Cheese Database

Bergenost vs Butterkäse

Bergenost

Facts

Milk
Cow
Texture
Semi-soft
Rind
Waxed or sealed
Country
United States
Place
New York

Bergenost is a semi-soft cow's milk cheese from New York, in the United States. Extra cream makes the paste rich, in the manner of a butter cheese, and the pieces are finished in bright green wax. The name and the cultures point toward Norwegian dairy practice, but the cheese itself is American. The interior is pale, smooth, and mild, with only a light sour note under the cream. It is not a brown whey cheese, and it does not carry the large round eyes of a Swiss-style wheel.

Butterkäse, field guide plate
Butterkäse, photographed

Butterkäse

Facts

Milk
Cow
Texture
Semi-soft
Type
Pressed
Rind
Natural rind
Country
Germany

Butterkäse is a semi-soft cow's milk cheese from Germany, and the German name means butter cheese. The paste is pale yellow, smooth, and mild, with a light tang and a soft buttery taste. A loaf is easy to slice, and small eyes are few or absent. German dairies treat it as an everyday slicing cheese rather than a long-aged wheel. The same mild style is also made in other countries for buyers who want a gentle melting cheese.