How could I forget those?
Well, I guess it’s because while I often see them in the supermarket I rarely buy them for myself but eat some of it every time we visit my BF’s mother. But anyway. I will buy some after I come back from this long weekend to take proper pictures, as those are pictures I found on the web (baad wererabbit, baaaad!).
Messmör and Mesost packets.
Messmör (“whey butter”) and Mesost (“whey cheese”) are products made from whey, the part of the milk that’s left over after you take all the good stuff out of it when making cheese. Sound weird? It gets weirder.
Since it is made from leftovers, it is not very fatty (about 5,5g fat per 100g “butter” according to the labels) but it is very sweet and contains a lot of milk sugars, calcium and iron. It is supposedly very healthy and if you get to know it as a kid, you will love it.
Most of it is made in Norway, and it can be made from cow, sheep or goatmilk, although I suspect the original is supposed to be from goat milk. You buy the cheese in blocks and the butter in small containers.
Mesost (blatantly stolen from kuoksu at blogspot.com, I’m going to replace it soon, I promise!)
My verdict? Messmör is a little too weird for me. It’s very sweet but has no interesting taste or zest that would make me take to it better.
Mesost, on the other hand, is just weird enough for me. I love it! Now take this with a grain of salt and let me explain the taste before you rush to buy some: It tastes like sweet goat cheese. The texture is soft and sticky, a bit crumbly and reluctant to be spread, so still very much a cheese. But the sweet-and-sour mixture together with the zesty taste is actually very nice. It fits best on lightly toasted bread with some butter (if you need to have that fat after all!).
On a slightly different note, look what I found during my image search!
It’s a Wererabbits Wensleydale cheese! Anyone know where I can get my paws on one of those?
PS: I apologize for the images outside this post being down this weekend. We somehow managed to unplug the circuit for the Modem our server is connected to during shutting down for the weekend. They’ll be up again Monday or early Tuesday!
My boyfriend just introduced me to messmör. (I’m from Canada.) I actually like it. I grew up eating sweetened condensed milk on toast (It’s a Hong Kong thing.) and the messmör tastes very much like it.
Messmör
I think it is delicious….but an acquired taste……Now for something different try Vegemite…but be warned spread SPARINGLY!!! unlike messmör which needs to be spread thick (IMHO)
[…] local cafeteria 1. Fried lard sausage with dill potatoes and red beets 2. Liver stew with messmor and lingonberries 3. Macaroni with fried Falun Sauage, the crappiest sausage ever made 4. Pea soup […]
About this weird Swedish food. In Norway this is available in any and every grocery store.
http://translate.google.com/translate?js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fno.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FBrunost&sl=auto&tl=en&history_state0=
My wife is German/Norwegian from central Texas. My German mother-in-law passed along all the family recipes to her daughters and I was introduced to mysmør (spelling from the hand-written recipe) after marrying into the family. They didn’t tell me it was made with cheese until after I tasted it, but I love it.
We used it as a sweet spread on hot yeast rolls. The recipe is just 3 ingredients: condensed milk, sugar, and Primost cheese (which we cannot find any longer, so Gjetost is an acceptable substitute).
Ironically, I am the the one that ends up making mysmør like they made it because those Carlson girls don’t want to stir it as long as their recipe calls for to make it smooth. Texas Norwegians, man, gotta love ’em.
Would you mind sharing that recipe? I got really into Messmör while I was in Sweden (I had it practically everyday for breakfast) and brought a whole bunch with me when I left, but now that I’m back home and my supplies are running low, I’d really like to know how to make it myself…
Here is the recipe with the substitutions noted:
1 can evaporated milk
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 pkg. Prim-Ost (1 lb. block) (Primost may not be available. Gjetost cheese can be substituted.)
Cut cheese up in small pieces. Add milk and sugar, stir all the time while cooking until the way you want it (215 degrees F) (I judge it by the way it pours out of the spoon and take it off the heat when it is about the consistency of a thick pancake syrup at room temperature.)
Stir until cold so it won’t be gritty. (This last part is the most important and time-consuming. Stir slowly and steadily until the bottom of the pan is lukewarm.)
Your wife is not Donna Carlson is she? My name is Pat and I think she is my cousin. I was trying to find out where to find Primost cheese because my my mom used to make it. I loved it growing up!
Hi, Pat. I think you may very well be Donna’s cousin. There is a store near us that sells Gjetost and that is what I have used to make Doris’ recipe. I don’t think Primost is available anymore, at least I have not been able to find it. Kirby even called some cheese places a few years ago looking for Primost and they referred him to a store in Clifton, Tx.!
They used to sell it down there! Mom all ways got it there. I will try in a new store here and see if the can get it. I think I took Dad som Gjetost last week end along with Lutefisk, krumkaka and rosettes. Tell Donna hello!
Great! Thanks so much!
I will try that.”Butik Hemlangtan” in sweden has everything you long for. Google it. Bye Ingrid