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Best Juhannusjuusto in San Francisco
“A pale cheese floating in red whey, eaten cold and sweetened — an Ostrobothnian dish that takes hours to prepare.”
What the real thing tastes like
Juhannusjuusto or makiajuusto (lit. Midsummer cheese or sweet cheese) is an Ostrobothnian dish which is also called red whey and cheese soup. Like the name suggests it is eaten during Midsummer and more widely in the summer season. The sweet cheese floating in the red whey is eaten as a dessert, usually cold. Sugar can be added according to one's taste. Full-fat milk and rennet are used as ingredients. The cheese takes multiple hours to prepare, thus being mainly served only on special occasions.
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Juhannusjuusto is a Finnish summer ritual made in Ostrobothnia — a pale, delicate cheese that floats in its own ruby-red whey, waiting to be eaten cold and sweetened to taste. The name says it all: Midsummer cheese, a dish so labor-intensive it only appears on special occasions, the kind of thing that marks a season's arrival on the table. Full-fat milk and rennet transform over hours into something between soup and dessert, a spoonable contradiction.
Order it here when it has
- Eaten during Midsummer as tradition
- Customizable sweetness
- Full-fat milk base
- Soup and dessert hybrid
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