Cheese Directory
The cheese directory lists 89 cheeses from 17 countries; filter by milk, family, country or strength, then open any cheese for its full page.
Allgäuer Bergkäse
An Alpine mountain cheese from the Allgäu, firm and nutty with sweet, brothy depth from grass-fed milk.
Appenzeller
A boldly aromatic Swiss mountain cheese washed in a secret herb-and-wine brine, giving it a spicy, savory punch.
Asiago
A versatile Alpine Italian cheese, mild and supple when young (pressato), sharp and grainy when aged (d'allevo).
Bel Paese
A mild, buttery Italian table cheese that melts beautifully and offers an easygoing, crowd-pleasing flavor.
Brick
A Wisconsin original that starts mild and sweet but turns pungent and meaty as its washed rind matures.
Brie
The "Queen of Cheeses", a soft, buttery wheel with a velvety bloomy rind that melts toward the center as it ripens.
Brillat-Savarin
A decadent triple-cream French cheese so rich and buttery it eats more like dessert than a cheese course.
Brunost
Norway's sweet caramelized brown whey cheese, dense and fudgy, tasting of caramel and dulce de leche.
Burrata
Mozzarella's decadent cousin, a soft pouch that bursts to reveal a molten center of cream and curd (stracciatella).
Butterkäse
A mild German semi-soft cheese named for its rich, buttery texture and gentle, milky flavor.
Cabrales
Spain's ferocious cave-aged blue, intensely pungent and spicy, made from a blend of cow, goat, and sheep's milk.
Caciocavallo
A teardrop-shaped southern Italian stretched-curd cheese, traditionally tied in pairs and hung to age over a beam.
Cambozola
A Bavarian blue-brie hybrid that marries the bloomy creaminess of Camembert with the gentle tang of Gorgonzola.
Camembert
Normandy's earthy bloomy-rind classic, deeper and more rustic than Brie, with mushroom and barnyard notes.
Cantal
One of France's oldest cheeses, a firm, tangy, Cheddar-like wheel from the volcanic Auvergne.
Cashel Blue
Ireland's first farmhouse blue, a soft and buttery Tipperary cheese with a gentle, rounded blue tang.
Cheddar
The world's most popular cheese, versatile, dependable, and ranging from mellow to mouth-puckeringly sharp as it ages.
Cheshire
One of Britain's oldest named cheeses, crumbly, moist, and gently salty thanks to ancient salt-rich pastures.
Chimay
A Belgian Trappist cheese from the Chimay monastery, supple and savory, with some versions washed in the abbey's own beer.
Chèvre (Fresh Goat)
Bright, tangy fresh goat cheese, light and spreadable, with a clean lactic zing that pairs with almost anything.
Colby
A mild, moist American cheese, like a softer, milder Cheddar, and the orange half of marbled Colby-Jack.
Comté
France's most-produced AOP cheese, an Alpine wheel of astonishing range, from hazelnut sweetness to roasted, savory depth.
Coolea
An Irish Gouda-style farmhouse cheese from West Cork, sweet and caramelly with butterscotch depth as it ages.
Cotija
A dry, salty aged Mexican cheese often called the Parmesan of Mexico, crumbled or grated as a punchy finishing touch.
Cream Cheese
A soft, mild, tangy fresh cheese that spreads like a dream and anchors everything from bagels to cheesecake.
Crottin de Chavignol
A small drum of Loire Valley goat cheese that grows from soft and tangy to hard and intensely nutty as it ages.
Danish Blue
A modern, sharp, salty cow's-milk blue (Danablu), boldly veined and creamy, created as an affordable Roquefort alternative.
Double Gloucester
A smooth, mellow orange English cheese, buttery and nutty, and the star of Gloucestershire's cheese-rolling races.
Dubliner
An Irish hard cheese blending cheddar sharpness with the nutty sweetness and crunch of an aged Alpine wheel.
Edam
The classic red-waxed Dutch ball, mild, springy, and lower in fat than Gouda, with a clean nutty finish.
Emmental
The original "Swiss cheese" with the famous holes, mild, springy, and gently nutty.
Feta
Greece's brined sheep's-milk cheese, bright, salty, and tangy, with a crumbly bite that softens to creamy.
Fontina
An Alpine Italian melter with a nutty, earthy character, the heart of Piedmont's fonduta.
Fresh Mozzarella
A soft, stretched-curd fresh cheese prized for its milky sweetness and delicate, springy bite. Best the day it's made.
Gorgonzola
Italy's great blue, comes sweet and spoonably soft (dolce) or aged, firm, and spicy (piccante).
Gouda
A Dutch classic that transforms with age, from mild and elastic to deeply caramel, butterscotch-sweet, and crunchy.
Grana Padano
Parmigiano's gentler, more affordable cousin, a hard grana with a savory, nutty bite, made across a wider area.
Graviera
Greece's answer to Gruyère, a firm, sweet-nutty sheep's-milk cheese, one of the country's most popular table cheeses.
Gruyère
The definitive melting cheese, nutty, complex, and faintly sweet, with a savory depth that makes it the soul of fondue.
Halloumi
Cyprus's famous grilling cheese, firm and salty with a high melting point, so it chars without melting.
Havarti
A buttery Danish table cheese, smooth, mild, and endlessly snackable, often flavored with dill or caraway.
Herve
Belgium's pungent Protected Designation washed-rind cheese, fiercely aromatic outside, soft and spicy-savory within.
Humboldt Fog
An iconic American goat cheese, a bloomy-rind beauty with a ribbon of vegetable ash through its center.
Idiazábal
A firm Basque sheep's-milk cheese, frequently smoked over beech or hawthorn for a deep, nutty, woodsy flavor.
