Cheeses
Cheeses
Cheeses
CHEESES
AAREY: (India)
A semi-hard, scalded curd, rind less cheese similar to GOUDA, made in India from
buffalo milk.
ABGESOTTENER: (Austria)
An acid curdled cheese made from skimmed cows milk, cooked to produce a soft,
golden yellow, round cheese weighing between 0.2 and 1 kg. Contains 70% water,
10% fat and 16% protein.
ADELOST: (Swedish)
A soft to semi-hard blue cheese made from whole cows milk and cast in large
rounds. Contains 44% water, 28% fat and 25% protein.
AGRAFA: (Greece)
A hard, scalded curd, ewes milk cheese similar to GRUYRE with a few holes and dry
rind.
AGRINI: (Swiss)
A small, soft, acid curdled cheese made from cow or goats milk with a slightly sour
fresh taste, 40 to 60 g in weight.
AKUREYRI: (Iceland)
A blue cheese made from ewes milk.
ALCOBACA: (Portugal)
A semi-hard cheese made from ewes milk with smooth paste and thin dry rind, cast
in small rounds (about 220 g). Contains 45% water, 30% fat and 20% protein:
ALEMTEJO: (Portugal)
A soft, round cheese made from ewes milk with added thistle flowers.
ALICANTE: (Spain)
A fresh, white, rind less cheese made from goats milk, curdled with RENNET and
stored in weak BRINE or water. Contains 60% water, 15% fat and 20% protein.
ALPBERGKASE: (Germany)
A cooked curd, dense German cheese made from whole cows milk with a dense dry
rind a few holes, cast into large rounds weighing 20 to 30 kg. Contains 40%water,
27% fat and 25% protein.
ALPIN: (France)
A soft rind-less cheese made from cows milk curdled with RENNET and made into
small rounds similar to VACHERIN MONT dOR. It is dry salted and ripened for a week
or more. Contains 55% water, 21%fat and 21% protein.
ALTAY: (Russian) a hard cheese with a dry rind and medium sized holes cast into
large rounds weighing about 12 to 20 kg. Contains 42% water, 30% fat and 24%
protein (also called ALTAISKI, ALTAYSKI).
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ALVORCA: (Portugal)
A hard dense, gratin cheese made with ewes milk in 200 to 300 rounds with a dry
brown rind. Contains 25% water, 37% fat and 33% protein.
AMBROSIA: (Sweden)
A semi soft, cows milk cheese, originally from Sweden, with a slightly tart taste and
a number of small, irregular holes in the interior.
ANARI: (Cyprus)
A soft, white unripe Ned curd, Cypriot cheese made from ewes milk, with a slightly
sweetish flavour and moist texture similar to the Greek MIZITHARA or Italian
RICOTTA and eaten as a dessert cheese
ANEJO: (Mexico)
A cheese made from cow or goats milk, well matured with a strong salty flavour.
ANNOT: (France)
A ewe or goats milk cheese from Provance
APPENZELLER: (Switzerland)
A strong, slightly bitter, semi-hard, scalded curd cheese made from whole cows milk
cast in large rounds (6 to 8 kg), matured in BRINE with wine and spices for 3 to 6
months to give it its characteristic flavour. Contains 43% water, 28% fat and 26%
protein also called APPENZELL.
APPLEWOOD: (U.K.)
A medium-flavoured CHEDDAR cheese from Somerset, flavoured with an extract of
Apple -wood smoke or smoked over Apple wood and coated with Paprika.
ARAGACKIJ: (Armenia)
A round, scalded curd, semi-hard, slicing cheese made with ewe and goats milk
matured for 2 months and with a thin dark bluish rind. Contains 40% water, 30% fat
and 25% protein.
ARAGON: (Spain)
A semi-hard, firm cheese with goat and/or ewes milk curdled with RENNET, shaped
into cones, dries salted and the firm paste containing a few holes ripened for 1 week
also called TRONCHORON.
ARMADA: (Spain)
A semi-hard, sharp tasting cheese made form cows colostrums and matured for two
months
Also, called CALOSTRO, SOBADO.
ASADERO: (Mexico)
A cooking cheese made from cows milk. Lit. Good, for roasting.
ASIAGO: (Italy)
An Italian cows-milk cheese (containing 30% fat) with a smooth rind. This
compressed cheese has a granular appearance, rubbery texture, but no smell. It is
not crumbly and has a slightly piquant flavour. It was first manufactured from ewes
milk in the village of Asiago in the province of Vicenza. According to its maturing
time (one, two, or six months), it is eaten fresh, medium, or mature, respectively
(mature cheese may be grated). Its quality is good throughout the year.
AUNUS: (France)
A small triangular shaped cheese from Charente made with ewes milk.
AURA: (Finland)
A semi-soft, blue veined cheese made from whole cows milk, cast in 2.5 kg rounds.
Contains 45% water, 28% fat and 24% protein.
AZEITAO: (Portugal)
A soft, mild, ewes milk cheese made in cylinders to 250 g with a creamy fine
textured tangy flavoured paste and a yellow rind. Eaten with a spoon.
BAGOZZO: (Italy)
A cooked curd, grana type cheese with a very hard yellow paste containing fine
holes, a sharp flavour and a red rind. Often sliced and grilled.
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BALATON: (Hungary)
A semi-hard, scalded curd, cows milk cheese with a buttery, aromatic flavoured
paste with holes. Contains 42% water, 20% fat and 25% protein:
BANDAL: (India)
A rich cream cheese made from cow or buffaloes milk.
BANON: (France)
A cheese bearing the name of a village in Haute Provance. Made from cow goat or
ewes milk (45% fat content), it has a soft texture, a natural crust, and is a squat
round shape. It is presented wrapped in chestnut leaves stepped in brandy and tied
up with raffia. With its sweet or nutty flavour, BANON is very good from May to
November. It is sometimes scented with springs of savoury and is then known as
BANON a PBRE da, Pbre da being the Provenal name for savoury.
BARBEREY: (France)
A soft cheese made from partially skimmed cows milk formed into disc (250 g),
covered with wood ash and ripened for a month, (ripened cheese resemble
CAMEMBERT) (also called TROYES).
BASHAN: (Israel)
A smoked cheese made from ewe and goats milk. The rind is a glossy red and the
paste has a sharp flavour.
BATTELMATT: (Switzerland/Italy/Austria)
A soft cooked-curd cheese made from cows milk with a springy tender texture and
delicate taste and numerous small holes. The curd is pressed in variously sized
cylindrical moulds, salted in BRINE or dry salt and ripened for 3 to 4 months.
BEAUMONT: (France)
A semi-hard cheese with cows milk in the Haute Savoie using same techniques as
TOMA. It has a springy texture without holes and cast in 20 cm dia. thin, rounds.
