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Explore Cheeses

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

Bitto

Bitto is a raw-milk PDO cheese from the alpine pastures of Sondrio in Lombardy, made only between 1 June and 30 September from cow's milk, sometimes with up to 10 percent goat's milk. Young wheels taste mild and sweet, and …

Country: Italy
Milk Type: Cow's milk primarily, with non-mandatory addition of raw goat’s milk up to 10%
Texture: Fine-grained, sometimes with very few small holes; hard cheese from one year
Flavor: Mild and sweet when young, stronger and spicier with age

Queso Majorero

Majorero is a Canary Island cheese from Fuerteventura, made from pasteurized Majorera goat's milk and protected by the designation Queso Majorero. It is sold fresh or aged and tastes slightly tart and mildly piquant, with a rind marked by the …

Country: Spain
Milk Type: Goat's milk
Texture: Semi-hard
Flavor: Acidic

Provola dei Nebrodi

Provola dei Nebrodi is a DOP stretched-curd cheese from the Nebrodi mountains of Sicily, made with raw cow's milk and lamb or kid rennet. It is the only Sicilian provola that is aged, and wheels reach four or five kilograms …

Country: Italy
Milk Type: Cow's whole milk, sometimes with sheep's and/or goat's milk
Texture: Soft and compact
Flavor: Sweet and slightly sour when fresh, savory and strong when aged

Oka

Oka is a semi-soft washed rind cow's milk cheese from Oka, Quebec, made by Trappist monks starting in 1893 and now by Agropur. It is known for its copper-orange rind, pungent smell, and soft creamy taste with nutty, fruity notes.

Country: Canada
Milk Type: Cow
Texture: Semi-Soft
Flavor: Soft and creamy, nutty and fruity

Crumbly Lancashire

Crumbly Lancashire is an English cow's milk cheese and the newest of the three Lancashire varieties. Made from a single day's milk and matured for 6 to 8 weeks, it is known for a crumbly body and a fresh, high-acid …

Country: England
Milk Type: Cow's milk
Texture: Hard
Flavor: Acidic

Pérail de Brebis

Pérail de Brebis is a traditional French cheese made from unpasteurized sheep's milk. It has a soft and creamy texture, making it an artisan favorite. The cheese offers a full-flavored and strong taste, characteristic of sheep's milk cheeses. Its aroma …

Country: France
Milk Type: Sheep's milk
Texture: Soft, artisan
Flavor: Full-flavored, strong

Queso Los Beyos

Queso de Los Beyos is a protected geographical indication cheese from the Los Beyos gorge, shared by Ponga and Amieva in Asturias and Oseja de Sajambre in Leon, Spain. It is a small smoked cheese of cow, goat, or sheep …

Milk Type: Cow’s, sheep’s, or goat’s milk (never mixed)
Texture: Hard to semi-hard, closed, friable, crumbly, minimal elasticity
Flavor: Mild (cow’s milk), more intense (sheep’s and goat’s milk)

Cantal

Cantal is a firm, uncooked cow's milk cheese from the Auvergne region of central France and one of the oldest cheeses in the country. Its tangy, buttery flavor recalls Cheddar and sharpens with age, from the mild jeune to the …

Country: France
Milk Type: Cow's milk
Texture: Firm
Flavor: Varies

Asiago Pressato DOP

Asiago Pressato DOP is a semi-soft cheese made from pasteurized cow's milk in the Veneto region of Italy. With a fat content of 48%, it has a creamy texture and a fresh white color. The cheese offers a nutty and …

Country: Italy
Milk Type: Cow's milk
Texture: Semi-soft
Flavor: Nutty, sweet

Niolo

Niolo is a Corsican sheep's or goat's milk cheese made only in the Niolo region, the high valley of the Golo. It is a flat square tomme with a washed ivory rind and a sticky paste that runs from mild …

Country: France
Milk Type: Goat's or sheep's milk
Texture: Soft
Flavor: Mild, sharp or strong depending on aging

Doppelrahmstufe

Cream cheese is a soft, light fresh cheese with a creamy taste and moderate acidity, usually made from fresh cheese with milk and cream added. It spreads easily, which is why it most often turns up on breakfast bread.

Country: Germany
Milk Type: Cow's milk
Texture: Soft
Flavor: Buttery, creamy

Nokkelost

Nokkelost is a Norwegian cow's milk cheese flavoured with cumin and cloves. It is semi-hard and yellow, sold in wheels or blocks, and matured for three months.

