Edam is a Dutch semi-hard cow's-milk cheese, traditionally sold in smooth, ball-shaped rounds coated in red or yellow wax and named for the small North Holland town of Edam, where it was once traded. Made from partly skimmed milk, it is paler, firmer, lower in fat and milder than its cousin Gouda — clean, springy and faintly nutty when young, sharpening and hardening as it ages. Its low fat and excellent keeping qualities made it one of the great export cheeses of the age of sail.