Shopping For Cheese: A Guide To Cheeses For Every Taste

With over 2,000 types of cheese in the world, shopping for the right one can be daunting. The six most common cheese varieties are hard, soft, blue, pasta filata, soft-ripened, and processed. Each type of cheese has a distinct texture and flavour profile, and can be used in a variety of dishes. For example, hard cheeses like Parmigiano-Reggiano are ideal for grating over pasta, while soft cheeses like Brie and Camembert are perfect for spreading on crackers or pairing with fruit. Blue cheeses like Stilton and Gorgonzola have a strong flavour and are often used in salads or crumbled over potatoes. Pasta filata cheeses like mozzarella and provolone are known for their stretchiness and meltability, making them perfect for pizza and lasagna. Soft-ripened cheeses like Brie and Camembert have a creamy texture and a mild, buttery taste. Processed cheeses, such as American cheese, are made from a blend of natural cheeses and are commonly used in grilled cheese sandwiches and burgers.

Blue cheese

• Gorgonzola: A dessert cheese from the Lombardy region of Northern Italy, made from unskimmed cow's milk. It has a buttery and piquant flavour profile and a soft and delicately crumbly texture. It is often paired with grapes, honey, and pistachios on a charcuterie board, and goes well with Zinfandel or Sauternes wine.
• Roquefort: A blue cheese from Southern France, specifically Roquefort-sur-Soulzon, where it is aged in the natural Combalou caves. It is made with sheep's milk and has a robustly pungent and sweet flavour profile, with a moist, soft, crumbly, and cratered texture. It is commonly used in quiches, tarts, and pasta dishes, and is paired with nuts, fruits, and jam on a charcuterie board. It is best accompanied by sweet wines like Sauternes, Port, Sherry, or Ice Wine.
• Stilton: A blue cheese that can only be made in three specific counties of England: Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, and Derbyshire. It is made with cow's milk and has a powerful flavour profile, with earthy, robust, peppery, and grassy notes, and a hint of mushroom. The texture is creamy and flaky with a loose crumb. It is often paired with honey, pecans, and fruit, and goes well with both wine and beer—try a Porter, Stout, Sherry, or Cabernet Sauvignon.
• Danablu: A Danish blue cheese made on the island of Funen from cow's milk. It is the sharpest and most pungent of all blue cheeses, yet it is the mildest option for those new to this variety. It has a smooth and crumbly texture with a rich and consistent flavour. It is best paired with apples, pears, candied nuts, dark chocolate, and rye bread, and goes well with Cabernet or Gewurztraminer wine.

Soft cheese

Cream cheese, for example, is a soft, mild-tasting cheese with a short shelf life. It is commonly used in cheesecakes, frostings, dips, and desserts. Feta is another example of a soft cheese. It has a tangy, salty, pungent, and intense flavor. It is often used in Greek dishes such as lamb meatballs and salads with cucumbers, tomatoes, and red onions.

Other examples of soft cheeses include:

• Cottage cheese: a healthy option that is high in protein and low in calories. It is often eaten for breakfast, dressed up with berries, peaches, bananas, pineapple, or granola.
• Mozzarella: a versatile and delicious cheese with a milky flavor and gooey texture. It is commonly used on pizza and in lasagna.
• Ricotta: a thick, creamy, fluffy, and spongy cheese that can be made from cow, sheep, goat, or buffalo milk. It is commonly used as a filling for pasta, ravioli, and cannolis.
• Brie: known as the "Queen of Cheeses," it has a light, buttery, and slightly salty taste with a smooth and creamy texture. It is often served at room temperature and pairs well with green apples, pears, and honey.
• Camembert: similar to Brie but with a more rustic taste. It has an umami, earthy, and grassy flavor with a velvety, thick, and sticky texture. It pairs well with dried apricots, fresh strawberries, and chocolate.
• Humboldt Fog: a soft-ripened cheese made from goat's milk. It has a clean, creamy, and floral taste with a smooth yet slightly crumbly texture. It pairs well with Marcona almonds, apples, and honey.

