The Cheese That Shut Down a Norwegian Tunnel for Days!

In the quaint town of Narvik, Norway, a peculiar incident unfolded in January of 2013, leaving locals scratching their heads and cheese enthusiasts in awe. Picture this: a truck trailer, laden with sweet goat cheese, ignited in flames, leading to the shutdown of a crucial road tunnel for a whopping four days. Remarkably, amidst the fiery chaos, no one suffered harm, but the aftermath revealed a surprising culprit—the Norwegian brown specialty known as 'brunost.'

As the tunnel became engulfed in flames, firefighters battled for days to tame the inferno. The damage was so extensive that geologists had to meticulously inspect the tunnel for safety concerns and lingering toxic gases. Upon closer investigation, Norwegian authorities discovered that it wasn't your typical yellow cheese that turned into a blazing spectacle; it was the unique brunost.

The Cheese and Wine Shop Delicatessen in Britain shed light on the distinctive process of making brunost. Unlike conventional cheeses crafted from curds with the whey discarded, brunost takes a different route. Here, the whey is retained, while the curds are disposed of. The cheesemaker then introduces milk and cream, boiling the concoction into a "thick brown mass." The end result is a sweet delicacy with a caramel undertone—a sticky, caramelized lactose concoction that, as it turns out, is unexpectedly highly flammable.

The revelation left many astonished, including Kjell Bjoern Vinje, who confessed to the BBC, "I didn't know that brown cheese burns so well." Police officer Viggo Berg, in conversation with The Guardian, said ""this high concentration of fat and sugar is almost like petrol if it gets hot enough."

The bizarre incident not only shut down a tunnel but also brought attention to the combustible qualities of this Norwegian culinary treasure. It serves as a reminder that, in the world of cheese, there's always room for surprises—even if that means an unexpectedly fiery encounter with a sweet, caramelized delight.

Information source: NPR