# Proudly Wisconsin Cheese
Enjoy a short video featuring Marieke Penterman in her creamery as she meets with our chef, Maya, to talk about Gouda cheese, new ideas on how to pair it, and hear about the awards she has won for Marieke Cheese.
It is a mild-flavored and semi-hard cheese. One of the reasons it has a more mild flavor palate than other cheeses is due to how it’s processed. The cheese curds are “washed” with warm water to separate them from the whey. Washing the cheese curds improves the overall taste of the cheese, making it less “stinky” than other cheeses. It is also what gives it a more mild taste.
MARIEKE PENTERMAN WAS BORN AND RAISED IN THE NETHERLANDS where she grew up on her parents’ 60 cow dairy farm. This is where her passion for dairy cows and dairy farming began. After getting her Bachelor’s Degree in Dairy Business, Marieke started a career as a farm inspector. In the meantime, her, then, future husband, Rolf Penterman, emigrated to Thorp, WI, and started a 350 cow dairy farm in May 2002. Thorp, with a vast dairy base and farm-friendly people, was an ideal location. Marieke followed Rolf a year later. Once in the United States, she missed the cheese from back home and began researching how to start her own business. Marieke decided to get her Wisconsin Cheesemaking License. She worked with a local cheesemaker and traveled back to her home country where she trained alongside two different cheesemakers throughout the week. There she learned how to make authentic Dutch Gouda cheese.