The AnyCheese Holiday Gift Guide

Explore Cheeses

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

Tilsit

Tilsit, also spelled Tilsiter, is a pale yellow semihard smear-ripened cow's milk cheese created in the mid-19th century by Prussian-Swiss settlers in the East Prussian town of Tilsit. It is medium firm with irregular holes, and often flavoured with caraway …

Country: Germany
Milk Type: Cow’s milk
Texture: Semi-Hard
Flavor: Pungent, balanced

Anevato

Anevato is a Greek fresh cheese made from sheep's milk, goat's milk or a blend of the two in the mountains of Grevena and Voio in Western Macedonia. It is white, spreadable and grainy like cottage cheese, lightly salty and …

Country: Greece
Milk Type: Ewe's or goat's milk or mixtures of both
Texture: Soft
Flavor: Pleasant sourish and refreshing flavor

Boeren-Leidse met sleutels

Boeren-Leidse met sleutels is a Dutch cow's milk cheese flavored with cumin and caraway seed, made from the semi-skimmed milk left over from butter making. It carries the crossed keys of Leiden and a red annatto-colored rind.

Country: Netherlands
Milk Type: Cow's milk
Texture: Hard and salty
Flavor: Sweetness from cumin seeds

Brillat-Savarin

Brillat-Savarin is a French triple cream cow's milk cheese with a natural bloomy rind and at least 72% fat in dry matter. Made mainly in Normandy, it tastes luscious, creamy and faintly sour, and it is also sold fresh, closer …

Country: France
Milk Type: Cow's milk
Texture: Semisoft
Flavor: Luxurious, tangy, sour, mushroomy softened butter

Queijo Serra da Estrela

Serra da Estrela is a sheep's milk cheese from the mountains of central Portugal, protected as a PDO in the European Union and the UK. It is coagulated with thistle instead of rennet, and its paste runs from nearly semi-liquid …

Country: Portugal
Milk Type: Sheep
Texture: Closed, slightly buttery, creamy and smooth (standard); closed or with some eyes, slightly dry crumbly body (Velho)
Flavor: Smooth, clean, and slightly acidic (standard); pleasant, lingering, clean, strong to slightly strong and slightly spicy/salty (Velho)

Pecorino Siciliano

Pecorino siciliano is a firm sheep milk cheese from Sicily. It goes back to the classical Greek world, when it was counted among the best cheeses anywhere, and it holds European PDO status today.

Country: Italy
Milk Type: Sheep's milk
Texture: Hard and compact
Flavor: Varies from fresh and floral to fruity and spicy with age

Ġbejna

Ġbejna is a small round cheese from Malta made with sheep milk, salt and rennet. It is sold fresh in its own whey, sundried, salt cured, or coated in crushed black pepper, and it shows up in Maltese soups, pasta …

Country: Malta
Milk Type: Goat's or sheep's milk
Texture: Soft
Flavor: Savory

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

Alpine-Style

Alpine-style cheese is inspired by the traditional cheeses produced in the mountainous regions of Switzerland, France, and Austria. These cheeses are typically made using cow's milk and are known for their firm texture and nutty, buttery flavors. They often have …

Metsovone

Metsovone is a semi-hard smoked pasta filata cheese from the Aromanian village of Metsovo in Epirus, Greece. It has carried European protected designation of origin status since 1996 and is one of the village's best known foods.

Country: Greece
Milk Type: Cow's milk, Ewe's or Goat's milk
Texture: Semihard to hard
Flavor: Slightly salty and piquant

Bleu d'Auvergne

Bleu d'Auvergne is a French blue cheese made from cow's milk in the Auvergne region, with AOC protection. It is less salty and creamier than most blues, and ages only about four weeks.

Country: France
Milk Type: Cow's milk
Texture: Firm and creamy
Flavor: Intense and distinctive blue

Pepato

Pepato is a semi-hard Sicilian sheep milk cheese studded with whole peppercorns. It is sold young at about 10 days or aged two to four months, and it turns up throughout Sicilian home cooking.