Hard cheese

Parmigiano-Reggiano is among the most popular types of hard cheese. However, it is often overshadowed by its own copies, such as Parmesan cheese. While for most countries this doesn't matter much, in European law, Parmigiano-Reggiano must be made in a specific region in Italy. The taste of Parmigiano-Reggiano is also considered different by enthusiasts and experts. If you want to taste the real thing, you have to specifically ask for Parmigiano-Reggiano.

Asiago D'allevo is another popular type of hard cheese, mainly because its flavour is similar to Parmesan. Authentic asiago is only made around the Asiago Plateau in the province of Vicenza, Veneto, Italy. The true Asiago D'allevo has a DOP designation, which stands for "Denominazione di Origine Protetta" (protected origin). Just like Parmigiano-Reggiano, this type of hard cheese also has a lot of copies, which are simply called 'asiago'. It's often used for making salads and pasta, and can also be shaved over soup.

Grana Padano is a type of hard cheese that is aged between 9 to 16 months. It is said to have originated in the Po River Valley in northern Italy. This Italian cheese is similar to Parmigiano-Reggiano and Asiago D'allevo in its uses. However, it can also be used as an appetizer or a light snack, pairing well with anything sweet, including dried fruits.

Fresh cheese

• Feta: Brined to give it a salty, tangy flavor. Typically made with sheep or goat milk, but can also be made with cows' milk.
• Queso Fresco: Crumbly, dryish texture and a mild, slightly salty flavor.
• Cotija: Dry and crumbly, similar to feta but often milder.
• Mozzarella: Also known as a "pasta filata" cheese, the curds are heated and stretched. Fresh mozzarella is stored in water and has a creamy texture. A drier form is sold wrapped in plastic. Both have a mild, milky flavor.
• Oaxaca: Similar to mozzarella with a mild flavor and a slightly rubbery texture.
• Panela: Mild flavor and a texture that softens but does not melt when heated. Can be pan-fried or grilled.
• Halloumi: Mild flavor and a rubbery texture that softens but does not melt when heated. Can be pan-fried or grilled.
• Paneer: Cultured milk pressed into a sliceable cheese with a crumbly, creamy texture that does not entirely melt.
• Farmer's cheese: Cultured milk that has been drained into a dry and crumbly texture.
• Queso Blanco: Cultured milk pressed into a crumbly cheese with a mild flavor and texture that does not entirely melt.
• Crème fraîche: Milk or cream that has been cultured so that the texture thickens. Similar to sour cream.
• Fromage blanc: Milk that has been cultured, thicker than crème fraîche but not as thick as ricotta. It has a mild, tangy flavor and a smooth texture.
• Ricotta: Creamy, spreadable cheese with a slightly sweet, milky flavor. Traditionally made using the whey drained from curds.
• Mascarpone: Cream that has been thickened and drained with a slightly sweet flavor.
• Cottage cheese: Curds with milk or cream added to give them a spoonable consistency. The flavor tends to be tangy.
• Quark: A non-fat or low-fat cheese with a texture that is smoother and creamier than cottage cheese but not as smooth as sour cream.
• Pot cheese: Low-fat cottage cheese, also called dry-curd cottage cheese.
• Fresh goat cheese (chevre): Tangy flavor and a spreadable consistency.

Goat's cheese

For a charcuterie board, put goat's cheese next to strawberries, almonds, pecans, figs, and cranberries. It's the perfect cheese for a salad or sandwich, especially if the salad contains beets, arugula, and balsamic dressing. Goat's cheese pairs well with Sauvignon Blanc or a Spanish Albarino.

Some traditional goat's milk cheeses include:

• Anari
• Añejo
• Anthotyros
• Banon
• Bastardo del Grappa
• Brunost (known as Geitost when made with goat milk)
• Bucheron
• Castelo Branco
• Circassian smoked cheese
• Crottin de Chavignol
• Faisselle
• Gbejna friska
• Gbejna tal bzar
• Gbejna mghoxxa
• Majorero
• Picón Bejes-Tresviso
• Pouligny-Saint-Pierre
• Sainte-Maure de Touraine
• Selles-sur-Cher
• Ardagh Castle Cheese
• Ardsallagh Goat Farm
• Chaubier
• Cooleeney Farmhouse Cheese

Frequently asked questions