Gamalost: Cheese Viagra

The Vikings were hardy men, famously aggressive and vigorous. Centuries after they last set sail, they are remembered as the manliest of men.

As they plundered their way across northern Europe, the Vikings developed not only a fearsome reputation for looting and pillaging, but also a certain notoriety for their luck with the ladies.

What caused those damsels in distress to swoon? And what made the invaders so virile, anyway? Turns out, it might have been their cheese.

Gamalost, which means "Old Cheese" in Norwegian, is a variety first made by the Vikings and still produced in small quantities in Scaninavia. I'll confess that I've not tried it, because it is awfully hard to find in the United States, and I've never been to Norway.

But I'm intrigued by Gamalost because it's said to be a natural aphrodisiac, which the Vikings used whenever rampaging left them a little too tired for nookie.

By all accounts, it is a smelly old cheese, made from unpasteurized cow's milk. It is aged for four to six months until it becomes hard, with a brownish-yellow rind. It's quite assertive, too. This is how food writer Janice Nieder describes it:

One story I heard attesting to the intensity of Gamalost's flavor was that when an old-timer was asked how Gamalost was made, he replied, "Take some cheese, stuff it in an old sock, bury it in manure under the barn and when it is ready, it will crawl out."

That sounds tasty to me, but perhaps Gamalost is an acquired taste. But if it's really an aphrodisiac, there must be a market for it.

Click here for the story about Gamalost, the Viking Viagra.