Edam (Dutch Edammer) is a Dutch cheese that is traditionally sold as spheres with pale yellow interior and a coat of paraffin. Its Spanish name is queso de bola, literally 'ball cheese'. It is named after the town of Edam in the province of North Holland where the cheese is coated for export and for tourist high season. Edam which has aged for at least 17 weeks is coated with black wax, rather than the usual red or yellow. Edam ages well, travels well, and does not spoil easily - this made it the world's most popular cheese in the 14th through 18th centuries, both at sea and in remote colonies. It is popular in North America, the Nordic countries and many other countries around the world. Edam cheese has a very mild taste, slightly salty or nutty and almost no smell when compared to other cheeses. It also has a significantly lower fat content than many other traditional cheeses being approximately 28% with an average protein content of 25%. Modern Edam is quite soft compared to other cheeses, such as Cheddar, due to its low fat content. I love it with fruit.

If you love cheese, you will love my new book Say Cheese. It has easy, fun and DELICIOUS recipes prepared with Dutch cheese, like Edam, Gouda, Beemster. Check my video of Steve, the Tortilla Guy, and me at the Fancy Food Show in New York'07: http://www.ifood.tv/video/chef_vyonne_at_fancy_food_show And remember.... if you have to lose weight, you still can eat my recipes prepared with cheese, guilt-free, and you have to check the recipes in my first book Amazing 7 Minute Meals, healthy, DELICIOUS recipes from all over the world, ready in 7 minutes or less. You excuse that you don't have time to cook is out of the door with this book, and the reason I wrote it was because our gym in Florida, my hubby John and I owned, was a great success for our customers/members, we just didn't have enough of them to be a financial success. That is when I decided that I would write a book about healthy eating that would take all the excuses out of your excuse-dictionary: - no time - only 7 minutes, that is faster than going through the drive-through - don't know how - easy, fun, 5 steps, shopping list what you have to buy (most of it is availble cut-up) and a lot of other education, which you do not have to read. each recipes tells you what to do when, and success is garanteed. - bland - NO WAY! I will teach you to use less salt and more other seasoning. Seasoning (herbs and spices) that are good for our body. - moderation... your stomach sents a message to your stomach that it is full, but if you didn't eat all day, there are blockers, and it will take longer for your brain to receive the message. So before you go for that second helping, wait about 15 minutes and you will see you are less hungry and able to control you cravings. Small snack also help. I tell you all about it in Amazing 7 Minute Meals. Check it on www.getrealhealthyfood.com and if you have any questions, just email me at: chefyvon@aol.com