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Explore Cheeses

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

Tome des Bauges

Tome des Bauges is a Tomme-style cow's milk cheese from the Bauges mountains of the French Alps. Made with unpasteurised milk and ripened up to three months, it is known for its thick grey-brown rind, soft beige interior, and scent …

Milk Type: Cow's milk
Texture: Slightly firm to flexible
Flavor: Not Specified

Ackawi

Akkawi is a white brine cheese from the Levant, named after the port city of Acre. It is usually made from pasteurized cow's milk, cured two days in salted whey brine, and eaten with soft flatbread or on its own …

Country: Cyprus, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Middle East and Syria
Milk Type: Cow's, goat's or sheep's milk
Texture: Soft, brined
Flavor: Mild, milky, salty

Abondance

Abondance is a semi-hard raw cow's milk cheese from the Haute-Savoie department of France, named after the commune where it is made. A wheel weighs about 10 kg (22 lb), and the cheese has held AOC status since 1990.

Country: France
Milk Type: Cow's milk
Texture: Semi-Hard
Flavor: Savory, yet fruity with an intense "umami" taste

Ossau-Iraty

Ossau-Iraty is a sheep's milk cheese from the Northern Basque Country and Béarn in south-western France. Uncooked and pressed, it is smooth, creamy and firm, and has held appellation d'origine contrôlée status since 1980.

Country: France
Milk Type: Sheep's milk
Texture: Homogeneous, uncooked, pressed
Flavor: Fruity, herbaceous, nutty

Queso Garrotxa

Garrotxa is a pasteurized goat cheese from Catalonia, Spain, made from Murciana goat milk and aged in caves. It is known for its powdery gray-blue rind, firm semi-soft body, ivory interior, and mildly acidic, earthy flavor.

Country: Spain
Milk Type: Goat
Texture: Firm, smooth
Flavor: Mild lactic notes

Grevé

Grevé is a Swedish cow's milk cheese built along the lines of Emmental, first produced in 1964 at Örnsköldsvik. It is semi-hard, tastes nut-like and slightly sweet, and carries a fat content of 30 to 45 percent.

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

Monterey Jack

Monterey Jack is a white, semi-hard cow's milk cheese from Monterey, California, with a mild and slightly sweet flavor. It melts cleanly, which is why it shows up in quesadillas, burritos, grilled cheese, and cheeseburgers.

Country: United States
Milk Type: Cow's milk
Texture: Mild to firm
Flavor: Mild to full-flavored

Bleu du Vercors-Sassenage

Bleu du Vercors-Sassenage is a mild blue cheese from the Vercors Massif in the Rhône-Alpes region of France, made from pasteurized cow's milk. Monks made it in the 14th century, and it has carried Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée protection since 1998.

Country: France
Milk Type: Cow (Montbeliarde, Abondance, and Villard breeds)
Texture: Creamy with blue veins
Flavor: Taste of hazelnut, undergrowth, and mushroom

Gailtaler Almkäse

Gailtaler Almkäse is a hard cheese made on mountain pastures in Austria's Gailtal, where 14 alpine dairies produce about 40 tonnes a year. Wheels range from 0.5 to 35 kilograms and carry a protected designation of origin.

Milk Type: Raw cow's milk, raw goat's milk (up to 10%)
Texture: Smooth consistency with occasional round and uniform eyes
Flavor: Distinctive taste of pure Alpine milk

Mimolette

Mimolette is a hard, bright orange cow's milk cheese made around Lille in northern France. It is sold at several ages, from young wheels that taste like Parmesan to extra-old ones with a hazelnut flavor and a grey, mite-worked rind.

Country: France
Milk Type: Cow's milk
Texture: Smooth, creamy body
Flavor: Sweet, less acidic, fruity, nutty, caramel

Pepper Jack

Pepper Jack is a version of Monterey Jack, the white cow's milk cheese from Monterey, California, flavored with spicy chili peppers, bell peppers, and herbs. It melts cleanly, so it shows up in quesadillas, burritos, cheeseburgers, and grilled cheese.