Country: Italy
Milk Type: Sheep's milk
Texture: Semi-hard, artisan
Flavor: Salty, spicy

Dovedale cheese

Dovedale, sold as Dovedale Blue, is a soft blue cheese made from full fat cow's milk near the Dovedale valley in the Peak District. It holds PDO status and is dipped in brine instead of dry-salted, which is rare for …

Milk Type: Cow
Texture: Soft
Flavor: Mild blue

Mahón-Menorca

Mahón-Menorca is a white cow's milk cheese from the island of Menorca, named after the town and port of Mahón. It runs soft to hard depending on age, with an orange rind rubbed with butter or oil and paprika and …

Country: Spain
Milk Type: Friesian, Menorcan, Brown Alpine cow’s milk, some ewe’s milk (max 5%)
Texture: Firm
Flavor: Salty and spicy

Abbaye de Tamié

Abbaye de Tamié is a soft cheese made from unpasteurised cow's milk by the monks of Tamié Abbey in Savoie, in the French Alps. It is close in style to Reblochon, with a saffron crust dusted in white down and …

Country: France
Milk Type: Cow's milk
Texture: Soft
Flavor: Nutty, milky, delicate to strong with age

Idiazabal

Idiazabal is a pressed sheep's milk cheese from the Basque Country, made with unpasteurized milk and named after a town in Gipuzkoa. It is usually sold unsmoked, tastes strong and slightly piquant, and has held a Denomination of Origin since …

Country: Spain
Milk Type: Sheep
Texture: Semi-Hard
Flavor: Intense, slightly piquant

Pecorino di Filiano

Pecorino di Filiano is a firm sheep milk cheese made in the province of Potenza, in Basilicata, southern Italy. It has held protected designation of origin status since 2007, and the village of Filiano celebrates it with a festival each …

Country: Italy
Milk Type: Sheep's milk
Texture: Hard
Flavor: Sweet and delicate to strong and savoury

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

Appenzeller

Appenzeller is a hard cow's milk cheese from the Appenzellerland region of northeast Switzerland. Its wheels are washed with a herbal brine as they cure, which builds a golden rind, a strong smell, and a flavor that runs from mild …

Country: Switzerland
Milk Type: Cow's milk
Texture: Hard
Flavor: Piquant, tangy

Caciocavallo Palermitano

Caciocavallo Palermitano is a variant of Caciocavallo from the Palermo region of Sicily. It is made using traditional methods that include hanging the cheese in pairs tied with rope, hence the name "caciocavallo" (cheese on horseback). This cheese has a …

Milk Type: Cow’s milk
Texture: Firm
Flavor: Spicy

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

Trnič

Trnič is a hard Slovenian cheese made for centuries by shepherds on Velika planina, Mala planina and Gojška planina from sour skimmed milk curd, cream and salt. Shaped by hand and stamped with carved wooden patterns, it was given in …

Country: Slovenia
Milk Type: Cow’s milk
Texture: Hard
Flavor: Salty and slightly acidic

Selles-sur-Cher

Selles-sur-Cher is a goat milk cheese from Centre-Val de Loire, France, first made in the 19th century in the commune it is named for. It comes as a small charcoal-dusted cylinder of about 150 g, known for its grey-blue mould …

Country: France
Milk Type: Whole goat’s milk
Texture: Fine and firm
Flavor: Fresh, hazelnut

Queijo da Beira Baixa

Queijo da Beira Baixa is a Portuguese raw-milk cheese made from sheep milk, goat milk or a blend of both, sold as Amarelo, Castelo Branco or Picante. It has a protected designation of origin and an intense, clean flavor that …

Milk Type: Sheep and Goat
Texture: Semi-hard, semi-soft, hard, or very hard (depending on type)
Flavor: Intense, clean, slightly acidic, spicy, and salty (depending on type)

Parmigiano Reggiano

Parmigiano Reggiano is a hard, granular Italian cheese made from unpasteurised cow's milk and aged at least 12 months. Protected as a PDO across Parma, Reggio Emilia, Modena and parts of Bologna and Mantua, it is known for its sharp, …

Country: Italy
Milk Type: Cow's milk
Texture: Grainy, flaky
Flavor: Umami

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