BEDA: (Egypt)
A soft scalded-curd cheese made from buffalo or cows milk. The unbroken salted
CURD is drained in cheesecloth and may be eaten fresh or ripened for up to 3
months. Contains 53% water, 21% fat and 19% protein <also called DOMIATI>.
BEJA: (Portugal)
A ewes milk cheese from Alentajo weighing about 2 kg. It can be eaten fresh or
after ripening into a semi-hard cheese from 1 to 2 years.
A semi-hard cows mil cheese cast in squat cylinders (1.8 kg). Similar to PORT-SALUT.
BELLOS: (Spain)
A hard cheese made from ewe and/or goats milk with a strong pungent close-
textured paste and dry rind. Usually cast in smallish cylinders (700 g). Contains 27%
water, 36% fat and 27% protein (also called QUESO de los BELLOS, BELLUSCO).
BERG: (Germany)
A hard, pale yellow mountain cheese made from full fat cows milk resembling
EMMENTHAL but cast in smaller rounds (also called ALP CHEESE, ALPENKASE,
ALPINE CHEESE, MOUNTAIN CHEESE).
BERGADER: (Germany)
A soft-blue-veined cows milk cheese with a creaked but smooth strong flavored
paste and a wrinkled light brown rind.
BERGKASE: (Germany)
A generic name for many different types of cooked-curd, pressed semi-hard cows
milk cheese from the Alps such as BERG, GRUYERE, FONTINA, MONTASIO, WALLISER
and like (also called MOUNTAIN CHEESE).
BERGUES: (France)
A soft cows milk cheese similar to SAINT-PAULIN made near Dunkirk. It has a dense
supple paste with a thin washed rind covered in blue-black mould and is cast in thin
rounds (2 kg).
BETHMALE: (France)
A hard cows milk cheese from Tourraine with a spicy flavor.
BITTO: (Italy)
A hard cooked-curd cheese cast and pressed in cylinders weighing 15 to 25 kg. After
molding, the cheese is repeatedly dry salted and then ripened and dried for 2 to 6
months for the table version and 2 to 3 years for the gratin version. The paste of the
young cheese has a buttery texture with a few holes and a delicate taste. It
becomes denser and more crumbly with age. Used esp. In POLENTA, TARAGNA and,
SCIATTI:
BLARNEY: (Ireland)
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A firm, semi-hard pale colored mild cows milk cheese with a few scattered large
holes which resembles the DANISH SAMSO: The yellow paste is enclosed in a red
rind. Contains 39% water, 29% fat and 24% protein (also called IRISH SWISS
CHEESE).
BLUE WENSLEYDALE:(U.K.)
A blue-veined version of WENSEYDALE cheese. Very Rare.
BONDON: (France)
A small bun shaped, soft, whole cows milk cheese made in Normandy (also called
BONDARD, BONDART, BONDE).
BOTTON: (U.K.)
A semi- hard CHEDDAR like cheese made from unpasteurized cows milk in Dandy,
Yorkshire.
BOUTON-de-CULOTTE: (France)
A French goats- milk cheese that is classified as a soft paste cheese (40-45% fat
content), but is eaten when it is very dry and brittle. Shaped like a truncated cone,
with a grayish-brown crust, it has a strong piquant flavor. The cheese is made in the
Maccon area and is also called CHVROTON de MCON, MCONNET, or ROUGERET.
It is often served at Beaujolais wine testing.
BRA: (Italy)
A soft hard cows milk cheese from Piedmont region, cast in wheel shapes (6 to 8
kg). The cheese is molded, pressed, salted and ripened 45 days for soft version or 6
months for hard version. The paste is pale cream changing to a dense yellow with
minute holes as it ages.
BRAND: (Germany)
A hard cheese made from naturally soured mixed with beer.
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BARNZI: (Italy)
A semi-hard scalded-curd slicing cheese from Bergamo cast in wheel shapes (to 15
kg). The molded and pressed curd is salted in Brine and ripened for 3 to 5 months.
The paste has a soft supple texture with small evenly distributed holes. If kept, it
will harden and may be used as a gratin cheese.
BRAUDOST: (Iceland)
A cows milk cheese similar to EADAM. Lit. BREAD CHEESE.
BRESSAN: (France)
A mild goats milk cheese from Bresse.
BROOD: (Belgium)
A cows milk cheese similar to EADAM, shaped like a loaf and coated with a yellow
wax.
BROODKAAS: (Dutch)
A Dutch cheese made from pasteurized cows milk, with a firm compressed pale-
yellow paste and a yellow or red wax covering. It is sold in the shape of loaves
weighing 2-4 kg and has all the characteristic of EDAM except the shape.
BROODKAAS is limitated in France under the name of galantine or dam franais en
pain (French Edam loaf).
BROUSSE: (France)
A Curd cheese (45% fat content) made in Provence from autumn to the beginning of
spring; ewes milk is used for BROUSSE du ROVE (the most famous), and goat or
ewes milk for BOUSSE de la VSUBIE. White, mild, and creamy, unmatured and
without crust, BROUSSE (from the Provenal brousso, meaning curds) similar to
Italian RICOTTA. Is made from curds drained on Muslin (cheesecloth), first into an
earthenware dish with holes in to separate the buttermilk, then into cylindrical tin
moulds with smaller holes. The paste must not be too dry.
BROUSSE is served with sugar and fresh cream, with fruit (fresh or stewed), or
with vinaigrette, herbs, garlic, and chopped onions.
BRUCIALEPRE: (Italy)
A soft surface ripened cows milk cheese from Piedmont region with a white creamy
mild paste and a thin soft rind. Made in thin circles (300 g).
BRUNOSTER: (Norway)
A sweet cheese, the color of brown sugar, from the North of Norway.
BRUSCION: (Switzerland)
A soft goats milk cheese eaten very fresh.
BRUXELLES: (Belgium)
A soft fermented skimmed cows milk cheese.
BRYNZA: (Romania)
A Central European and Balkan semi-hard ewe and goats milk white cheese similar
to FETA (also called BRANDZA, BRINZA, and BRYNDZA).
BUOSTS: (Sweden)
A firm, low fat, slightly pungent cows milk cheese rather like TILSIT.
BURGOS: (Spain)
A soft mild scalded-curd cheese made from ewes milk around the town of the same
name. It has an even textured paste without holes and is cast in 1 to 2 kg discs.
Often sweetened and used as a dessert. Contains 65% water.
BURMEISTER: (U.S.A.)
A cows milk cheese from Wisconsin similar to BRICK.
