Jarlsberg is a mild, nutty, semi-soft cheese from Norway. It isn’t Swiss, but it’s modeled on Swiss Emmental, so it’s often called a Swiss-style cheese. It’s good as a snack and for melting, especially in fondue.

Swiss cheesemakers brought their techniques to the Vestfold region in the 1830s, and a local farmer named Anders Larsen Bakke developed the cheese in the 1850s, roughly 50 miles south of Oslo. The name comes from the old county of Jarlsberg and Larvik. You will often hear that it was named for Count Wedel-Jarlsberg and his estate, but historians dispute that story. Production lapsed in the early 1900s, and the cheese sold today was re-created at the Agricultural University of Norway in the 1950s, reaching store shelves in the 1960s.

Is Jarlsberg really swiss cheese?

Well, no— it’s Norwegian. Although, it’s similar enough to the Swiss-origin Alpine-style cheese called Emmentaler; so, it is often referred to as a Swiss-style cheese.

However, when you look at the recipe, Jarlsberg can't really be called a true Alpine-style cheese. Alpine style cheeses are made with higher temperature bacteria cultures called thermophilic bacteria; and, are generally designed for long periods of storage.

How to eat Jarlsberg

It is great a snack and also great for melting— especially in fondue.

Wrapping up

This cheese is great, and totally worth a try. Luckily for you, it's one of Norway's most exported product so it is widely available at grocery stores in your area.