My local Shop-Rite supermarket doesn't seem to experiment much with its specialty/foreign cheese section. I'm sure it's all based on what sells, which makes sense. However, every so often I do see a new one. Which is often a bit tragic, since I've always at least liked the new cheese, only to never see it again. Anyway, today's topic is Castello brie, which is a brand of a Danish company, Arla Foods amba.
Normally at this point I'd go into a brief history of the cheese type, but I just did so several months back--on July 31, 2021, to be exact, in my post on a Canadian goat brie. So I won't repeat myself, other than to say that brie is an ancient development, French in origin, and noted for its soft texture and mild flavor. Cheese purists might consider my Danish offering to not be "official" brie, since it wasn't made in the proper section of France, etc., but I'm not nearly that strict. So I'll call the Castello cheese brie, and risk angry comments for dairy product strict constructionists.
Castello started back in 1893, founded by Rasmus Tholstrup in, of course, Denmark. Over a century later it was acquired by Arla Foods amba, a Danish cooperative dairy venture. I know there's a huge gap in this history, but that's all I could discover from the official company website and other online sources. Other Castello cheese types offered include their versions of edam, fontina (see my post on March 4, 2017), havarti, camembert, blue, and feta. Arla, in turn, has its roots in various Danish dairy cooperatives that date back to the 1880's, although it was founded in 2000. The firm is now huge. It's reportedly the 7th largest dairy company in the world based on sales, and 4th in the world based on volume of milk made and used.
Castello Danish brie: It looked like typical brie--a whitish rind, surrounding an interior yellowish-white cheese. I had it both plain, and then on water crackers. Plain it was delicious--smooth, tangy, but mild. On the cracker it was also exceptional--the softness of the cheese paired well with the cracker crunch. And the taste of the cheese married well with the cracker. Maybe this one was not as spectacular as previous brie examples I've had, but this is nitpicky. Like other ones are 10/10 and this one was "only" 9.75/10. If you enjoy brie I see no reason why you won't also really like this version of it.
I already covered some fun facts about Denmark in my March 4, 2017 fontina post, but I thought I'd go into more detail on its famous folks. I'll try not to repeat myself too much. Aside from Niels Bohr, in the sciences it boast another Nobel Prize winner in Niels Kaj Jerne, who shared the Prize for medicine in 1984, for his work about the immune system and antibodies. Probably the most colorful Danish scientist was Tycho Brahe, who lived from 1546-1601. He was respected as an unusually precise and accurate astronomer, with one caveat--he didn't embrace the (correct) Copernican heliocentric model. Although his geocentric model was different too--he thought the sun and moon revolved around the Earth, but he thought the other planets orbited the sun. Arguably though, Brahe is more famous for losing part of his nose in a duel, which occurred in a very nerdy way, about who was a better mathematician. Supposedly his false nose was made from silver or gold. Some also posited that he'd been murdered, with poison. An exhumation centuries later indicated that Brahe had not been poisoned, and that his famous false nose was probably made from brass instead.
In entertainment, famous Danes include Lars Ulrich, known as the drummer for heavy metal band Metallica. Also Victor Borge, the famous 20th century comedian, pianist, and conductor, active on both the radio and television.
Moving to Danish people who work in film, we have director Lars von Trier, noted for movies such as "Europa" (1991), "Breaking the Waves" (1994), "Dancer in the Dark" (2000), "Dogville" (2003), "Antichrist" (2009), and "Nymphomaniac" (2013). Then there's Nicolaj Coster-Waldau, who appeared in such movies as "Nightwatch" (1994), "Black Hawk Down" (2001), "Kingdom of Heaven" (2005), "Mama" (2013), and "Domino" (2019), but is surely most recognized for playing Jaime Lannister on the HBO series "Game of Thrones" (2011-19). Mads Mikkelsen was in such films as "Pusher" (1996), "Casino Royale" (2006), "Doctor Strange" (2016), "Rogue One" (2016), and the upcoming 5th Indiana Jones film (2023?), but like Coster-Wandau is probably best known for a television role, as the titular "Hannibal" (2013-15). Connie Nielsen appeared in movies like "The Devil's Advocate" (1997), "Rushmore" (1998), "Gladiator" (2000), "One Hour Photo" (2002), and in several "Wonder Woman" movies (2017, 2020, and probably more in the future).
Finally, in the realm of athletics, famous Danes include Caroline Woziacki, who recently retired. She won 30 WTA singles titles, including the Major Australian Open in 2018. She was also rated #1 in the world for parts of 2010 and 2011. (She's of Polish origin, but was born and raised in Denmark.) Super middleweight boxer Mikkel Kessler also recently retired. He finished with a record of 46-3. He held the WBA and WBC championship belts, on and off, from 2003-12. Most Danes probably don't follow the NFL much, preferring what we Americans call "soccer," but the country produced a notable player, Morten Andersen. He played from 1982-2007, mostly with the New Orleans Saints and Atlanta Falcons. A kicker, he's currently 2nd in overall points scored, 3rd in extra points, and 2nd in field goals. Andersen was named to 7 Pro Bowls, 3 All Pro teams, and accumulated 97 AV. Obviously, he's also in the Hall of Fame.
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