BURRINO: (Italy)
A small, mild, spunt curd pear shaped cheese made from a cows milk and molded
around a center of butter, eaten young (3-4 weeks) and sometimes waxed (also
called BUTIRRO, BURRO, MANTECA9:
BUTTERKASE: (Germany)
A soft rich, cows milk cheese with a close textured elastic paste with no holes and a
delicate buttery taste and smell. The thin rind is covered with mould. Sometimes
flavored with caraway seeds. Contains about 60% water, 18% fat and 17% protein
(also called DEMENKASE, LADIES CHEESE):
CABCOU: (France)
A small soft French cheese (45% fat content) from Quercy and Rouergue, made from
a mixture of goats milk, ewes milk, and cows milk. (The literal meaning of the
word is little goat.) It is a fairly firm ivory-white cheese with a fine bluish crust
and a nutty flavor. The main varieties of CABCOU are CAHORS, GRAMAT,
ENTRAYGUES, LIVERNON, ROCAMADOUR, and GOURDON, all in season from April to
November. Some of the cheeses are wrapped in vine leaves and stored in a jar with
vinegar. They are eaten when they turn pink. In Quercy, the cheese is soaked in
plum brandy.
CABOC: (U.K.)
A mild, smooth, Scottish cheese made from full cream cows milk with added cream,
coated with fine oatmeal.
CABRALES: (Spain)
A distinctive, strong-flavored, smooth, semi-hard cheese made from cows milk in
Austria, sometimes BLUE VEINED and sometimes- wrapped in leaves. Ripened for 5
to 6 months in limestone caverns. Contains 30 to 35% water, 31% fat and 28 to 30%
protein (also called CABRALIEGO, PICON).
CABREIRO: (Portugal)
A white, strong-flavored cheese made from a mixture of goat and ewes milk eaten
either young or after maturing in BRINE.
CACHAT: (France)
A small white cylindrical Provenal cheese made from either ewe or goats milk (45%
fat content), with a texture resembling CREAM CHEESE and no crust. It has a mild
flavor that goes well with the local wines and is made mainly in the areas of
Entrechaux and Malaucne. It is also used as the basis of the strong MONT VENTOUX
CHEESE, which is mixed with flavoring.
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CACHET: (France)
A soft, white creamy cheese made from ewes milk in Provance. Lit. Tablet.
CACIETTO: (Italy)
A smaller version of CACIO CAVALLO
CACIO CAVALLO: (Italy)
An Italian cheese made from cows milk (44% fat content) and often smoked. It is
compact and straw-colored with a pale fine oily crust. It is molded into the shape of
a narrow gourd with a smaller swelling on top and weighs 3-4 kg. Its name, a
combination of the Italian words cacio (cheese) and cavallo (horse), could come from
the fact that the ripening cheeses are tied together in pairs with wipes of straw, and
hung on stick ( cheval, i.e.mounted) to dry. Another possibility is that it was named
after the seal of Kingdom of Naples, which depicted a galloping horse and was
imprinted on the cheese in the 14 th century. It is also possible that it was so named
because CACIOCAVALLO was originally made with mares milk. Today, the best
CACIOCAVALLO still comes from southern Italy. It is usually eaten at the end of a
meal. If it is matured for long period, it becomes very hard and is then grated before
it is used.
CACIOFIORE: (Italy)
A hard ewes milk cheese with a high fat content, a tender paste and no rind,
suitable for table or for cooking.
CACIORICOTTA: (Italy)
A ewes milk cheese from central southern Italy and Sardinia made in two versions.
The soft version is made by a Lactic coagulation and may be eaten fresh or salted
and ripened for 2 to 3 months for use as a dessert or gratin cheese. The hard
version is coagulated with RENNET or fig juice and the CURD is molded, salted and
ripened for 3 to 4 months.
CACIOTTA: (Italy)
A small soft slicing mild cheese made from a variety of pasteurized milks with a
Lactic starter. Usually contains 50% water, 32% fat and 22% protein.
CADIZ: (Spain)
A soft goats milk cheese made in 1.5 kg disc and eaten a few days ripening made
in the town with the same name Cadiz.
CAERPHILLY: (U.K.)
A moist, mild, crumbly cheese made from cows milk, originating in Wales it is now
made generally in the U.K. It is slightly acidic from the Lactic Starter and matured
for less than 2 weeks. May be substituted for FETA CHEESE (also called NEW
CHEESE).
CAILLEBOTTE: (France)
A white, soft, creamy Curd cheese made from a variety of milks usually sold in small
wickerwork baskets or earthenware pots. Lit. Curdled bale or BUNCH.
CALCAGNO: (Italy)
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A hard ewes milk cheese aged for at least 6 months and molded in wicker baskets
so that it has an uneven rind.
CAMARGUE: (France)
A soft, creamy cheese made from ewes milk and flavored with thyme and bay.
CAMBAZOLA: (Germany)
A dull, fat, soft, blue veined German cheese with a white CAMEMBERT type rind.
CAMEMBERT: (France)
A soft, small, wheel shaped cheese about 250 g in weight (45-50% fat content) made
from full cream cows milk, dry salted to 3% salt, surface ripened for 10 to 14 days
with Penicillum candidum and Penicillum camembertii, which forms a white fungus
on the rind. Pale yellow in color with a white furry skin speckled with brown flecks.
Each cheese measures about 11 cm diameter and 3-4 cm thick.
This cheese was invented at the time of the French Revolution in the Auge region
of Normandy. A certain Marie Harel, who had hidden a recalcitrant priest from Brie,
developed a new cheese by combining the method used in Normandy with that used
in Brie. Marie Harel disclosed her secret to her daughter, who set herself up in the
village of Camemebert near Vimoutiers (Orne) to sell the cheeses. While passing
through the region for the opening of the Paris-Granville line, Napoleon III tasted
the cheese and found it delicious. One learning that it comes from Camembert, the
Emperor named it after the village. This name was never registered and a judgment
of 1926 stipulated that CAMEMBERT could not have an appellation dorigine. This is
why CAMEMBERT is now mass-produced throughout France and never in other
countries.
Towards the end of the last century, a certain M. Ridel invented the cylindrical
wooden box that enables the cheese to be transported. The white mold, which
CAMEMBERT is covered today, was selected in 1910. (Originally, CAMEMBERT was
covered with blue mold and wrapped in straw.)
Manufacture Real farmhouse CAMEMBERT CHEESE is now rare today, but dairy
cheeses are manufactured on both a small and large scale. It takes 4 liters milk to
make a CAMEMBERT: The best cheeses, made from raw milk Curdled with RENNET,
are molded with a ladle then drained, salted, turned over, removed from the mold,
and left to mature for about a month in a dry cellar so that the skin forms naturally.
