The AnyCheese Holiday Gift Guide

Cow Milk Cheeses

Showing cheeses made from cow milk, used in a variety of styles and traditions.

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Mozzarella

Mozzarella is a semi-soft, non-aged cheese from southern Italy, made by stretching and kneading the curd. Cow's milk versions are called fior di latte, buffalo milk versions mozzarella di bufala, and it tops most pizza.

Country: Italy
Milk Type: Cow's, goat's, sheep's or water buffalo's milk
Texture: Soft, creamy
Flavor: Mild, milky

Brie

Brie is a soft cow's milk cheese named after the French region it comes from, pale under a white mould rind. It runs 60 to 75 percent butterfat and tastes creamy, nutty and mushroom-like, with a faint acidity. The rind …

Country: France
Milk Type: Cow's milk
Texture: Buttery , Creamy , Smooth , Soft
Flavor: Nutty, Mushroom

Quark

Quark is a fresh acid-set cheese made by souring milk with lactic acid bacteria and straining the curd. Soft, white, unaged and usually unsalted, it anchors German, Austrian and Slavic cooking, where the drier version goes by tvorog.

Milk Type: Cow's milk
Texture: Soft, nonaged, unsalted
Flavor: Mild, slightly milky

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

Camembert

Camembert is a moist, soft, surface-ripened cow's milk cheese from Normandy, first made in the late 18th century. Penicillium camemberti gives it a white bloomy rind and a creamy interior, with a taste stronger and slightly more sour than brie.

Country: France
Milk Type: Cow's milk
Texture: Soft
Flavor: Slightly sour, stronger than brie

Taleggio

Taleggio is a semisoft Italian cheese with a washed, smear-ripened rind and a strong smell. The taste is milder than the aroma suggests, creamy and pale yellow inside, with an unusual fruity tang.

Country: Italy
Milk Type: Cow's milk
Texture: Soft
Flavor: Sweet, delicate, slightly sour

Jarlsberg

Jarlsberg is a mild Swiss-type cheese from Norway, made from cow's milk and named after Jarlsberg Manor. It is known for its buttery, slightly sweet and nutty flavor and its medium to large holes.

Country: Norway
Milk Type: Cow's milk
Texture: Semihard
Flavor: Mild, sweet, nutty

Provolone

Provolone is an Italian semi-hard cheese made from cow's milk with a stretched curd. It runs from the very sharp piccante, aged at least four months, to the mild dolce.

Country: Italy
Milk Type: Cow's milk
Texture: Semi-Hard
Flavor: Tangy

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

Maasdam

Maasdam is a Dutch cheese made in the style of Swiss Emmental, aged at least four weeks and marked by holes that form as it ripens. It tastes nutty and sweet, and it is softer than Emmental because it holds …

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

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

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

Ezine Peyniri

Ezine peyniri is a matured full-fat white cheese from Çanakkale Province in Türkiye, made from a mix of goat, sheep and cow milk. It is one of the most popular white cheeses in the country and the first Turkish cheese …

Milk Type: Sheep, goat, and cow
Texture: Semi-hard to firm
Flavor: Mild-sweet, salty, and sour

Kashkaval

Kashkaval is a yellow cheese from the Balkans made with cow, sheep or goat milk, or a mixture of them. It melts and fries well, so it shows up on pizza, inside breakfast pastries and as a filling in Levantine …

Country: Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia and Turkey
Milk Type: Cow's or sheep's milk
Texture: Medium-hard to hard, elastic
Flavor: Piquant

Gouda

Gouda is a yellow cow's milk cheese from the Netherlands, named after the city of Gouda in South Holland. It runs from young and elastic to old and hard, picking up a caramel sweetness and small crunchy crystals with age.

Country: Netherlands
Milk Type: Cow's milk
Texture: Semi-Hard
Flavor: Sweet to nutty

Halloumi

Halloumi is a brined cheese from Cyprus, traditionally made from goat and sheep milk, though most modern halloumi also contains cow's milk. It has a high melting point, so it browns on the grill or in a pan without melting, …

Country: Cyprus
Milk Type: Cow's, goat's and sheep's milk
Texture: Semihard
Flavor: Mild, salty

Havarti

Havarti is a semisoft Danish cow's milk cheese, mild and buttery with very small irregular eyes running through a rindless, cream to yellow paste. It slices, grills, and melts, and the EU reserved the name for Denmark in 2019.

Country: Denmark
Milk Type: Cow's milk
Texture: Semi-Soft
Flavor: Mild, buttery

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

Domiati

Domiati is the most common cheese in Egypt, a soft white salty cheese usually made from buffalo or cow milk. Salt goes into the milk before the rennet, which sets it apart from feta and gives the cheese its sharp, …

Country: Egypt
Milk Type: Primarily buffalo, but also cow's, goat's, etc.
Texture: Soft
Flavor: Salty

Scamorza

Scamorza is a southern Italian pasta filata cheese, usually made from cow's milk. It is tied with string and hung to dry into a pear-like shape, sold unsmoked or smoked, and works as a substitute for mozzarella in most dishes.

Country: Italy
Milk Type: Cow's milk
Texture: Semi-soft

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