Texel has been producing sheep’s cheese since the mid-1500s, and the original method is still used today.

Cheese from sheep’s milk

Texel sheep’s cheese is unlike other cheese and defies comparison. The cheese is made from unpasteurised milk and is paler and drier than most other cheeses. The taste is perhaps best described as strong but not acidic. Taste and judge for yourself!

Artisanal cheese

Wezenspyk cheese farm produces a range of cheeses. The sheep that graze close to the farm are milked every day. In the dairy, that fresh milk is turned into sheep’s cheese. This is what makes it so special: here, the salty little sea aster is added to the cheese (to make “Orekéés”).De Waddel sheep farm only makes cheese in the summer months. When the lambs are big enough, their mothers’ milk is used for the sheep’s cheese. You can buy the cheese and the meat from the lambs in De Waddel’s farm shop.Sheepfarm Westerweg produces sheep’s cheese with passion. Their assortment consists of various kinds of Texel sheep’s cheese, ranging from new to mature. You can visit the farm and the nostalgic farm shop where you can buy all their products.

Sheep’s cheese-tasting

Various restaurants, including Restaurant BOSQ, Bij Jef and Boutique Hotel Texel, have Texel sheep’s cheese on their menus. You can sample pancakes with sheep’s cheese from De Waddel at Catharinahoeve, a farm and restaurant.

Recipes with sheep’s cheese

If you would like to try using Texel sheep’s cheese in a recipe, how about the recipes below?

• Pasta with Texel asparagus, lamb ham and sheep cheese
• Texel asparagus with lamb ham and sheep cheese
• Eÿerlandtsche Struyf, a.k.a Omelette de Terre des Oeufs.
• Beet plate pie with pear and sheep cheese

We are very grateful to Annette van Ruitenburg, author of the cookbook De Smaak van Texel,for this article.

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