Thieves steal over $22,000 of cheese in the Netherlands – The Washington Post

For the past week, van Dorp’s days have been filled answering media requests and doing interviews with outlets across the Netherlands, the United States and Canada — so much so that the dairy farmer said she has struggled to find the time to get back to producing cheese.But selling the stolen Gouda in the Netherlands could prove tricky for the thieves, since cheese there is marked with a unique code revealing its origin, type and fat content. Dekker’s hunch is that they will attempt to sell it abroad — potentially in Russia, where economic sanctions levied after its attack on Ukraine prevent Dutch dairy from being bought. Unfortunately, that means there’s not much Dutch authorities can do to help van Dorp, especially since her farm had no security cameras to record the culprits.But milk doesn’t turn into cheese on its own. It has to be prepared, acidified, curdled, cut, pressed and drained in a lengthy process that takes almost a whole day, van Dorp said. Next, it gets shaped into its signature round figure and put into a salt bath for one to two days. A week is then spent coating and drying it. Finally, the wheel is placed on a shelf to mature for at least three months, after which it’s ready to go into the belly of a happy customer.While cheesemaking is a love affair for van Dorp, the toiling doesn’t come without sacrifice. Her children, ages 5 and 10, sometimes wonder why their parents have no days off. Vacations are often cut short, and most days are spent in their sprawling fields.It seemed unimaginable in a town so small that such a thing would happen. Their dog had not barked, and they heard no commotion throughout the night. It took van Dorp hours to process the loss — only managing to repeat, “It’s gone, it’s gone, it’s gone,” in a phone call with her mother.Nevertheless, van Dorp said her family has received supportive texts, phone calls, cards and flowers. Some have been inspired to buy her dairy farm’s products. And a cheesemaker from another town, whom the van Dorps have never met, organized a GoFundMe campaign to help the family.