The AnyCheese Holiday Gift Guide

Explore Cheeses

Explore cheese varieties from around the world, categorized by texture, milk type, and region.

Sbrinz

Sbrinz is an extra hard cow's milk cheese from Central Switzerland, made in only 42 dairies. It ripens for at least 16 months and is usually grated over pasta or broken into small pieces to eat with wine.

Country: Switzerland
Milk Type: Cow's milk
Texture: Extra hard
Flavor: Unique

Gorgonzola

Gorgonzola is an Italian blue cheese made from unskimmed cow's milk, named for a town near Milan. It comes in two styles: dolce, mild and buttery, and piccante, sharper with a firm, crumbly body.

Country: Italy
Milk Type: Cow's milk
Texture: Soft to crumbly
Flavor: Sweet to savory

Wensleydale

Wensleydale is a supple, crumbly cow's milk cheese that started in Wensleydale, North Yorkshire. It has a faint honey aroma, pairs well with sweet fruit, and owes much of its modern fame to Wallace and Gromit.

Country: United Kingdom
Milk Type: Cow’s milk
Texture: Firm and crumbly
Flavor: Fresh, lemony tang

Allgäuer Emmentaler

Allgäuer Emmentaler is a raw-milk Emmental from the Allgäu region of Germany, protected as a designation of origin since January 1997. It ripens for at least three months and tastes clearly of hazelnut, milder than Swiss Emmentaler.

Country: Germany
Milk Type: Cow's milk
Texture: Hard
Flavor: Nutty

Ladotyri Mytilinis

Ladotyri Mytilinis is a hard PDO cheese from the Greek island of Lesbos, made from sheep milk or a sheep and goat blend. Its name means oil cheese, after the extra virgin olive oil it is stored in.

Country: Greece
Milk Type: Ewe’s milk or mixtures with up to 30% goat’s milk
Texture: Hard
Flavor: Strong, salty

Crescenza

Crescenza, also called stracchino, is an Italian cow's milk cheese from Lombardy, Tuscany, Veneto, Friuli-Venezia Giulia and Liguria. It is eaten very young and known for a rindless, very soft and creamy body with a mild, slightly acidic flavor.

Country: Italy
Milk Type: Cow
Texture: Soft
Flavor: Mild, slightly acidic

Strachitunt

Strachitunt is a raw cow's milk cheese from Val Taleggio, in the Bergamo province of Lombardy, made by layering a cold evening curd with a warm morning one. It has held PDO status since 2014, and its blue veining forms …

Country: Italy
Milk Type: Full-fat raw milk from Bruna Alpina cows
Texture: Creamy
Flavor: Sweet and fruity

Reblochon

Reblochon is a soft, washed-rind cheese made from raw cow's milk in the Haute-Savoie region of the French Alps. It tastes nutty, holds an AOC designation, and is the cheese that makes tartiflette work.

Country: France
Milk Type: Raw whole cow’s milk
Texture: Ivory-colored, creamy and supple
Flavor: Creamy, nutty

Fiore Sardo

Fiore Sardo is a hard sheep's milk cheese from Sardinia, made with raw milk and lamb's rennet. Light smoking and months of cellar aging give it a smoky aroma and a sharp, herbaceous flavor that works grated or sliced.

Country: Italy
Milk Type: Sheep's milk
Texture: Hard
Flavor: Spicy, herbaceous

Époisses

Époisses is a pungent soft-paste cow's milk cheese from the village of Époisses in Burgundy, France. Washed in brine and Marc de Bourgogne as it ripens, it has a soft red-orange rind that is edible and a strong smell.

Country: France
Milk Type: Cow's Milk
Texture: Soft and creamy
Flavor: Subtle, fruity, distinctive, balanced

Lancashire

Lancashire is an English cow's milk cheese from the county of Lancashire. It is the only British cheese made by blending two or three days' curd of different maturities, and it comes as young Creamy, longer-matured Tasty, and mass-produced Crumbly.