The cheese should be wrapped in transparent parchment paper thereby showing the
slightly bulging skin with its uneven coating of fur and orange streaks. The aroma
should be delicate and full-flavored.
Mass-produced CAMEMBERTS are made from pasteurized skimmed milk to which
pasteurized cream is added. They are of uniform quality and keep longer than
traditionally made cheeses but the taste is never as good. They are drained faster
and molded mechanically. Demi-Camemberts (half-Camemberts) and CAMEMBERT
portions are also found. Since August 1983 the AOC CAMAMBERT de Normadie ha
been reserved for cheese manufactured in the five departments of Normandy, which
are sold in wooden boxes.
CAMEMBERT is one of the stalwarts of the chessboard and can be eaten on its own
if it is in perfect condition.
CAMEMBERT de NORMANDIE:
The traditionally CAMEMBERT CHEESE from Normandy made with unpasteurized milk
and specially licensed with Appellation dORIGINE STATUS.
CAMERANO:
A soft goats milk cheese, molded in wicker baskets and eaten within one day of
draining and salting.
CANESTARTO: (Italy)
A semi-hard Scalded Curd Sicilian cheese made from ewes milk and matured in a
wicker baskets to give it a distinctive surface pattern (also called INCANESTRATO,
PECORINO, PECORINO CANESTRATO, SICILIANO, RIGATO).
CANTAL: (France)
A high-fat (45% fat) cows-milk cheese from the Auvergne region of France. It is
ivory in color with a naturally darker crust, e flexible finely granulated texture, and a
sweet nutty flavor; riper cheeses are little firmer and more highly flavored. It is also
called FOURME du CANTAL or FOURME de SALERS, (where the cows produce a rich
full-flavored milk). An Appellation dOrigine label means that the production region
is strictly defined as the department of Cantal and the arrodissement of Tulle, Ussel,
Brioude, Clermont-Ferrand, and Issoire. CANTAL is considered the ancestor of French
cheeses: It has been made for at least 2000 years. Pliny the Elder mentioned it, as
did Grgoire de Tours. The similarity of its manufacture to that British CHEDDAR
suggests that the Romans may have introduced the technique to the Bretons across
the English Channel.
CANTAL comes in the form of a cylinder, 35-40 cm high and the same in diameter,
weighing 40-50 kg. Dairy CANTAL is produced all year around, whereas farm Cantal
comes from the shepherds huts of the CANTAL. Connoisseurs prefer it when it has
matured for three months: the thick crust sinks into the cheese, forming brown
marks, and it has a fairly sharp taste. A smaller CANTAL is also produced, called a
CANTALET or CANTALON, weighing 4-10 kg. An intermediate PETIT CANTAL weighs
20-22 kg. CANTAL is often served after a meal, with wine and fruit; it is also widely
used in gratins, crotes, soups, and souffls, as well as in typically regional dishes
(aligot, gtis, patranque, truffade, etc.).
CAPRICORN: (U.K.)
A goats milk cheese from Somerset with a relatively mild flavor and cast in
cylinders.
CAPRINI: (Italy)
Small goats milk fresh cheese.
CARNIA: (Italy)
A semi-hard Scalded-Curd cows milk cheese similar to MONTASIO from Friuli.
A soft high-fat (45% fat) cheese made from pasteurized cows milk and originating
from Champagne and Lorraine, where it is now mass-produced. Sold in boxes 8-10
cm Square, and 2.5-3 cm deep, CARR de lEST is a mild cheese with a white down
crust.
The term Carr is also applied to Normandy cheeses, related to BONDARD, from
the Pays de Bray or the Pays dAuge.
CASANOVA:(Germany)
A soft surface ripened cows milk cheese, which is creamy and delicate when young,
but becomes sharper with age. Contains 55% water, 22% fat and 19% protein.
CASATELLA: (Italy)
A soft fresh rind less cows milk cheese from Lombardy region.
CASSETTE: (Belgium)
A soft, pale, creamy, rectangular cows milk cheese, seasoned, wrapped in walnut
leaves and sold in small willow baskets.
CASTELMAGNO: (Italy)
A soft blue veined cows milk cheese from Cuneo, which is ripened in cool damp
conditions. It resembles a milder version of GORGONZOLA.
CASTIGLIANO: (Spain)
A hard ewes milk cheese with a strong flavor, a pale cream paste and brown rind,
shaped in a thin disc.
CABRERO: (Spain)
A hard, cooked-curd, full-flavored, firm mountain cheese made from cows milk and
shaped likes a malformed mushroom (also called PIEDRAFINA).
CECIL: (Armenia)
Spun cows and/or ewes milk cheese with no rind from Armenia in which the Curd is
twisted into a spiral shape to give a 4 kg cheese. Eaten fresh.
CENDR: (France)
One of various cows-milk cheeses produced in Burgundy (Aisy Cendr, which
contains 45% fat) or in Orlnais and Champagne (the Cends of Argonne riceys, and
Rocroi, which contain 30% fat). Soft-centered and yellow in color, CENDRS are fairly
firm to the touch and disc-shaped. They are matured in wooden boxes or pots lined
with the ashes, hence they are covered with a layer of wood ash.
CERTOSA: (Italy)
A mild and creamy STRACCHINO type cheese made from cows milk.
CERTOSINO: (Italy)
A small version of CERTOSA with the same characteristic.
CHABICHOU: (France)
A small goats-milk cheese from Poitou, which contains 45% butterfat and has a soft
center and a natural crust. Usually in the shape of a truncated cone but sometimes
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CHAMBARAND: (France)
A small, creamy, delicately flavored cheese with a pink-orange rind made from cows
milk by Rapist monks (also called TRAPPISTE de CHAMBARAND).
CHAMBERAT: (France)
A cows milk cheese similar to SAINT PAULIN:
CHAMBOURCY: (France)
A commercial version of CREAM CHEESE
CHANTARELLE: (U.S.A.)
A cows milk cheese similar to BEL PAESE.
CHAOURCE: (France)
A French cheese made in the Champagne region from cows milk (50% butterfat). It
is very white soft creamy cheese with a whitened crust and a milky fruity flavor. It is
named after the chief town of the canton of Aube and enjoys an appellation
dorigine. It is cylindrical in shape, 11 cm in diameter ant 7 cm high, and weighs
approximately 500g. The PETIT CHAOURCE weighing 280 g, measures 9 cm by 5.5
cm. The cheese is in season in summer and autumn and is sold wrapped in a band of
paper. It used to be wrapped in lettuce leaves to protect it during transport.
Contains 63% water, 19% fat and 15% protein:
CHARNWOOD: (U.K.)
A smoked CHEDDAR CHEESE coated with paprika.
