Gouda is a Dutch cheese, usually pale yellow, often sold as a round with a wax coat. Young Gouda tastes mild and a little sweet; that is the kind dictionaries mean when they say it is not strong. Aged Gouda is firmer, drier, and nuttier — still not a stinky cheese, but not bland either. The name is the name of a city in the Netherlands where the cheese was traditionally traded. English speakers often say GOO-dah; in Dutch it is closer to HOW-dah. Shops also use Gouda as a type name for similar cheeses made elsewhere.