You may be surprised to know that no Gouda is actually made in Gouda. We spent a day visiting Gouda, which is a very pretty little town. Very old. A relative of mine used to be a tour guide in Gouda, so we had a private little tour of the city.
The main plaza in Gouda has at its centre a town hall (see here) surrounded by open areas (this was because two fires made the town wary and thus protective of this central building). Anyway, around the outside you can find this building:
This is the cheese weighing house, where farmers used to come to weigh their cheese. It was the most ostentatious cheese weighing house in Holland. You see, you don’t need much space to actually weigh the cheese, but they made this building extra fancy. And were quite snooty about it.
So, although many incorrectly assume loads of Gouda was made in Gouda, it was rather weighed there.
And wikipedia has this wrong :)
BTW, if you ever go to Gouda, visit the old church to view some of the best stained glass in Holland/Europe – it’s incredibly vibrant. From the 16th & 17th Centuries.