CHAROLAIS: (France)
A small, soft, strong-flavored, hard, cylindrical cheese made from cow and/or goats
milk, which is ripened for 2 to 3 weeks. The paste has a delicate texture with a few
small cracks and the grayish blue rind is thin and unblemished. Contains 58% water,
24% fat and 21% protein.
CHEDDAR: (U.K.)
The renowned English cheese from the Cheddar George area now made all over the
world. The cheese (containing 45% butterfat), made with cows milk, cylindrical in
shape, with a compressed paste and a natural oily rind, wrapped in cloth. Firm to
the touch, with a nutty flavor, and white or creamy yellow in color, it originates from
the town of Cheddar in Somerset. It is mass-produced in all English-speaking
countries (often colored with red): when it appeared toward the end of the 16 th
century it spread to the British colonies (in the United States, it is sold under the
names of DAISY LONGHORN, FLAT or TWIN; in Canada, it is called STORE of BULK).
When it is well matured (up to two years in a dry cellar), dark marbling appears in
its center, and it is then called BLUE CHEDDAR.
The production of CHEDDAR involves the mechanical treatment of the Curds
(obtained according to the same method as for CANTAL) while increasing the Lactic
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Acid; the particles of Curds treated in this way are then slightly cooked at about 38
c, which then brings CHEDDAR close to cooked cheese of the GRUYRE type.
A giant 500 kg CHEDDAR was offered to Queen Victoria on the occasion of her
marriage, but this cheese normally weighs 27-35 kg and has a diameter and height
of 35-40 cm. Commercially, it is sold in the form of 6.25 kg blocks. Its fairly strong
flavor makes it a good cheese for cooking in English-speaking countries. At the end
of a meal, it is eaten with Bordeaux or even Port wine. It is often included in the
manufacture of salted biscuits and used to prepare crotes with cheese, mixed
salads, canaps, hamburgers, etc.
CHEEDHAM: (Australia)
A cows milk cheese similar to CHEDDAR and EDAM
CHESHIRE: (U.K.)
An English cows-milk cheese (containing 45% butterfat), with a compressed
uncooked center and a natural oily rind. Cylindrical in shape and 35-40 cm high, it
weighs 22-40 kg. Granular in appearance, it is firm and oily to the touch, with a mild
flavor, which is more pronounced when it has been matured for a long time (up to
two years); its particular taste is due to the deposit of salt in the pastures where the
cows graze. It originates from Cheshire, where it appeared in the reign of Elizabeth
I. There are three varieties: red (the best known), white, and blue (fairly rare)
CHESTER: (France)
A hard, scalded-Curd cows milk cheese made with a Lactic Starter on a large
commercial scale in blocks or rounds of 30 kg. It has a mild tasting smooth paste
and a thin rind. Contains 39% water, 31% fat and 24% protein.
CHEVR: (France)
The generic name for goats milk cheese (fromage de CHEVR or MICHEVR).
CHEVRETON: (France)
One of several cheese from the Auvergne made from goats milk (or a mixture of
goats and cows milk). Solely farm-produced, they contain 40-45% butterfat and
have a soft center and a natural crust. Blue-gray in appearance, yielding to the
touch, and with a nutty flavor, the AMBERT and VIVEROLS CHEVRETONS and the
BRIQUE du FOREZ are produced in the form of rectangular loaves 12-15 cm long, 4-6
cm wide, and 2-3 cm high.
truncated cones measuring 6-8 cm at the base and 5-6 cm high. CHEVROTINS are
smooth and creamy when fresh and are eaten with spices or even sugar. When more
mature, they become drier and have a nuttier flavor.
CHEVRU: (France)
A cows milk cheese from the region surrounding Paris, similar to BRIE des
COLUMMIERS.
CHEZZARELLA: (U.S.A.)
A coarse mixture of CHEDDAR and MOZZARELLA cheeses to give a marble effect.
GHHANA: (India)
A sour cows milk cheese (also called CHAUNA).
CINCO: (South America)
A ewes milk cheese from Venezuela similar to VILLALON.
COLBI: (Israel)
An Israeli cows milk cheese resembling GOUDA CHEESE (also called KOL-BEE).
COLBY: (U.S.A.)
An orange-colored Scalded-Curd hard CHEDDAR likes cheese but slightly softer and
with a more open texture from Colby, Wisconsin. Made from whole cows milk. It has
a dark brown rind and is not CHEDDARED.
COLOMBIERE: (France)
A soft cows milk cheese from Savoie cast in shape as a disc with a mild smooth
paste.
COMT: (France)
A cheese made with cows milk (minimum 45% fat content), which is cooked and
pressed. It is ivory-colored or pale yellow and has a natural brushed rind, varying
from golden to brown. It is matured for three to six months. The cheese comes from
the Franche-Cont region of France and is also known as COMT GRUYRE.
Traditionally, it should have small eyes or holes, not much smell, a fruity flavor,
and a strong (but never pungent) bouquet:
Its manufacture is governed by an appellation dorigine. The name is followed by a
clear in which it has been made. The departments include the Doubs, the Jura, and
the Haute-Sane, together with the area around Belfort, and the district of Belley,
Bourg-en-Bresse, Gex, Nantua, Beaune, Dijon, Langres, Chalon-sur-Sane, Louhans,
pinal, and Neufchteau. The origin and also the month of its manufacture are
marked on a piece of green Casein attached to the cheese.
The cheese has a straight or slightly convex rind and measures 40-70 cm in
diameter and 9-13 cm in height. COMT is a very ancient cheese and the first dairy
to make it is recorded as far back as the 13 th century. It is served at the end of a
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meal and is widely used in cooking. It may be grated or sliced and used for topping,
souffls, mixed salads, canaps, fondues, fritters, etc.
COTHERSTONE: (U.K.)
A white loose-textured cheese with a clean fresh flavor, made in Yorkshire from
unpasteurized cows milk.
COULOMMIERS: (France)
A French cows-milk cheese (50% fat content) with a soft paste and a whitish rind. It
is similar to COULOMMIERS BRIE, but smaller 13 cm in diameter and often contains
more fat. When it is wrapped in fern leaves it is called FOUGERU.
CRESCENZA: (Italy)
A soft cows milk cheese with a buttery texture and no rind from Northern Italy and
similar to STRACCHINO. Contains 57% water, 22% fat and 20% protein.
CROTONESE: (Italy)
A hard, Scalded-Curd, ewes milk cheese cast in wicker basket molds in 2 kg discs.
It has a dry rough orange-yellow rind with a cream colored paste and the hole or
crack. Used for slicing or grating depending upon age.
traditionally prepared by placing it under the grill for a few minutes, sometimes
coated with breadcrumbs, and then serving it hot accompanied by a green salad of
endives or dandelions.
