GOUDA -THE NETHERLANDS
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This is the town square of Gouda, a town famous for its cheese. Doesn't the building look like Cinderella's castle in Disneyworld?
Cheese is milk that has been coagulated by rennet, a digestive enzyme found in the stomach of the calf, yuck! It is then drained and the curd is further dried by warming or pressing and is often shaped in a mold. To properly ripen or cure it is stored, often for months, at a particular temperature and humidity to assure the bacteria an ideal environment.Some believe the first cheese was produced by mistake, probably from the ancient habit of carrying milk in pouches made from animal stomachs, double yuck! The bacteria in the milk and the digestive juices from the stomach worked together to form a curd and then a crude cheese. Somebody actually ate this mess and liked it. Though one of the world's smallest nations in size, Holland is the fifth largest cheese-producing nation and has earned the Dutch the endearing nickname "Kaaskoppen" or "Cheeseheads." Bud didn't try any cheese while he was here.
