Cheese Families
Cheese families sort cheeses by how they are made and aged, and the family tells you most of what to expect: texture, melt, strength and how long it keeps.
Fresh cheeses
Fresh cheeses are unaged and moist: ricotta, mozzarella, chèvre, queso fresco, paneer.
- Brunost Norway
- Burrata Italy
- Chèvre (Fresh Goat) France
- Cream Cheese United States
- Feta Greece
- Fresh Mozzarella Italy
- Manouri Greece
- Mascarpone Italy
- Paneer India
- Queso Fresco Mexico
- Ricotta Italy
- Stracchino Italy
Soft cheeses
Soft cheeses ripen from a bloomy or washed rind into a creamy paste: Brie, Camembert, Brillat-Savarin.
- Brie France
- Brillat-Savarin France
- Camembert France
- Crottin de Chavignol France
- Humboldt Fog United States
- Robiola Italy
- Serra da Estrela Portugal
- Vacherin Mont d'Or Switzerland
- Valençay France
Semi-soft cheeses
Semi-soft cheeses are smooth, sliceable and usually mild: Havarti, Monterey Jack, Fontina, young Gouda.
Semi-hard cheeses
Semi-hard cheeses are firm but supple, with more flavor from longer aging: cheddar, Edam, Manchego.
- Asiago Italy
- Caciocavallo Italy
- Cantal France
- Cheshire England
- Colby United States
- Coolea Ireland
- Edam Netherlands
- Emmental Switzerland
- Halloumi Cyprus
- Jarlsberg Norway
- Kasseri Greece
- Lancashire England
- Maasdam Netherlands
- Mahón Spain
- Monterey Jack United States
- Pepper Jack United States
- Provolone Italy
- Tomme de Savoie France
- Tête de Moine Switzerland
- Wensleydale England
Hard cheeses
Hard cheeses are aged long enough to grate and crystallize: Parmigiano-Reggiano, Comté, Gruyère.
- Allgäuer Bergkäse Germany
- Appenzeller Switzerland
- Cheddar England
- Comté France
- Cotija Mexico
- Double Gloucester England
- Dubliner Ireland
- Grana Padano Italy
- Graviera Greece
- Gruyère Switzerland
- Idiazábal Spain
- Kefalotyri Greece
- Manchego Spain
- Mimolette France
- Parmigiano-Reggiano Italy
- Pecorino Romano Italy
- Pecorino Sardo Italy
- Red Leicester England
- Sbrinz Switzerland
- São Jorge Portugal
Blue cheeses
Blue cheeses carry veins of Penicillium roqueforti mold: Roquefort, Gorgonzola, Stilton.
- Cabrales Spain
- Cambozola Germany
- Cashel Blue Ireland
- Danish Blue Denmark
- Gorgonzola Italy
- Roquefort France
- Stilton England
Washed-rind cheeses
Washed-rind cheeses are rubbed with brine, beer or spirits, which grows the orange, pungent rind: Époisses, Taleggio, Munster.
Goat cheeses
Goat cheeses run from fresh and tangy to aged and nutty: chèvre, Crottin de Chavignol, Valençay.
- Brunost Norway
- Chèvre (Fresh Goat) France
- Crottin de Chavignol France
- Humboldt Fog United States
- Valençay France