Cheese by Country: Famous Cheeses and Why They Differ

Change any one and you get a different cheese, which is why Roquefort, feta and Colby have so little in common.

The cards above open 17 country pages. This page explains what separates one country's cheeses from another's, which countries protect the most names, and why American Parmesan follows a different rulebook from the Italian one.

Cheese by country at a glance

Here is cheese by country at a glance: each major cheese country's best-known cheeses, its usual milk and how many protected cheese names the EU register holds for it.

Counts are registered PDO and PGI cheese names in the EU's eAmbrosia register as of October 4, 2026; the United Kingdom's 17 are listed as non-EU entries.

Why cheese differs by country

Cheese differs by country because the milk, the land and the method differ, and the first two are set before a cheesemaker starts.

The milk animal

The milk animal sets how rich a cheese can be before anyone touches the curd. Per 100 grams, USDA lists whole cow's milk at 3.25 grams of fat and 3.15 of protein, goat's milk at 4.14 and 3.56, buffalo's milk at 6.89 and 3.75, and sheep's milk at 7.0 and 5.98. That is the head start behind sheep's-milk Roquefort and Manchego and buffalo-milk mozzarella di bufala; the goat, sheep and cow's-milk comparison goes deeper.

Climate and pasture

Climate and pasture decide what the animals eat and where a cheese can ripen. Le Gruyère AOP must come from raw milk of cows fed grass in summer and hay in winter, with no additives or silage. Roquefort leans on geology: the sheep's milk is made into fresh cheese, then ripens in natural cellars beneath the Combalou at Roquefort-sur-Soulzon, where natural air tunnels called fleurines bring in cool, humid air.

Method and tradition

Method and tradition are the third lever, and protected recipes show how exact they get. Le Gruyère AOP can only be made in a copper vat. Parmigiano Reggiano is milk, salt and rennet only, with no additives. Each of Roquefort's seven manufacturers ripens its cheese with its own exclusive strain of Penicillium roqueforti.

Protected cheese names by country

Protected cheese names by country are the EU's way of turning origin into law, in two main grades. A protected designation of origin (PDO) has the strongest tie to its place: every part of production, processing and preparation must happen in the named region. A protected geographical indication (PGI) asks for less: for most products, at least one stage of production, processing or preparation has to happen there. Roquefort, Parmigiano Reggiano, Manchego and Feta are PDOs; Gouda Holland, Edam Holland, Yorkshire Wensleydale and Havarti are PGIs.

The same labels travel under other acronyms, and the rind can show them. Parmigiano Reggiano is stenciled in pin dots with DOP, which the consortium calls Italian for PDO, and Le Gruyère is embossed with AOP.

Which countries protect the most cheeses

The countries that protect the most cheeses are France, with 58 registered names, and Italy, with 56, which together hold 114 of the register's 272 cheese names (207 PDOs and 65 PGIs overall). Italy's list is almost all PDOs (53 of 56) and includes nine pecorinos, while 11 of France's 58 are PGIs. Switzerland, Norway, Mexico, India and the US have none in this list, which says little about quality: it only counts the names a country has registered.

Famous cheeses by country

Famous cheeses by country look different once you see which ones carry a protected name, so each entry below says which.

• **France:** Roquefort, Brie de Meaux, Camembert de Normandie and Comté are PDOs, as are blues such as Bleu d'Auvergne.
• **Italy:** Parmigiano Reggiano, Grana Padano, Gorgonzola, Mozzarella di Bufala Campana and Pecorino Romano are PDOs.
• **Switzerland:** Le Gruyère has been an AOP since 2001; the directory adds Emmentaler, Appenzeller, Raclette, Sbrinz and Tête de Moine.
• Netherlands: Gouda Holland and Edam Holland are PGIs; Noord-Hollandse Gouda is a PDO.
• Spain and Portugal: Manchego, Idiazábal, Cabrales, Mahón-Menorca and Tetilla are Spanish PDOs, and Portugal protects Serra da Estrela and São Jorge.
• United Kingdom and Ireland: Stilton and West Country farmhouse Cheddar are PDOs, Yorkshire Wensleydale is a PGI, and Ireland's one name is Imokilly Regato.
• Greece and Cyprus: Feta has been a PDO since 2002, and Cyprus's halloumi, also called hellim, since 2021.
• **United States:** Colby, Monterey Jack, brick and cream cheese each have a federal recipe standard, not a protected place.
• Elsewhere: Germany's Allgäuer Bergkäse, Belgium's Herve and Denmark's Danablu and Havarti are protected; Norway's Jarlsberg, Mexico's Oaxaca and India's paneer have no entry in the register.

How to use the country pages

Use the country pages as a shortcut from a cheese you know to its neighbors. Each card above opens one country's cheeses, how its protected names work and how to find them in the US. Start with the country behind your favorite cheese, then follow the ones that share its milk or style, or filter the cheese directory to compare across borders.

What most cheese by country lists get wrong

Most cheese by country lists get one thing wrong: they treat a cheese's name as proof of where it is made. In the US, a standardized name is a recipe. 21 CFR Part 133 defines more than 70 cheeses and cheese products, mostly by milk, moisture, fat and curing time, and none requires a cheese to come from a particular place. The US Parmesan standard asks for cow's-milk cheese cured at least 10 months, while Parmigiano Reggiano is a PDO made only in a defined area of northern Italy and aged at least 12 months. The consortium adds that a 2008 EU court ruling reserves the word Parmesan inside the EU for the real thing.

Cheddar runs the other way: the EU register protects two cheddar names, West Country farmhouse Cheddar (PDO) and Orkney Scottish Island Cheddar (PGI), but not the plain word. And one name can have two homes: Le Gruyère has been a Swiss AOP since 2001, yet the register also lists a PGI called Gruyère under France.

Questions about cheese by country

These are the most common questions about cheese by country.

Which country is most famous for cheese?

France and Italy are the countries most famous for cheese, with 58 and 56 protected cheese names in the EU register, far ahead of Spain at 32. Switzerland, the Netherlands and Greece follow, for Gruyère, Gouda and feta.

Which country invented cheese?

No one knows which country invented cheese, because it began thousands of years before modern countries. A 2013 Nature study reports the earliest evidence of cheese-making: milk fat on pierced pottery strainers from northern Europe in the sixth millennium BC. The oldest cheeses guide covers the history.

What do PDO and PGI mean on cheese?

PDO and PGI are EU labels that tie a cheese's name to a place: a PDO means every stage of production, processing and preparation happens in the named region, and a PGI means at least one stage does. The PDO and PGI guide covers what each label does and does not promise.

Is US Parmesan the same as Parmigiano Reggiano?

US Parmesan is not the same as Parmigiano Reggiano: the federal standard needs cow's milk and 10 months of curing but no particular place, while the Italian PDO needs a defined area and at least 12 months. Look for the pin-dot stencil and DOP on the rind.

Why does cheese taste different in every country?

Cheese tastes different in every country because the milk, the grass and the method differ. Sheep's milk carries about twice the fat of cow's milk, Gruyère cows eat grass and hay, never silage, and Roquefort ripens in natural cellars.

Where to start with cheese by country

Start with three wedges from three countries and taste them side by side: Gruyère from Switzerland, Manchego from Spain and Parmigiano Reggiano from Italy. Read each label for PDO, AOP or DOP, then open the matching country page above to find the next cheese in the same style.