From The Food Encyclopedia by Jacques Rolland and Carol Sherman
A Tilsit-type semisoft Danish cheese with an open (no crust), lace-like paste and a natural or washed rind, meaning it has been brushed repeatedly with a hard brush dipped in a solution of either lime or milk residue. The dry rind gives Havarti a sourish taste; the flora on the washed rind make it taste sharper. Havarti is named after the farm where cheesemaker Hanne Nielsen developed this type of cheese in the mid-1800s.
