Mousetrap Andean Creamery Duque Naranja
- Pasteurized
- Animal Rennet
- Age: 3 Months
- Cow Milk
- by Mousetrap Andean Creamery
- Colombia
- ApproachableAdventurous
- SoftHard
We’ve had gouda made outside the Netherlands, but this is the first we’ve tried from Colombia’s Andean Highlands (now exclusively available through Murray’s in the U.S.). El Duque Naranja is mild, nutty, and savory, with just a touch of gouda’s caramel sweetness. Its name, the Orange Duke, refers to the Dutch royal family, but it also speaks to that smooth, pliable orange interior. The deep color makes it stand out on a board, served alongside Castelvetrano olives and Prosciutto di San Daniele.
“The Dutch aren’t the only ones who have mastered gouda! I love this surprising wedge from Colombia—it’s so smooth and snackable, with a slightly more savory edge (which is why I love to serve it with cured meats and seedy crackers).”
- Like all Mousetrap cheeses, El Duque Naranja is made with the high-quality milk of a single herd of cows in the Andean Highlands.
- It’s a Colombian-made cheese that nods to Dutch heritage, as it’s a gouda (a traditional Dutch cheese) and is colored and named to align with the signature color of the Dutch royal family.
- The orange color comes from annatto, an orange-tinted food coloring derived from the seeds of the achiote tree.
- While this gouda does have a savory edge, most goudas tend to be on the sweet side for cheese, thanks to the step of washing the curds during the cheesemaking process.
- By flushing the curds with fresh water, the cheesemaker clears away residual lactic acid from the fermentation process, reducing the acidity and letting the milky sweetness shine.
- Unlike traditional gouda, which has a waxed rind, this cheese has a natural rind, meaning that the rind is formed in temperature- and humidity-controlled rooms where the air naturally dries the outside of the cheese.
- Mousetrap Andean Creamery (or Queseria la Ratonera in Spanish) has been making unique artisanal cheeses in Colombia since 2014.
- They craft cheeses rooted in cheesemaking tradition from across the world in the verdant Northern Andean Highlands located 2,600 meters above sea level.
- They get their high-quality milk from nearby small farms, capturing the mountain terroir in their cheeses.
- Murray’s is proud to be the exclusive retailer of Mousetrap cheeses in the United States, bringing one-of-a-kind South American cheeses to North American cheese lovers.
When you receive your cheese, unpack the order and refrigerate the items. We recommend using the cheese paper we send most of our products in to store the cheese. The cheese paper helps cover the items and stop them from drying out, while also allowing the cheese to breathe. Since cheese is mold, it's a living thing! If you cut off air circulation to the cheese, you can actually cause it to suffocate and spoil at a faster rate.
