Cheese fire shuts down tunnel in Norway

A vital road tunnel in northern Norway near the Arctic Circle was recently shut down for five days while a truckload of cheese burned out of control. It turns out that not only do 27 tons of a brown goat cheese called brunost burn like gasoline, the burning cheese also emits toxic gases that prevented firefighters from getting in close enough to work on the fire. The damage and residual toxic issues will prevent the tunnel from being opened for about another week.

I like brunost, and this news story sadly paints the cheese in a bad light. Most Americans are unfamiliar with this cheese, which can often be found in the deli cheese section of many major grocery stores. It is easy to overlook, due to the non-cheese-like color (a sort of caramel dark tan) and shape (long and rectangular in profile, with a square cross section).

Brunost's unusual qualities come from being caramelized, the same process which turns milk into dulce de leche. (This same potently delicious combination of fat and sugar is what makes brunost such a hazard in a traffic accident conflagration.) It has a rich sweetness and a yielding, fudge-like consistency that is wildly different from the cheese most of us are used to, but it is so delicious. It's like the Nutella of cheese.

Brunost is excellent as a dessert cheese with a bit of port and some strawberries, or served atop a simple cracker. In Norway it is often sliced thin and put atop a slice of hearty bread or toast and eaten for breakfast. Aside from being delicious, the combination of whole grains, fat and protein makes for a good filling breakfast in a cold climate.

Image courtesy of Flickr/clogsilk