Jarlsberg
Norway's famous Swiss-style cheese, mild and buttery with sweet nuttiness and large round holes.
Kasseri
A Greek pasta-filata sheep's-milk cheese, firm and supple with a salty, tangy, melt-friendly character.
Kefalotyri
A hard, salty Greek sheep's-milk (or sheep-and-goat) cheese, sharp and tangy, and the classic choice for flaming saganaki.
Lancashire
A buttery, fluffy English cheese in three styles, from young "Creamy" to tangy aged "Tasty", famous for melting on toast.
Limburger
A famously pungent washed-rind cheese whose aroma belies a surprisingly mild, savory, meaty interior.
Livarot
A pungent washed-rind Norman cheese wrapped in reed bands, with a powerful aroma and a surprisingly mellow, savory paste.
Maasdam
A Dutch cheese with big Swiss-style holes and a sweet, nutty flavor, Holland's answer to Emmental.
Mahón
A distinctive orange-rinded cow's-milk cheese from Menorca, rubbed with paprika and butter, ranging from buttery to sharp.
Manchego
Spain's iconic sheep's-milk cheese, firm, nutty, and tangy, with a grassy lanolin character unique to La Mancha.
Manouri
A fresh Greek whey cheese, semisoft and creamy with a mild, milky-sweet tang and silky texture.
Mascarpone
An ultra-rich Italian cream cheese with a silky, spoonable texture that forms the luscious base of tiramisu.
Mimolette
A striking bright-orange French sphere with a pockmarked rind and a nutty, caramel sweetness when aged.
Monterey Jack
A mild, buttery American melter born in California, the base for Pepper Jack and a Tex-Mex staple.
Morbier
An Alpine French cheese instantly recognizable by the dark line of ash running through its middle.
Munster
A pungent Alsatian washed-rind cheese with a powerful aroma and a smooth, savory, surprisingly gentle interior.
Oaxaca
A mild Mexican stretched-curd cheese wound into a ball that pulls into soft strings and melts magnificently.
Paneer
A firm, mild fresh Indian cheese that holds its shape when cooked, soaking up the flavors of curries and grills.
Parmigiano-Reggiano
The "King of Cheeses", a hard, savory grana bursting with crunchy crystals and deep umami. Strictly protected by DOP rules.
Pecorino Romano
Italy's sharp, salty sheep's-milk grating cheese, the soul of Roman pasta dishes like cacio e pepe.
Pecorino Sardo
A Sardinian sheep's milk cheese that ranges from sweet and supple when young to firm, sharp, and grateable with age.
Pepper Jack
Monterey Jack spiked with chilies and peppers, mild, buttery, and meltable with a warm kick.
Pont-l'Évêque
A square Normandy washed-rind cheese, aromatic on the nose but mellow, creamy, and savory within.
Provolone
A stretched-curd Italian cheese ranging from mild (dolce) to sharp and piquant (piccante).
Queso Fresco
A fresh, crumbly Mexican cheese with a mild milky tang that softens but does not melt when sprinkled over hot dishes.
Raclette
The ultimate melting cheese, a washed-rind Alpine round made to be scraped, molten, over potatoes.
Reblochon
A nutty, creamy Alpine cheese from Savoie, the melting heart of the French winter dish tartiflette.
Red Leicester
A vivid russet-orange English cheese, milder and moister than Cheddar with a gentle nutty sweetness.
Ricotta
A light, fluffy fresh "cheese" made from whey, mildly sweet and endlessly useful in both savory and sweet cooking.
Robiola
A soft Piedmontese cheese often made from a blend of cow, goat, and sheep milk, creamy with a delicate lactic tang.
Roquefort
The "King of Blues", a powerful, salty, sheep's-milk blue ripened in the limestone caves of Roquefort-sur-Soulzon.
Saint-Nectaire
A semi-soft Auvergne cheese with an earthy, mushroomy depth and a distinctive mottled gray rind.
Sbrinz
An ancient extra-hard Swiss cheese aged for years until it is dense, granular, and intensely savory enough to grate or shave.
Scamorza
A pear-shaped stretched-curd cousin of mozzarella, drier and firmer, and wonderful smoked (affumicata).
Serra da Estrela
Portugal's most prized cheese, a thistle-set sheep's-milk wheel that turns gooey and spoonable at its peak.
Stilton
England's "King of Cheeses", a PDO-protected blue with a mellow, complex tang and a crumbly-creamy body.
Stracchino
A soft, spreadable fresh Lombard cheese with a milky sweetness and gentle lactic tang.
São Jorge
A robust cow's-milk cheese from the volcanic Azorean island of São Jorge, firm, tangy, and lightly piquant.
Taleggio
A washed-rind Italian charmer, pungent on the nose but gentle, fruity, and meaty on the palate.
Tetilla
A creamy Galician cow's-milk cheese shaped like a teardrop, mild and buttery with a faint salty tang.
Tomme de Savoie
A rustic low-fat mountain cheese from the French Alps with a thick gray rind and a mellow, earthy, milky paste.
Tête de Moine
A Swiss monastery cheese traditionally shaved into delicate frilly rosettes with a tool called a girolle.
Vacherin Mont d'Or
A decadent seasonal winter cheese, banded in spruce bark and so soft it's eaten with a spoon, often baked whole.
Valençay
A striking ash-dusted goat cheese shaped like a truncated pyramid, with a bright lemony tang and earthy finish.
Wensleydale
A crumbly, honeyed Yorkshire cheese, fresh and mild, famously paired with fruitcake or studded with cranberries.
Époisses
One of the world's most pungent cheeses, washed in brandy until spoonably soft, with a powerful aroma and a rich, savory taste.