CROWDIE: (U.K.)
A mild-flavored COTTAGE CHEESE from Scotland made from Rennet-Curdled,
skimmed, unpasteurized cows milk. Eaten fresh usually with a mixture of cream
(also called CROWDY).
CURD CHEESE:
A soft, white CHEESE made from the Curds, which separate from Lactic Acid
fermentation and coagulation of milk. It is not pressed and slightly sours tasting.
Often used for making cheesecake and savory fillings.
DACCA: (India)
A cheese made from cows or buffalo milk, ripened for two three weeks in wicker
baskets, then smoked.
DALIA: (Romania)
A cows milk cheese similar to KASHKAVAL.
DANBO: (Denmark)
A hard cows milk cheese which, is salted in Brine and matured for five months,
often waxed and with internal holes like EMMENTHAL. Fairly mild in flavor and often
contains Caraway seeds. Contains 45% water, 24% fat and 29% protein.
DAIRWOLD: (U.S.A.)
A semi-hard, Cooked-Curd cows milk cheese, salted in Brine then ripened in plastic
packs. Contains 45% water, 27% fat and 23% protein.
DAUPHIN: (France)
Soft cows-milk cheese from French Hainaut, with a brown rind and contains at least
50% fat. Excellent from September to May, DAUPHINE cheese is made from the same
type of Curds as MAROILLES CHEESE but is flavored with parsley, tarragon, pepper,
and cloves, and has a highly seasoned taste. It can be shaped like a croissant, heart,
shield, or rod. Created in the reign of Louis XIV, it owes its name to a royal edict that
the penny tithe payable to the Dauphine, which was lived at Cambrai on each wagon
coming from Belgian Hainaut.
DEMI-SEL: (France)
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A soft French cheese made from pasteurized cows milk. It has a mild flavor and
contains 40-45% fat and less than 2% added salt. It is sold in small squares wrapped
in aluminum foil and is used as a cheese spread. It may be flavored with herbs,
paprika, or pepper. DEMI-SEL was first made at the end of the last century and is a
specialty of Normandy.
DERBY: (U.K.)
An English cheese made with cows milk, containing approximately 45% fat. It is a
firm pressed mild cheese, which resembles CHEDDAR, but is slightly flakier and
moister. The cheese is traditionally wheel shaped, 38 cm in diameter, 12 cm high,
and weighing approximately 14 kg. The usual ripening period is two months, but
mature DERBY, with a richer slightly piquant flavor, ripens for ten months. SAGE
DERBY is marbled with green and is made by adding chopped sage leaves to the
Curd for additional coloring and flavoring. It was traditional to make this specialty at
Christmas and at harvest time.
DOROGOBOUSKI: (Russian)
A strong-flavored cows milk cheese matured for six weeks with an orange red rind.
Sold in small squares.
DOPPELRHAMSTUFFE: (Germany)
An official category of double CREEM CHEESE with a fat content of 60 to 85% (based
on dry matter.
DOTTERKASE: (Germany)
A cheese made from skimmed cows milk and egg yolks.
DRANBANTOST: (Sweden)
A semi-hard Scalded-Curd cows milk cheese. The paste has a bland flavor and is
springy with occasional holes.
DUNLOP: (U.K.)
A mild, hard cows milk cheese from Scotland made in the same way as CHEDDAR
except that the Curd is not Cheddared and the cheese is consequently moister.
Developed independently of CHEDDAR. Contains 43% water, 27% fat and 23%
protein.
DUO: (U.S.A.)
A pasteurized and processed EMMENTHAL type cheese filled with walnuts, herbs,
spices, black pepper and salami. Or smoked salmon forcemeat:
Holland the number indicating where, on what date, and from which Curd batch
the cheese was made, and the code of the relevant government control station.
ECHOURGNAC: (France)
A small pale yellow, delicately flavored cows milk cheese from Aquitaine. It has
brown rind and the cheese contains small holes.
ECHTERMAINZKASE: (Germany)
A soft HANDKASE-type milk cheese with a yellow rind and white paste. The flavor
varies from mild to sharp depending on age.
EDAMER: (Germany)
The German version of EDAM cheese (also called LOAF CHEESE):
EDELBLANKASE: (Germany)
A soft surface ripened cows milk cheese with white veining. The flavor is mild hen
young but becomes sharper with age.
ELMO: (U.S.A.)
A semi-soft creamy textured cows milk cheese with a hickory nut flavor.
EDELPIZ: (German)
A German cows-milk cheese containing 55% fat. A blue-veined pale-yellow cheese
with a natural crust, is has a sweet flavor with a slight tang. Made in the Bavarian
Alps. EDELPIZ is sold in a round, loaf, or individual portions, wrapped in silver paper.
Its name means literally noble mushroom:
ELBO: (Denmark)
A hard, mild, slightly acid tasting cheese similar to DANBO made from cows milk
and cast in bricks to 5 kg. The slightly acid-tasting paste contains a few holes and
the smooth brown rind is usually covered with red wax.
EMMENTAL: (Switzerland)
A Swiss cows-milk cheese containing 45% fat, named after the Emme valley in the
canton of Bern, where it was first made. It is a hard ivory-colored cheese with a
good many holes and a golden-yellow to brown rind. EMMENTAL is matured for 6-12
months in a cool cellar and marketed in a wheel shape with convex edges, 80-85 cm
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in diameter, 22 cm thick, and weighing 80-100 kg. The edge of the cheese bears the
word Switzerland stamped in red.
The cheese was introduced into Haute-Savoie in the middle of the 19 th century by
German Swiss immigrants, and a SAVOY EMMENTAL, made in the cheese dairies of
Savoy, is very similar in appearance and flavor to the Swiss cheese. SAVOY
EMMENTAL is marketed in wheels weighing 60-130 kg, 70-100 cm in diameter and
13-25 cm thick. SWISS and SAVOY EMMENTALS are used for the table.
Another type of French EMMENTAL (also spelt EMMENTHAL) is produced in the
flatter regions of France, such as Franche-Cont and Burgundy. It is matured for two
months in a warm cellar and resembles GRUYRE, with large holes. It is used for
cooking (especially gratin).
ENCHILADO: (Mexico)
A white, salty and crumbly cows milk cheese made in a block and sometimes
colored on the outside with chili powder or annatto. Used for cooking esp.
Enchillada.
ENTRAMMES: (France)
The cheese from Entrammes in Brittany made by the monks who originally made
PORT-SALUT but who sold the name to commercial interests. Very similar to PORT-
SALUT.
ESKDALE: (U.K.)
A CAMEMBERT type cheese from Yorkshire.
