The AnyCheese Holiday Gift Guide

Explore Cheeses

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

Bleu de Gex

Bleu de Gex is a creamy, semi-soft blue cheese from the Jura region of France, made with unpasteurized Montbéliard cow's milk and aged at least three weeks. It is milder and younger than most French blues, and every wheel is …

Country: France
Milk Type: Cow
Texture: Creamy
Flavor: Mild, with a hint of mushroom

Bandel

Bandel is a fresh, salted cow's milk cheese from Bandel in eastern India, introduced by the Portuguese around 500 years ago. It is sold in small circular flats, plain or smoked, and known for its dry, crumbly body and smoky …

Country: India
Milk Type: Cow's milk
Texture: Crumbly
Flavor: Mild and slightly salty

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

Maroilles

Maroilles is a cow's milk cheese from northern France, sold in rectangular blocks with a moist orange-red washed rind. It is known for its strong smell and takes its name from the village of Maroilles, where it has been made …

Country: France
Milk Type: Cow's milk
Texture: Semisoft
Flavor: Creamy taste, powerful aroma

Noord-Hollandse Edammer

Noord-Hollandse Edammer is a traditional Edam cheese made in the Province of Noord-Holland, Netherlands. It is known for its spherical shape with a flat top and bottom, weighing between

Milk Type: Cow's milk
Texture: Malleable
Flavor: Distinctive taste

Gruyere-Style

Gruyere-Style cheese is a firm, cow's milk cheese inspired by the traditional Swiss Gruyere. It has a smooth, dense texture with small holes scattered throughout. The flavor is rich and nutty, with a slight sweetness and a hint of saltiness. …

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

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

Cotija

Cotija is an aged Mexican cheese from the town of Cotija in Michoacán, made by hand from cow's milk. It is white, firm and salty, and it is used crumbled or grated over tacos, soups, salads and elote.

Country: Mexico
Milk Type: Cow's milk
Texture: Hard, artisan
Flavor: Salty, strong

Wagashi

Wagashi is a soft cow's milk cheese from northern Benin, sold in quantity in Parakou and across the West African savanna. It is mild in flavor and almost always cooked, usually in a sauce eaten with pounded yams or millet …

Milk Type: Cow’s milk
Texture: Compact
Flavor: Mild

Slovenská parenica

Slovenská parenica is a traditional cheese from Slovakia, known for its unique 'S' shape and fibrous texture. It is a steamed, lightly smoked cheese made primarily from sheep's milk, though it can also include cow's milk. The cheese is formed …

Milk Type: Sheep's milk, can include cow's milk
Texture: Elastic, fibrous structure
Flavor: Mild, pleasantly salty

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 …

Bohinjski sir

Bohinjski sir is a Slovenian hard cheese from the Bohinj area, first made in 1873 using Emmental technology. It has a dry golden rind, straw yellow paste with small round eyes, and a nutty taste that turns piquant with age.

Country: Slovenia
Milk Type: Cow's milk
Texture: Semi-hard
Flavor: Full-flavored

Salers

Salers is a semi-hard pressed cheese from the Cantal department in France's Massif Central, made only between 15 April and 15 November. Wheels weigh about 40 kg (88 lb) and age in caves for three to forty-five months. It has …

Country: France
Milk Type: Cow's milk
Texture: Firm
Flavor: Strong-tasting

Queso de La Serena

Queso de La Serena is a sheep milk cheese from the La Serena district of Extremadura, Spain, curdled with a coagulant from cardoon pistils. Young, with a creamy centre, it is called Torta de La Serena and eaten with a …

Country: Spain
Milk Type: Sheep
Texture: Soft to semi-hard
Flavor: Slightly bitter, pleasant

Dorset Blue Cheese

Dorset Blue is an English cow's milk blue cheese protected by a European designation of origin. Also sold as Dorset Blue Vinney, it is known for moderate blue veining and a piquant flavor that stops short of being strong.

Milk Type: Cow
Texture: Firm
Flavor: Piquant, peppery, mild to strong

Beacon Fell traditional Lancashire cheese

Beacon Fell Traditional Lancashire Cheese is a PDO cow's milk cheese made north of the River Ribble in Lancashire, England. It is built from two or three days' curd blended together, which gives it a loose, buttery texture and a …

Milk Type: Cow
Texture: Semi-hard, loose, and open with a buttery feel
Flavor: Clean and mellow when young, sharp and tangy when mature

Picón Bejes-Tresviso

Picón Bejes-Tresviso is a blue cheese from the Liébana valley in Cantabria, Spain, made from a mix of cow, sheep and goat milk. It has held DO protection since 1994 and finishes in natural limestone caves, which gives it teal …

Milk Type: Cow’s, sheep’s, and goat’s milk
Texture: Soft, Semi-Hard, Compact with eyes
Flavor: Slightly piquant

Queso Tetilla

Tetilla is a cow's milk cheese from Galicia, Spain, molded into a cone with a nipple-like peak that gives it its name. Soft, creamy and pale yellow, it is a staple of Galician cooking and is often eaten as dessert.

Country: Spain
Milk Type: Cow
Texture: Soft to semi-cured
Flavor: Milky, slightly sour, mildly salty

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

Traditional Ayrshire Dunlop

Traditional Ayrshire Dunlop is a hard cheese made in the parish of Dunlop, Scotland, using milk from Ayrshire cows. It has a natural pale yellow color and a smooth, close surface that feels moist when cut. The cheese develops a …

Milk Type: Cow
Texture: Hard
Flavor: Mild and nutty when young, develops creamier, stronger nutty flavors with age

Pecorino Romano

Pecorino Romano is a hard, salty Italian cheese made only from sheep milk, most often grated over pasta. It began in the countryside around Rome and is now made almost entirely in Sardinia.

Country: Italy
Milk Type: Sheep's milk
Texture: Hard
Flavor: Sharp, salty

Banon

Banon is an unpasteurized goat cheese from Provence, sold as a small 100 g disc wrapped in chestnut leaves and tied with raffia. It ages about two weeks, gets dipped in eau de vie before wrapping, and has held AOC …

Country: France
Milk Type: Goat's milk
Texture: Soft
Flavor: Mild and intense, with notes of mushrooms and forest floor

Caciocavallo-Style

Caciocavallo-Style cheese is a traditional southern Italian cheese made from cow's milk. It is typically shaped like a teardrop and is aged by hanging in pairs over a wooden beam. This cheese is known for its smooth, firm texture and …

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

Was this page helpful?