Country: United States
Milk Type: Cow's milk
Texture: Semi-soft
Flavor: Spicy, from chili peppers and herbs

Toma Piemontese

Toma Piemontese is the Piedmont version of Toma, a cow's milk cheese that runs from soft to semi-hard and melts well. It is the variety that carries protected designation of origin status under EU legislation.

Country: Italy
Milk Type: Cow's milk
Texture: Elastic / Consistent
Flavor: Mild, sweet / Savory, salty

Robiola

Robiola is an Italian soft-ripened cheese from the Langhe, made with varying proportions of cow's, goat's and sheep's milk. Its taste and look shift by producer, from the rindless Robiola di Roccaverano to the bloomy-rinded Robiola Lombardia.

Country: Italy
Milk Type: Cow, goat, sheep
Texture: Soft-ripened, creamy
Flavor: Tangy, mildly sour

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

Dorset Blue Vinny

Dorset Blue Vinny is a hard, crumbly blue cheese made from cows' milk near Sturminster Newton in Dorset, England. It has a strong taste and smell, and the name is protected, so only cheese made in Dorset can use it.

Country: Great Britain
Milk Type: Cow's milk
Texture: Hard, artisan, blue-veined
Flavor: Creamy

Laguiole

Laguiole is a pressed, uncooked cheese from the Aubrac plateau in southern France, made only from raw Simmental or Aubrac cow's milk. Protected by AOC since 1961, it is the main cheese in aligot, the regional dish of mashed potatoes …

Country: France
Milk Type: Cow's milk
Texture: Firm and supple
Flavor: Medium to intense

Menonita

Menonita, also known as Queso Chihuahua or Chihuahua cheese, is a semi-soft cheese from Mexico. Made from cow's milk, it can be crafted using either pasteurized or unpasteurized milk. The cheese has a pale yellow color and a natural rind. …

Country: Mexico
Milk Type: Cow's milk
Texture: Semi-soft
Flavor: Buttery, mild

Yorkshire Wensleydale

Yorkshire Wensleydale is a cow's milk cheese made in Wensleydale, North Yorkshire, and only cheese made there may use the name. It is known for a supple, crumbly body, a faint honey aroma, and its fame as Wallace's favourite cheese.

Milk Type: Cow
Texture: Firm, Crumbly
Flavor: Slightly acidic, mellow, and honeyed; stronger and more complex when aged

Livarot

Livarot is a soft, pungent washed-rind cheese from Normandy, made with Normande cow's milk and protected by an AOC since 1975. Rings of dried reedmace circle its orange rind, which is why it also goes by the name colonel.

Country: France
Milk Type: Cow's milk
Texture: Chewy, Melts in the mouth
Flavor: Pungent

Colonial

Colonial cheese is a traditional Brazilian cheese known for its semi-hard texture and mild flavor. It is often compared to European cheeses like Gouda or Edam due to its smooth, creamy consistency. The cheese has a pale yellow color and …

Country: Brazil

Anejo Enchilado

Añejo enchilado is an aged Mexican cheese from Zacatecas, made from skimmed goat's or cow's milk and rolled in paprika. It tastes salty and sharp, close to Parmesan, and gets grated over enchiladas, tacos, and tostadas.

Country: Mexico
Milk Type: Cow's or goat's milk
Texture: Semi-hard
Flavor: Salty, sharp, spicy, strong

Krk

Krk cheese is made on the Croatian island of Krk, predominantly from sheep's milk, though sometimes mixed with cow's or goat's milk. It has a hard texture and a strong, sharp flavor that is somewhat salty. This cheese is traditionally …

Country: Croatia
Milk Type: Sheep’s milk
Flavor: Delicate, full, strong

Vorarlberger Alpkäse

Vorarlberger Alpkäse is an Austrian hard cheese made from raw milk on the alps and Vorsäße of Vorarlberg. It holds a protected designation of origin, weighs up to 40 kilograms, and tastes mild young and piquant with age.

Milk Type: Cow's milk
Texture: Firm to smooth
Flavor: Mild, becomes sharp with increasing age