The AnyCheese Holiday Gift Guide

Explore Cheeses

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

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

Queijo de Nisa

Queijo de Nisa is a semi-hard sheep's milk cheese from Nisa, in Portugal's Alto Alentejo. It is curdled with an infusion of thistle and known for a robust flavor with a slightly acidic finish.

Milk Type: Sheep's milk
Texture: Semi-hard or hard
Flavor: Not Specified

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

Robiola di Roccaverano

Roccaverano, long called Robiola di Roccaverano, is a protected goat cheese from Piedmont, named after the village of Roccaverano in the Langa Astigiana. Since 2023 it must be made entirely from raw goat's milk, and it is eaten young or …

Country: Italy
Milk Type: Goat
Texture: Soft, rubbery, soluble; Crumbly (for affinato)
Flavor: Acidic, savory

Queso de Flor de Guía

Queso de Flor de Guía is a full-fat or half-fat cheese from Spain, specifically produced in Gáldar, Moya, and Santa María de Guía in Gran Canaria. It is made primarily from Canary Island sheep’s milk, with up to 40% Canary …

Milk Type: Sheep (Canary Island breed), with up to 40% cow and 10% goat milk
Texture: Dense, compact, pasty
Flavor: Aromatic, acidic, and bitter

Bra

Bra is an Italian cheese from the town of Bra in the province of Cuneo, Piedmont. It is made mostly from cow's milk and sold either soft or hard, depending on how long it has aged, and it carries PDO …

Country: Italy
Milk Type: Cow's milk; optionally mixed with small quantities of sheep or goat milk
Texture: Hard or semi-hard depending on aging
Flavor: Range from mild to piquant

Mascarpone

Mascarpone is a soft Italian dairy product made by coagulating cream with acid and heat, without rennet and without aging. Milky white and easy to spread, it is best known as the base of tiramisu.

Country: Italy
Milk Type: Cow's milk
Texture: Soft
Flavor: Buttery to slightly tangy

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

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

Škripavac

Škripavac is a fresh, soft cheese from Croatia, known for its squeaky texture when chewed, similar to fresh curds. It is made from cow's milk and is typically consumed young. This cheese has a mild, milky flavor, making it a …

Country: Croatia
Milk Type: Raw cow’s milk
Texture: Soft
Flavor: Mildly sweet, a little salty

Sainte-Maure de Touraine

Sainte-Maure de Touraine is an unpasteurized goat cheese from the Touraine province of France, sold as a small ash-rolled log with a straw running through its centre. The straw carries the AOC seal and a number identifying the producer.

Country: France
Milk Type: Goat’s milk
Texture: Semi-soft

Kefalograviera

Kefalograviera is a hard Greek table cheese made from sheep's milk or a mix of sheep's and goat's milk. It tastes salty, smells rich, and shows up most often fried as saganaki or grated over pasta.

Country: Greece
Milk Type: Sheep’s milk or mixtures with up to 10% goat’s milk; sometimes cow's and sheep's milk (60:40)
Texture: Firm, elastic
Flavor: Pleasant

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

Port Salut

Port Salut is a semi-soft pasteurized cow's milk cheese from Pays de la Loire, France. Trappist monks developed it in the 19th century, and it is known for its orange rind, its smooth sliceable paste and its mild flavor.

Country: France
Milk Type: Cow's milk
Texture: Semi-soft
Flavor: Acidic, mellow

Langres

Langres is a cow's milk cheese from the plateau of Langres in Champagne-Ardenne, France. It is a small cylinder with a Penicillium candidum rind tinted orange by annatto, known for the concave dent in its top called the fontaine.

Country: France
Milk Type: Cow's milk
Texture: Semisoft
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

Limburger

Limburger is a washed-rind cow's milk cheese from the Herve area of the old Duchy of Limburg, now part of Belgium. It is known for the powerful smell it develops after about three months of ripening.

Country: Belgium
Milk Type: Cow’s milk
Texture: Firm to spreadable
Flavor: Meaty, farmyard

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

Graviera Naxou

Graviera Naxou is a yellow hard cheese from the Greek island of Naxos, made with pasteurized cow's milk and up to 20 percent sheep's milk. It is known for its delicate, slightly sharp aroma and its PDO status, held since …

Country: Greece
Milk Type: Predominantly cow's milk, sheep’s or goat’s milk (up to 20%)
Texture: Elastic

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

Cabrales

Cabrales is a blue cheese made by rural dairy farmers in the Asturias mountains of Spain, from raw cow's milk alone or blended with goat and sheep milk. It is known for its strong, sometimes sharply acidic flavor and for …

Country: Spain
Milk Type: Cow's milk
Texture: Unctuous, compact, no eyes
Flavor: Intense, piquant

Kasseri

Kasseri is a pale yellow, medium-hard to hard Greek cheese made from sheep milk with at most 20% goat's milk. It belongs to the pasta filata family and is best known as the cheese in saganaki and kasseropita.

Country: Greece
Milk Type: Goat's and sheep's milk
Texture: Firm to hard
Flavor: Rich

Piave

Piave is a hard, cooked curd cow's milk cheese from the province of Belluno in the far north of Veneto, named after the Piave river. It carries DOP protection and comes at five ages, from a 20 day Fresco to …

Country: Italy
Milk Type: Cow's milk
Texture: Dense and crystalline
Flavor: Nutty, sweet

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)

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

Was this page helpful?