EPOISSES: (France)
A soft French cows-milk cheese named after a village on the Cte dOr and made in
almost every part of Burgundy: Containing 45% fat, it has an orange washed crust
(first with sage, then with Burgundy marc brandy). And a soft creamy inside that is
light- to brownish-yellow (depending on the degree of maturity), with a very strong
flavor. Brillant-Savarin considered it the King of Cheeses, and it was highly
appreciated by Napoleon I. Each cheese is flat and round, 10 cm in diameter and 3-6
cm thick, with a slight depression in the middle. It is sometimes sold surrounded
with vine leaves, or boxed. It may be flavored with cloves, fennel, and black pepper.
poisses is given the collective regional brand mark Bourgogne. It is eaten fresh
in the summer; mature cheeses are very good from June to the end of March, but are
best in the winter.
ESROM: (Denmark)
A semi-hard soft cheese with irregular shaped holes ripened for 1 to 3 weeks. It is
cast in 500 g to 1 kg bricks and has a mild piquant flavor and a thin yellow to orange
colored rind. Contains 50% water, 23% fat and 22% protein.
ESTONSKI: (Estonia)
A semi-hard cows milk cheese from Estonia, which uses a complex culture as a
Starter to give it, a mildly acid aromatic flavor. Contains 45% water, 25% fat and 23%
protein (also called ESTONSKIJ).
EUDA: (U.S.A.)
A low fat semi-hard cows milk cheese, which is salted, molded and ripened for three
months.
EVORA: (Portugal)
A pale yellow mountain cheese made from a mixture of ewe and cows milk. It is well
salted with a full flavor and has a crumbly texture. Eaten either fresh when creamy
and piquant or fully ripe when firm and biting.
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EXCELSIOR: (France)
A cows-milk cheese from Normandy with 72% fat content. The skin is white with
brown markings and the ivory-colored paste is soft, fine, and dense in texture, with
a mellow, slightly nutty, flavor.
Created in 1890, EXCELSIOR is the oldest of the double-or triple-cream cheeses
(along with FIN-de-SICLE, EXPLORATEUR, LUCULLUS, and BRILLAT-SAVARIN).
EXPLORATEUR: (France)
A small cylindrical shaped triple cream cows milk cheese from the Paris region with
a delicate flavor and CAMEMBERT type rind.
FARMERS: (U.S.A.)
COTTAGE CHEESE made from cultured cows milk with added cream, salted and sold
in tubes.
FARK GESOT:
A semi-hard goats milk cheese made in bricks shape (to 1.2 kg) and ripened for up
to 1 week.
FETA: (Greece)
The best-known Greek cheese, made from ewes milk or sometimes from goats milk
and containing 45% butterfat. It is made by traditional methods, even though it is
now manufactured on an industrial scale. The Curdled milk is separated and allowed
to drain in a special mould or a cloth bag. It is cut into large slices that are salted
and then packed in barrels filled with Whey or Brine. FETA is used mostly in cooking,
for gratins and feuillets. It is often crumbled over the top of mixed salads and may
be cut into cubes and served as a snack with olives and farmhouse bread.
FJORDLAND: (Norway)
A semi-skimmed cows milk cheese resembling EMMENTAL or JARLSBERG.
FLOTEMYSOT: (Norway)
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A semi-hard Cooked-Curd cheese made with a mixture of cows milk and cream. It
has no rind and a smooth texture. Contains 20% water, 25% fat and 50% protein.
FONTAINEBLEAU: (France)
A soft fresh cows-milk cheese containing 60-75% fat, originating in il-de-France. It
is not matured or salted, but wrapped in cheesecloth and sold in a small-waxed
cardboard container. It is prepared from a foamy mixture of whipped cream and
slowly coagulating Curds, which is drained for 30 hours and then smoothed. It is
served with sugar, and often with strawberries or jam. Enthusiast often adds fresh
cream.
Fontainebleau is also the name of a classic garnish consisting of a macdonie of
vegetables cut up into very small pieces, cooked with butter, and arranged in
barquettes made of duchess potato mixture browned in the oven.
FONTINA: (Italy)
An Italian cows-milk cheese (containing 45% fat and about 384 Cal per 100 g), with
a pressed cooked center and a brushed, sometimes oiled, crust. Elastic to the touch,
and with a few small holes, the cheese tastes delicately nutty. It originated in the
Aosta Valley in the Alps, where is has been made since the 12 th century, and it
comes in rounds 40-45 cm in diameter and 7-10 cm high. It is made almost all over
northern Italy, and even in France (under the name of FONTAL and made mainly
from pasteurized milk). The name FONTINA is reserved for the cheese, which comes
from the Aosta Valley. Young FONTINA is served at the end of the meal or on
canaps, and is also used in cookery, particularly in fondue pimontaise. When
matured, it is grated and used like Parmesan.
FORMAGELLE: (Italy)
Small farmhouse cheese from north Italy made with any type of milk.
FOURME: (France)
Any of various cows-milk cheeses from central France that usually contains parsley
and is used in the same way as BLUE CHEESE. The French word fourme is derived
from the Latin forma (a mould); it then becomes formage and later fromage.
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FRIBORG: (France)
The name sometimes used in France for SWISS GRUYRE cheese, because the
Gruyre Valley, where the best GRUYRE CHEESE is manufactured, is in the district
of FRIBOURG.
FRISCHKASE: (Germany)
Fresh cheese refers to products such as QUARK and CREAM CHEESE, which is not left
to mature (also called FRISCH).
FRIULANO: (Italy)
A semi-hard Scalded-Curd cheese from Friuli rather like young MONTASIO with a
yellow-brown rind enclosing a firm paste containing a few small holes.
A semi-hard ewes milk cheese made in cylinders (to 7 kg): The paste is yellowish
with a strong taste and the dry rind is sometimes colored black (also called
FROMAGE du PAYS).
FROMEZ: (Israel)
A mild goats milk cheese from Israel.
FRUHILINGKASE: (Germany)
COTTAGE CHEESE mixed with cream, caraway seeds and chopped chives and parsley.
FYNBO: (Denmark)
A semi-hard Scalded-Curd cows milk cheese similar to SAMSO from the island of
Fyn. It has a Lactic starter and the paste is smooth and creamy with a few large
holes. The brown dry rind is usually waxed.
GALIC: (U.K.)
A rich full cream soft cows milk cheese from Scotland. It is flavored with the
chopped leaves of wild garlic (ransoms) and covered with rolled oats and chopped
nuts (also called GAELIC)
GALIL: (Israel)
A bleu veined ewes milk cheese from Israel, similar to ROQUEFORT.
