Gruyère is a hard Swiss cheese that originated in the cantons of Fribourg, Vaud, Neuchâtel, Jura, and Berne in Switzerland. It is named after the town of Gruyères in Fribourg. In 2001, Gruyère gained the appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC), which became the appellation d'origine protégée (AOP) as of 2013.
Goat cheese, or chèvre, is cheese made from goat's milk. Goats were among the first animals to be domesticated for producing food. Goat cheese is made around the world with a variety of recipes, giving many different styles of cheese, from fresh and soft to aged and hard.
Camembert is a moist, soft, creamy, surface-ripened cow's milk cheese. It was first made in the late 18th century in Camembert, Normandy, in northwest France. It is sometimes compared in look and taste to brie cheese, albeit with a slightly lower butterfat content than brie's typical 60% and 75% by weight.
Cheesemaking is the craft of making cheese. The production of cheese, like many other food preservation processes, allows the nutritional and economic value of a food material, in this case milk, to be preserved in concentrated form. Cheesemaking allows the production of the cheese with diverse flavors and consistencies.
Blue cheese is semi-soft cheese with a sharp, salty flavor. It is made with cultures of the edible mold Penicillium, giving it spots or veins throughout the cheese in shades of blue or green. It carries a distinct smell, either from the mold or from various specially cultivated bacteria such as Brevibacterium linens, which also causes foot odor and other human body odors.
Époisses, also known as Époisses de Bourgogne, is a legally demarcated cheese made in the village of Époisses and its environs, in the département of Côte-d'Or, about halfway between Dijon and Auxerre, in the former duchy of Burgundy, France, from agricultural processes and resources traditionally found in that region.
Bergkäse refers to a number of varieties of cheese produced in the Alps. This includes products of mountain farming, the cultivation of alpine pastures as well as the milk processing of local producers in dairies. The term does not say much about the type or production method of the product called mountain cheese, which is usually a hard or semi-hard cheese with no or little holes, usually with a natural rind, but there are also semi-hard cheeses and soft cheeses under this designation. The term is used also generically for Swiss-type or Alpine cheeses, which resemble these in taste and texture but do not come from one of the traditional cheese making regions. The texture is rather hard, sometimes with small holes or cracks, the flavour strong and often a bit nutty.
Chabichou is a traditional semi-soft, unpasteurized, natural-rind French goat cheese with a firm and creamy texture. Chabichou is formed in a cylindrical shape which is called a "bonde", per the shape of the bunghole of a wine barrel. and is aged for 10 to 20 days. It is the only goat cheese that is soft ripened allowed by Protected Designation of Origin regulations to be produced using pasteurized milk. Chabichou is very white and smooth, and flexible to the palate, with a fine caprine odor.
Maroilles is a cow's-milk cheese made in the regions of Picardy and Nord-Pas-de-Calais in northern France. It derives its name from the village of Maroilles in the region in which it is still manufactured.
There are many different types of cheese. Cheeses can be grouped or classified according to criteria such as length of fermentation, texture, methods of production, fat content, animal milk, and country or region of origin. The method most commonly and traditionally used is based on moisture content, which is then further narrowed down by fat content and curing or ripening methods. The criteria may either be used singly or in combination, with no single method being universally used.
Cheese ripening, alternatively cheese maturation or affinage, is a process in cheesemaking. It is responsible for the distinct flavour of cheese, and through the modification of "ripening agents", determines the features that define many different varieties of cheeses, such as taste, texture, and body. The process is "characterized by a series of complex physical, chemical and microbiological changes" that incorporates the agents of "bacteria and enzymes of the milk, lactic culture, rennet, lipases, added moulds or yeasts, and environmental contaminants". The majority of cheese is ripened, except for fresh cheese.
Alpujarras cheese is a Spanish cheese from the eastern region of Andalusia, which includes the provinces of Granada, Almería and the Penibética mountain chain. The cheese takes its name from La Alpujarra, a mountainous region which occupies a part of southern Granada province and western Almeria province. This area has a long history and tradition of goatherding. Alpujarras cheese is made from the milk of the White Andalusian domesticated goat.
Casín cheese is a Spanish cheese made in the Principality of Asturias. Its name is covered by a protected designation of origin (PDO). It is made from full-fat, unpasteurized cows' milk from specific breeds, namely Asturian Mountain, Asturian Valley (Asturiana de la Valles), Friesian and any crosses between these breeds. Specifically the geographic area of manufacture is the southern part of Asturias which includes the Redes Natural Park and associated land, this is within the municipalities of Caso, Sobrescobio and Piloña. The cheese is classified as hard and semi-hard, and can be semi-cured or cured. It takes its name from one of the breeds of cattle whose milk is used, in turn named after the town of Caso. The shape of the cheese is a thick disc-shape, sometime more conical, of 10–20 cm diameter and 4–7 cm in height. The weight is between 250 and 1,000 g.
Mallorca cheese is a Spanish cheese made exclusively on the island of Mallorca, one of the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean Sea. It has Protected Designation of Origin and is made from the pasteurized milk of cows, goats and/or sheep which live on the island. The cheeses are slightly tapering, flat cylinders which measure 12–20 cm (5-8 inches) across and 7-9 cm (3-4 inches) high. They weigh from 750 g to 4 kg (1.5-9 lbs). Mallorca cheese is produced in three types:
Tulum cheese is a traditional Turkish goat's milk cheese ripened in a goatskin casing, called tulum in Turkish.
Swiss-type cheeses, also known as Alpine cheeses, are a group of hard or semi-hard cheeses with a distinct character, whose origins lie in the Alps of Europe, although they are now eaten and imitated in most cheesemaking parts of the world. Their distinct character arose from the requirements of cheese made in the summer on high Alpine grasslands, and then transported with the cows down to the valleys in the winter, in the historic culture of Alpine transhumance. Traditionally the cheeses were made in large rounds or "wheels" with a hard rind, and were robust enough for both keeping and transporting.
In Switzerland, the appellation d'origine protégée is a geographical indication protecting the origin and the quality of traditional food products other than wines.
Sura Kees, also known as Vorarlberger Sauerkäse or Montafoner Sauerkäse is a low-fat sour milk cheese originally from the Montafon valley in Vorarlberg (Austria). It is traditionally made from skim milk and is a by-product of butter production. Sura Kees resembles the Tyrolean Grey Cheese.
Quartirolo Lombardo is a soft table cheese made with cow's milk, which has a Protected designation of origin (PDO) status.
