What Is Havarti?

Havarti is a cow's milk cheese with a buttery, slightly acidic flavor and smooth texture. Artisanal varieties are still produced in its native Denmark, with similar mass-produced versions for slicing typically manufactured in the United Kingdom and North America. Havarti is rich in calcium, with relatively high-fat content. It's often melted in recipes or served on sandwiches.

What Is Havarti Cheese?

Havarti is Denmark's most famous cheese. It was first produced in the mid-19th century by Hanne Nielsen, a farmer north of Copenhagen. Nielsen traveled throughout Europe to learn different cheesemaking techniques, then returned to her farm, Havarthigaard, to experiment. She developed Havarti, which she named after her farm. The rind of this traditional style of Havarti, still produced by artisanal makers in Denmark, is washed with a salt brine to add a funkier, more pungent flavor than the industrially produced types more common today.

Havarti is a table cheese made with cow's milk that has a creamy texture and mild flavor, with a slight acidic brightness. It's typically sold in blocks or slices. Smear-ripened artisan varieties produced in the more traditional style will have a bolder but still buttery flavor.

How Havarti Is Made

To produce Havarti, raw cow's milk is pasteurized in large vats. To make cream Havarti, additional heavy cream is added to the milk. Cultures are added to lower the pH of the milk and later, during aging, produce its flavor and eyes, the small, irregular holes throughout the paste of the cheese. Rennet, which coagulates the milk and causes curds to form, is added next. The curds and whey are lightly heated and then drained into loaf-shaped, rectangular molds, then lightly pressed or occasionally flipped to drain more whey. At this point, a salt brine may be applied to the exterior of the cheese, or dry salt may be added to the curds or curds and whey before the molds are filled.

Today, blocks of Havarti are typically vacuum-sealed in plastic for aging, which produces a finished cheese with no rind. Traditional recipes may include washing the rind with a salt brine throughout the aging process. The nine-pound, loaf-shaped blocks are typically aged for around three months, but more mature versions may be aged for as long as 12 months.

Types

Havarti may be flavored with herbs such as dill, spices like cumin or caraway seeds, or hot peppers. Cream Havarti (known as fløde Havarti in Denmark) is semisoft, with a creamier texture and milder flavor than longer-aged varieties or firmer Havartis produced for deli slicing. Some Havartis have a washed rind, which gives them earthier, more pungent texture and reddish color on the rind.

Younger Havartis will have a creamy, semisoft texture, pale color, and buttery flavor. Longer-aged types are firmer and more crumbly, with a deeper golden color and sharper, nutty flavor.

Substitutes

Mild, semihard cheeses such as Swiss, Emmenthal, Muenster, Butterkäse, or Colby may be substituted for Havarti in sandwiches. Those varieties in addition to softer cheeses like Monterey Jack or low-moisture mozzarella can be melted in recipes in place of Havarti.

Uses

With its relatively high fat and moisture content, Havarti, especially cream Havarti, makes a great melting cheese in dishes like casseroles, macaroni and cheese, quiches, frittatas, omelets, and sauces. It can be used to stuff or top cuts of meat such as baked pork chops or chicken breasts or melted in grilled cheese sandwiches.

Firmer types of Havarti can be sliced thinly to use in deli sandwiches or wraps. Havarti can often be purchased presliced in vacuum packs or sliced to order at the deli counter. Havarti, especially flavored Havarti, is often eaten in cubes or small slices as part of a cheese board.

Storage

To store Havarti in the refrigerator, wrap the block of cheese in a piece of parchment paper or wax paper. Place it in an unsealed plastic sandwich bag or plastic container, then store it in a protected part of your refrigerator, such as the cheese drawer or crisper. This will hold in moisture and protect the cheese while still allowing for airflow. Pre-sliced Havarti should be resealed in its original plastic packaging after opening and refrigerated.

Havarti will last for at least two weeks in your refrigerator. If any mold forms on the surface of the cheese, cut around it with a knife to thoroughly remove it. Take care not to touch the mold with your knife, which can cause it to spread.

Havarti is one of the few cheeses that can be frozen without compromising quality. Wrap blocks of cheese about the size of your hand tightly in aluminum foil, then seal them in a zip-top freezer bag. Store in the freezer for up to six months. Thaw frozen Havarti overnight in your refrigerator and use within three days.

Havarti Recipes

• Chicken with Havarti Dill Cheese Sauce
• Turkey Cordon Bleu
• Asparagus Leek Quiche

Can You Eat the Rind?

Havarti is frequently produced without a rind, in which case the entire block of cheese is edible. Traditional washed-rind varieties have an edible rind.