The Scandinavian Coffee Drink That Features A Bite Of Cheese
The combination of coffee and cheese is called kaffeost, and according to Coffee or Die Magazine, the drink originated with the indigenous Sami people of Arctic Europe, also known as Lapland. When coffee arrived in the region in the late 1700s, the Sami fell in love with it just as their southern counterparts had. The cheese comes to play in part because of the Sami’s history as reindeer herders.
Koffeeost is made with juustoleipä, or bread cheese, which was originally made using reindeer milk. As wheat was not a viable crop in the Arctic tundra, and juustoleipä has a consistency that’s quite similar to bread (because it’s baked instead of aged), the Sami used the semisoft cheese in the same way many cultures use bread i.e., as a receptacle for butter or honey — hence the name. As no salt is added, juustoleipä cheese is not salty like cheddar; instead, it’s sweeter cheese, which can come as a surprise to first-time kaffeoast drinkers, per Coffee Affection.
So, is cheese and coffee crazy? Of course not! It’s not like you’re plopping morsels of moldy blue cheese into your coffee. Rather, the juustoleipä is more like adding marshmallows to hot chocolate. According to Atlas Obscura, juustoleipä absorbs the strong coffee without melting away, providing the brew an added layer of richness and the drinker with a gooey mass of slightly sweet cheese. And though juustoleipä today is made from either cow or goat’s milk, the experience of kaffeost remains a truly Scandinavian ritual, harmoniously combining indigenous ingredients with a great cup of strong coffee.
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