Gouda is a sweet, creamy, yellow cow's milk cheese originating from the Netherlands. It is one of the most popular cheeses worldwide. The name is used today as a general term for numerous similar cheeses produced in the traditional Dutch manner.

Various sources suggest that the term Gouda refers more to a general style of cheesemaking rather than to a specific kind of cheese, pointing to its taste, which varies with age. Young (and factory-produced) Gouda has been described as having a flavour that is "lightly fudgy with nuts, but very, very, very mild", while the same source describes a more mature farmhouse Gouda as having a "lovely fruity tang" with a "sweet finish", that may take on "an almost butterscotch flavor" if aged over two years.

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