Country: Norway
Milk Type: Cow's milk
Texture: Semi-hard
Flavor: Nutty, spicy, tangy

Queso Zamorano

Zamorano is a hard sheep's milk cheese from the province of Zamora, Spain, typically aged about six months in cellars. Wheels run about 11 kg (24 lb), carry a zigzag pattern on the rind, and taste creamy and nutty with …

Country: Spain
Milk Type: Sheep's milk
Texture: Firm and compact
Flavor: Intense, nutty, buttery, slightly piquant

Queijo mestiço de Tolosa

Queijo Mestiço de Tolosa is a ripened, semi-soft cheese from Portugal. It is made from a mixture of ewe's milk and goat's milk in varying proportions. The cheese has a yellowish color with a few small holes and a slightly …

Milk Type: Ewe's milk and goat's milk
Texture: Malleable to hard, consistent, not very tight, with a few small holes
Flavor: Slightly vigorous, clean, and piquant

Vastedda della Valle del Belice

Vastedda della Valle del Belice is a traditional Sicilian cheese that takes its name from vastedda, a Sicilian word also used for a Palermo bread. The Italian agriculture ministry lists it as a prodotto agroalimentare tradizionale.

Country: Italy
Milk Type: Raw whole sheep’s milk
Flavor: Lightly sourish but not spicy

Queijo Terrincho

Queijo Terrincho is a traditional cheese from Portugal, specifically from the Terra Quente region. It is made from the raw milk of Churra da Terra Quente sheep. The cheese is known for its distinct flavor and aroma, which become more …

Milk Type: Sheep's milk
Texture: Close and even, slightly buttery for Queijo Terrincho; hard, well-formed for Queijo Terrincho Velho.
Flavor: Intense smell, mild and clean for Queijo Terrincho; strong, balanced mixture of different smells for Queijo Terrincho Velho.

Graddost

Gräddost is a Swedish semi-hard cow's milk cheese whose name means cream cheese. It tastes mild, creamy and slightly sour, is usually sold at 60% fat, and melts so well that Swedish pizzerias made it a standard in the 1970s.

Country: Sweden
Milk Type: Cow's milk
Texture: Semi-hard, artisan
Flavor: Nutty, tangy

Crème Fraîche

Crème fraîche is a French soured cream made from cream and a bacterial culture, with 10 to 45% butterfat and a pH near 4.5. It is less sour than sour cream, and its fat content keeps it from curdling in …

Country: France
Texture: Thick, highly viscous
Flavor: Mildly sour

Castelmagno

Castelmagno is a semi-hard Italian cheese from the Valle Grana in Piedmont, made mainly from whole cow's milk. It holds protected designation of origin status and has been made since at least 1277.

Country: Italy
Milk Type: Cow's, goat's and sheep's milk
Texture: Hard, compact, friable
Flavor: Savory, salty

Armenian String Cheese

Chechil, also called Armenian string cheese, is a brined pasta filata cheese from Armenia, sold as bundles of thick or thin fibrous threads that are often tied into ropes, braids or balls. It is frequently smoked and tastes sharp and …

Country: Armenia
Milk Type: Cow's, goat's or sheep's milk
Texture: Semi-soft
Flavor: Mild

Babybel

Mini Babybel is a small Edam-style snack cheese from Le Groupe Bel of France, sold as individually waxed wheels in a netted bag. It is made with pasteurised milk and vegetarian rennet, and it is naturally lactose-free.

Country: France
Milk Type: Cow's milk
Texture: Semi-hard

Epoisses de Bourgogne

Époisses de Bourgogne is a soft, washed rind cow's milk cheese from the village of Époisses in Côte-d'Or, Burgundy. Its rind is washed in brine and Marc de Bourgogne, which gives the cheese an orange-red surface and a strong smell.

Country: France
Milk Type: Cow's milk
Texture: Soft, smear-ripened

Ragusano

Ragusano is a firm Italian pasta filata cheese from the provinces of Ragusa and Syracuse in Sicily. It is made with whole milk from Modicana cows fed only fresh grass or hay, and it carries Italian DOC protection from 1955 …

Country: Italy
Milk Type: Cow's milk
Texture: Compact with widely spaced holes
Flavor: From pleasant, sweet, and piquant delicate to savory and spicy with aging

Stilton

Stilton is an English cheese made in Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire, in a blue version and a white one. The blue kind gets its veins from Penicillium roqueforti. Both hold PDO status, so no cheese made elsewhere can use the …

Country: England
Milk Type: Cow's milk
Texture: Hard, blue-veined
Flavor: Spicy, strong

Quesucos de Liébana

Quesucos de Liébana are small cheeses from the Liébana valley in Cantabria, Spain, made from cow, sheep or goat milk or a mix of the three. They come smoked and unsmoked, with a firm semi-hard paste and a mild, slightly …

Milk Type: Cow’s, ewe’s, goat’s milk
Texture: Firm, compact
Flavor: Mild and milky, with a smoked variant offering a distinct smoky taste