Country: United Kingdom
Milk Type: Cow’s milk
Texture: Semihard
Flavor: Mellow to rich

Gruyère

Gruyère is a hard Swiss cheese from the cantons of Fribourg, Vaud, Neuchâtel, Jura and Bern. It is sweet with a salty edge, creamy and nutty when young, sharper and earthier with age, and it melts well enough to carry …

Country: Switzerland
Milk Type: Cow’s milk
Texture: Dense, moister
Flavor: Nutty, complex

Artisanal Goat Cheese

Artisanal Goat Cheese is a soft cheese made from goat's milk. Its texture is creamy and smooth, making it easy to spread on bread or crackers. The flavor is tangy and slightly tart, characteristic of goat's milk cheeses, with a …

Milk Type: Goat
Texture: Soft

Brânză de burduf

Brânză de burduf is a salty Romanian cheese made with sheep's milk, sometimes buffalo. It has a strong flavor and a slightly soft texture, and it is packed into a sheep's stomach, a sheep's skin, or a tube of pine …

Country: Romania
Milk Type: Sheep's milk (Turcana and Tiggae sheep)
Texture: Soft to firm and slightly flaky
Flavor: Spicy, sharp

Fontina

Fontina is a cow's milk cheese from Italy's Aosta Valley, made there since the 12th century. It runs semisoft to hard, tastes creamy and nutty with earthy, mushroomy notes, and melts well enough to carry a fondue.

Country: Italy
Milk Type: Cow's milk
Texture: Creamy , Smooth
Flavor: Mild, Buttery, Nutty

Gamonedo

Gamonéu is a fatty, lightly smoked Spanish cheese made in parts of Asturias from a blend of cow, goat and sheep milk. It holds a Protected Designation of Origin and comes in two forms: del Puertu from the high passes …

Country: Spain
Milk Type: Raw cow’s, sheep’s, and goat’s milk, or any combination. Breeds: Friesian, Asturiana de los Valles, etc.
Texture: Harder and drier (del Puertu), richer and creamier (del Valle)
Flavor: Buttery, slightly nutty

Paneer

Paneer is a fresh, non-aged cheese from South Asia, made by curdling cow or buffalo milk with acid instead of rennet. It does not melt, so it holds its shape in curries, fritters and skewered dishes like paneer tikka.

Country: Bangladesh and India
Milk Type: Cow's or water buffalo's milk
Texture: Semisoft, crumbly
Flavor: Mild, slightly milky

Burrata

Burrata is a fresh Italian cheese from Puglia with a pouch of stretched mozzarella curd around a filling of stracciatella and cream. Cut it open and the soft centre spills out, which is what it is known for.

Country: Italy
Milk Type: Cow, occasionally water buffalo
Texture: Soft, creamy
Flavor: Mild, lactic

Fontina-Style

Fontina-Style cheese is a semi-soft cheese known for its creamy texture and mild, nutty flavor. It draws inspiration from traditional Italian Fontina but is often made in various regions outside Italy. The cheese has a pale yellow interior with a …

Traditional Ayrshire Dunlop

Traditional Ayrshire Dunlop is a hard cheese made in the parish of Dunlop, Scotland, using milk from Ayrshire cows. It has a natural pale yellow color and a smooth, close surface that feels moist when cut. The cheese develops a …

Milk Type: Cow
Texture: Hard
Flavor: Mild and nutty when young, develops creamier, stronger nutty flavors with age

Pérail

Pérail is a soft sheep's milk cheese from Aveyron in southern France, sold in small rounds with an ivory, wrinkly rind. Older wheels taste distinctly sheepy.

Country: France
Milk Type: Sheep
Texture: Soft
Flavor: Distinctly sheepy in older cheeses

Banon

Banon is an unpasteurized goat cheese from Provence, sold as a small 100 g disc wrapped in chestnut leaves and tied with raffia. It ages about two weeks, gets dipped in eau de vie before wrapping, and has held AOC …

Country: France
Milk Type: Goat's milk
Texture: Soft
Flavor: Mild and intense, with notes of mushrooms and forest floor

Munster

Munster, also called Munster-géromé, is a soft cheese made from raw cow's milk in the Vosges of eastern France. Brine washing during aging leaves it with a moist orange rind, a penetrating smell and a very strong taste.

Country: France
Milk Type: Cow's milk
Texture: Semisoft
Flavor: Strong, gamey

Bloomy Rind

Bloomy rind is a soft, fluffy, white cheese rind that forms on cheeses made with Penicillium camemberti. Cheeses with it ripen from the outside in, taste mild and lactic, and include Brie and Camembert.

Texture: Creamy
Flavor: Mild and lactic

Leerdammer

Leerdammer is a Dutch semi-hard cow's milk cheese with distinct holes and a sweet, nutty flavor. Launched in 1977, it was built to match Emmental in look and taste, and it ages about 3 to 12 months.

Country: Netherlands
Milk Type: Cow's milk
Texture: Semi-hard
Flavor: Mild, nutty, sweet

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