'whey cheese'; Danish: myseost; Swedish: mesost; Finnish: mesjuusto; Icelandic: mysuostur/mysingur), a family of soft cheese-related foods made with whey, milk, and/or cream.

[1] It is regarded as one of Norway's most iconic foodstuffs, and is considered an important part of the country's gastronomical and cultural identity and heritage.

[2] Boiling down whey 10:1 to create a brown, cheesy spread (such as the Norwegian prim and Swedish messmör) has been common in the Scandinavian countries for at least 2,500 years.

[3] However, the creation of the modern, firm, fatty brunost is commonly attributed to the milkmaid Anne Hov from the rural valley of Gudbrandsdalen.

In the second half of the 19th century, Gudbrandsdalen was suffering economically due to falling profits from grain and butter sales.

While working at the Valseter mountain farm near Gålå in 1863, Anne Hov (sometimes spelled Anne Haav) came up with the idea of adding cream to the whey when boiling, and to boil it down in an iron pot until the fluid content was reduced to less than 80 percent, creating a firmer, fattier, more cheese-like product.

[4] When Hov married and moved to Rusthågå farm in Nord-Fron Municipality, she started larger-scale production and invented a variety where she added goat's milk to the mix for a more pronounced taste.

In 1933, at age 87, Hov received the King's Medal of Merit (Kongens fortjenstmedalje) for her contributions to Norwegian cuisine and economy.

[5] In modern times, the world's largest producer of brunost is the Norwegian dairy co-operative Tine, which markets a total of 13 varieties, as well as three types of prim.

[8] Brunost is made by boiling a mixture of milk, cream, and whey carefully for several hours so that the water evaporates.

Related to brunost are prim (in Norwegian) or messmör (in Swedish), which is a soft, sweet spread commonly sold in tubes all across the Nordic countries.

This is the original, ancient product made by boiling whey for a shorter period of time than brunost, and not adding milk or cream.

Very similar to full cow's milk brunost, but unrelated to it (probably developed independently) is requeijão moreno, from the state of Minas Gerais in Brazil.

[12] A few years later, exceptions to the ban were introduced after health authorities identified an increasing incidence of iron deficiency in younger age groups.

[11] In January 2013, a lorry caught fire in the 3.5 km (2.2 mi) long Brattli tunnel in Tysfjord Municipality.