jalapeno jam. <\/p>\n

Our conversation shifted to the importance of using local ingredients in food production, not only to ensure quality, but because it\u2019s the responsible thing to do for the environment and for each other. \u201cOur generation should be able to look our kids in the eyes and say we did everything we could,\u201d Lowejko explained. <\/p>\n

Later, I would happily learn that he and his wife won the public vote this year with their Eldost, after more than 500 festival attendees declared it their favorite cheese of the festival. <\/p>\n

Over at the V\u00e4sterbottensost<\/a> booth, which I\u2019d casually walked past several times until I spotted the return of Thomas Rudin, I settled in for another catch-up session with a familiar face. Rudin is my equivalent of a celebrity crush\u2014he\u2019s the Cheese Master at V\u00e4sterbottensost and one of only a handful of people who know the recipe for this very special cheese that, despite repeated efforts, cannot be recreated outside of Burtr\u00e4sk, Sweden. I\u2019d joined Rudin on stage for a presentation during the 2018 Swedish Cheese Festival\u2014for which my husband enthusiastically volunteered me despite my abysmal Swedish language skills\u2014and the experience was a personal highlight. <\/p>\n

After establishing whether the V\u00e4sterbottensost crew remembered me (they did) and clearing up whether I still have the leather apron I received that day (I do), I asked for their thoughts on the current prevalence of grillost. V\u00e4sterbottensost is an aged farmstead cheese and the company\u2019s exclusive product\u2014I figured their insights would be impartial since they don\u2019t make grillost.<\/p>\n

Consensus circled back to Lowejko\u2019s theory about ease of output\u2014grillost can be made in one day\u2014but our discussion raised another curious point: People are drinking less dairy milk, and that milk has to go somewhere. It\u2019s not such a coincidence that cheesemakers are turning milk into a cheese that is quick to make and easy to sell. <\/p>\n

Grillost may be an enticing option for the use of excess milk, though I can\u2019t help thinking perhaps the better solution would be to scale back on dairy milk production entirely. It\u2019s a quandary for another article, when time can be taken to examine hard data and speak with dairy farmers to report accordingly. <\/p>\n

But this is a great example of why I love the Swedish Cheese Festival. There\u2019s always something to learn; something to provoke thought. Having attended in 2016, 2018, 2019, and 2022, I\u2019m able to discern what\u2019s new, what\u2019s different, and what stays mercifully the same. V\u00e4sterbottensost celebrates their 150-year anniversary this year, and because this is the cheese that sparked my interest in Swedish cheeses a decade ago, I selfishly hope their traditions won\u2019t change. <\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Swedish<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n

The Importance of Swedish Cheese Pizza <\/h2>\n

One booth this year that drew my attention and hopefully will<\/em> spark a shift was that of Landsbygdsn\u00e4tverket<\/a>, or the Swedish Rural Network. Instead of offering samples of cheese, they had a table set up with glass jars and lots of small, fuzzy balls. Visitors were asked to drop a ball into a jar indicating whether they ask if the pizzas they order in Sweden are made with Swedish cheese. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the overwhelming majority of respondents do not, in fact, ask if their pizzerias use domestic cheeses. <\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Swedish<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n

I talked to booth representative Sofia Alriksson, who works with Hush\u00e5llningss\u00e4llskapet<\/a>, a collection of rural economic and agricultural societies. She told me that 500,000 pizzas are sold every day in Sweden, and it\u2019s time that the public has a greater awareness of the use (or lack thereof) of local foods\u2014even when they\u2019re eating from other cultures. Alriksson cited animal welfare and job creation as just two of the reasons why eating local is better for communities. \u201cIt\u2019s important for us to realize this,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

As we talked, a small slice of pizza appeared to my right\u2014the Swedish Rural Network crew was handing out samples after all! They meant to start a conversation and they certainly had; and I\u2019m as guilty as anyone else when it comes to this kind of thing. I\u2019d just eaten pizza with my in-laws two nights prior upon my arrival in Stockholm. My Swedish isn\u2019t great, but I know my father-in-law didn\u2019t ask about the origin of the cheese on our pizzas when he called to place the order from the airport parking lot, nor did it occur to me to prompt him to ask. Like many of us, I\u2019m typically aware of a restaurant\u2019s use of local ingredients only when they make it evident on the menu or as part of their branding strategy. <\/p>\n

Encouraging, though, is that the other set of jars on the table asked if people would be willing to spend more money on a pizza made with Swedish cheese, and\u2014at least on the afternoon of my visit\u2014most respondents said yes. And so would I. <\/p>\n

I left Swedish Cheese Festival 2022 so full of cheese that I had to politely decline my mother-in-law\u2019s offer to warm a plate of the dinner I\u2019d missed that evening. The event was a success as always, though I\u2019d argue that this year\u2019s festival had a different\u2014more optimistic\u2014vibe than before. The conversations around sustainability, the small-scale producers doing big things, and the palpable excitement of an eagerly anticipated event making its return after the pandemic made for an especially uplifting afternoon.<\/p>\n

See you there in 2023!\u00a0 In the meantime, check out our guide to the 7 Swedish Cheeses You Should Know<\/a>. <\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s my belief that the world\u2019s best cheeses come from Sweden. It\u2019s a bold claim, but it\u2019s one I\u2019ll stand by because proof is yours for the taking every February, when cheese producers from all over the country descend upon Stockholm for three days of tasting and triumph. This year, however, the Swedish Cheese Festival … Okumaya devam et “3 Highlights from Ostfestivalen: My Favorite Swedish Cheese Festival”<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":1271,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[395],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2763","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-milk-and-diary"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sutyo.com\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2763","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sutyo.com\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sutyo.com\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sutyo.com\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1271"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sutyo.com\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2763"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sutyo.com\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2763\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sutyo.com\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2763"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sutyo.com\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2763"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sutyo.com\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2763"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}