No, we are not talking about some weird flying contraption made of cheese. Although this might certainly be a thing and might even be something you could find in Belgium or the Netherlands. Both countries are, after all, known for their cheeses. If you have eaten ‘gouda’, then you have eaten Dutch cheese, originally made in and according to a process from the city of Gouda. The cheese and city are pronounced “gow-da” (using the guttural Dutch-language “g”). But if you are in the UK or US you will more likely ask for “goo-da”.
But back to that strange plane. Could a plane really be made of cheese? I immediately have a song from My Fair Lady in my head. This reminds me that this word has a synonym. Even better, there are at least two completely different items spelled the same way. An airplane (or aeroplane) is a contraption used to transport people and things through the air. But a plane can also be used to shave wood.
And that’s where we’re going when we talk about a cheese plane. Of course in English we might talk more often of a cheese slicer. But let’s be clear here, the object the Dutch and Flemish use for their cheese is not a slicer. Those exist as well, most often as a thin wire attached to an arm on a hinge. You might also have a cheese knife. But these are not a cheese plane.
A cheese plane shaves off a thin bit of cheese from a block of Gouda or Edam cheese (or any other type of block cheese). So the next time you are eating Dutch cheese, consider using your plane, just like the Flemish and Dutch do.
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