Prästost is a Swedish

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

 cheese

Cheese

Cheese is a generic term for a diverse group of milk-based food products. Cheese is produced throughout the world in wide-ranging flavors, textures, and forms....

 with historical roots in Sweden's one-time custom of paying tithes with agricultural goods including milk

Milk

Milk is a white liquid produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals before they are able to digest other types of food. Early-lactation milk contains colostrum, which carries the mother's antibodies to the baby and can reduce the risk of many...

. It was common for the church to make cheese from this milk from the 16th though 19th centuries. Today, this style of cheese once produced in churches across Sweden is factory-made from pasteurized cow

Cattle

Cattle are the most common type of large domesticated ungulates. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae, are the most widespread species of the genus Bos, and are most commonly classified collectively as Bos primigenius...

's milk.

Prästost is sometimes soaked or cured in whisky

Whisky

Whisky or whiskey is a type of distilled alcoholic beverage made from fermented grain mash. Different grains are used for different varieties, including barley, malted barley, rye, malted rye, wheat, and corn...

 or other spirits; Saaland Pfarr is one such whisky-soaked variant. A version of prästost aged for 12 months and cured in Absolut vodka

Absolut Vodka

Absolut Vodka is a brand of vodka, produced near Åhus, Skåne, in southern Sweden. Since July 2008 the company has been owned by the French firm Pernod Ricard who bought V&S Group from the Swedish government....

 has been marketed as VODCheese.

A 1969 USDA

United States Department of Agriculture

The United States Department of Agriculture is the United States federal executive department responsible for developing and executing U.S. federal government policy on farming, agriculture, and food...

booklet describes the manufacturing technique for one whisky-cured style of prästost:

Fresh, whole milk is set with rennet at a temperature of 90° F. When the curd is very firm, it is cut coarsely, then put in a sieve to allow the whey to drain off. The curd is collected in a cloth and kneaded to expel more whey. Whisky is mixed with the curd, then the curd is packed in a basket and salt is sprinkled on the surface. Curing is done in a cool, moist cellar. The cloth covering is changed daily for 3 days, and the cheese is washed with whisky after the third day.