Not a restaurant review: Edam vs Gouda!

I am totally fascinated by Hy-Vee's gourmet cheese sections. The cheeses there can be pretty expensive though, so I find myself grabbing inexpensive versions of the same cheese to test them out. I grabbed some of the cheapest Edam I could find the other day. I realised I had had it before... it is pretty much the same as inside of the red babybels.

Then I was looking at the cheese again and began to wonder what the differences were between gouda and edam. They both come in wax and have a similar color. The cheap brand I had been buying sold them in nearly identical packaging. So I decided to have a taste test.

On the left, Edam: soft, smooth, nutty. A good snack cheese for me. On the right, Gouda: firm but smooth, sharp like cheddar or colby. Probably better in a recipe.

Turns out they are completely different flavors and textures! Both incredibly tasty sides of a red wax coin.

I also noticed they were carrying versions of swiss and cheddar made with goats milk. Normally all of the goat cheese is labeled as chevre. I got some of the cheddar, which was white and labeled medium. It doesn't taste much like cheddar, but it is only slightly goaty and very nice.