GAMMELST: (Norway)
A Norwegian semi-soft yellowish- brown cheese made from cow or goats milk. Its
rind is brown and becomes darker as it ages. Maturing can take up to six months,
but GAMMELST, which has a strong aromatic flavor, can also be eaten after one
month. It is made in 15 cm blocks, either rectangular or cylindrical in shape,
depending on whether it is made of goats or cows milk.
GAMONEDO: (Spain)
A strong, smoked, blue veined cheese made in Austria from a mixture of cow, goat
and ewes milk and similar to CABRALES. After smoking it is wrapped in fern leaves
and matured for two months.
GAUCHO: (Argentina)
A rich tasting firm cheese made from skimmed cows milk resembling PORT SAUT.
27
GRARDMER: (France)
A soft cows-milk cheese (containing 45-50% fat) with a washed rind, generally
eaten fresh. Commonly called LORRAINE or GROS LORRAINE, it is cylindrical in
shape, weighs 5-6 kg, and gives off a pungent lactic smell.
GROM: (France)
A cows-milk cheese (containing 45-50% fat) made in the Vosges. Its name is that of
the town of Grardmer in local dialect. A soft cheese with a washed reddish rind, it
is always ripened (unlike GRADMER). Pliable to the touch, it has a strong smell and
a highly seasoned taste; it may be flavored with caraway seeds. It is marketed in
round blocks, 11-20 cm in diameter and 2 - -3 cm in thick.
GERVAIS: (France)
A branded soft cream cheese generally sold in six individually wrapped segments of
a circle, but the same name is also used to denote the general types of fresh cows
milk cheese sold in small tubs.
GETMESOT: (Sweden)
A Swedish version of GJETOST CHEESE made with the Whey from goats milk cheese.
GETOST: (Sweden)
A hard goats milk cheese, dry salted and ripened for 2 to 4 months and with a dry
rind.
GIEN: (France)
A soft creamy but firm cheese with a fine flavor made around Orleans from a mixture
of goats and cows milk, matured in leaves or wood ash for about three weeks.
GIGHA: (U.K.)
A firm cheese made from cows milk on the island of Gigha in Scotland.
GILBOA: (Israel)
A cows milk cheese from Israel similar to EDAM.
GILEAD: (Israel)
A ewes milk cheese from Israel resembling KASHKAVAL.
GIUNCATA: (Italy)
A soft Curd cheese retaining some Whey, made from cow or ewes milk and named
after the rush container in which the Curds are drained.
GJETST: (Norway)
A dark brown strongly flavored Norwegian cheese made of skimmed cows and
goats milk or just goats milk (gjei in Norwegian). It is molded in brick shapes
weighing between 200 g and 4 kg.
GJETST: (Scandinavia)
A sort of cheese, which is an acquired taste. It is made with the Whey from cheese
made with goat and cows milk. This is reduced by boiling to a paste of caramelized
28
Lactose and Whey proteins and is made in both soft, for spreading, and hard
consistencies. The hard variety is eaten as shavings made with a special knife.
GOLAN: (Israel)
A ewes milk cheese from Israel similar to PROVOLONE:
GOMOST: (Scotland)
A cheese made in the same way as GJETOST but with whole milk Curds and Whey.
GORGONZOLA: (Italy)
An Italian cows-milk cheese (48% fat), white or light yellow in color and streaked
with blue: GORGONZOLA should be delicate and creamy with a natural gray rind,
pitted with red. It has a distinct smell and can have a mellow, strong, or sharp flavor,
depending on its degree of maturity (it is ripened dry, in a cold damp cellar).
Cylindrical in shape, 25-30 cm diameter, and 16-20 cm high, it is wrapped in silver
paper bearing its trademark. It is good to eat all the year round, its qualities being
due to its special manufacturing technique: the hot Curds from the morning milking
are used to line the moulds, while the cold Curds from the evening milking are
placed in the meddle. Contrary to the normal manufacturing technique for the blue
cheeses, the mould Penicillium glaucum is not included.
The history of GORGONZOLA is connected with the migration of cattle from Alps to
the south of the plains of the Po River. Tired from their journey (STRACCHE in the
Lombard dialect), the cattle were rested in the small town of Gorgonzola in the
region of Bergamo. Their milk was used to make a soft cheese, STRACCHINO di
GORGONZOLA. Apparently, it was not until the beginning of the 11 th century that
this cheese became blue-veined, although the exact circumstances of this
innovation are not known. In Lombardy they still make a cheese similar to
GORGONZOLA, but not a blue cheese PANERONE.
GORGONZOLA is served in small cubes with aperitifs, included in mixed salads,
spread on canaps, or presented on a cheese board. It can also be used to season
sauces or forcemeats and to flavor gratins, souffls, and flaky pastries. In Lombardy
hot polenta may be served with a piece of melted GORGONZOLA in the middle. In the
Trieste area, a mixture of GORGONZOLA, MASCARPONE (a fresh creamy cheese),
29
fresh cream, anchovy paste, cumin, chives and sweet mustard is served as a
dessert.
GOUDA: (Holland)
A Dutch cows-milk cheese (30-40% fat) with a compressed paste. Firm to the touch,
it is light yellow ochre in color, depending on whether it has matured for two or
three months (waxed rind, tinged with yellow or color-less), has been semi-oven-
dried (golden rind) or oven-dried (yellow rind): Its flavor can be mellow or
pronounced: GOUDA owes its name to a small Dutch port near Rotterdam, from
which it was originally exported; it is made in flat rounds with a curved edge, 25-30
cm in diameter and 7 cm high, weighing 3-5 kg. In France and Belgium it is usually
made in a rectangular block (galantine) weighing 2-3 kg. Genuine GOUDA,
originating in the south of Holland, is protected by a label. Imitated all over the
world, it is very similar to EADAM both in taste and in the way it is used.
GOURNAY: (France)
A mild, somewhat acidic, slightly salty and rind-less, soft CAMENBERT type cheese
from Normandy:
GOYA: (Argentina)
A cheese similar to ASIAGO.
GRACAY: (France)
A dense, soft, white goats milk cheese from Berry, matured for six weeks and
coated with charcoal powder. Formed into stubby cones.
GRADDOST: (Sweden)
A semi-hard, Scalded-Curd cows milk slicing cheese with a pale yellow, close
textured paste containing numerous small holes.
GRADAOST: (Iceland)
A blue cheese made from cows milk
GRANA: (Italy)
A hard, cooked-Curd cows milk cheese with a granular textured made with partially
skimmed (2% butterfat) cows milk. A Lactic Acid Starter is used and the Curd
molded and drained under controlled conditions for up to 18 months. Used for
cooking, gratin and dessert and very popular in Italy. They are usually stamped with
the type and the name of the producer when soft and have the same information
printed on the rind.
A GRANA CHEESE produced near Milan. (Lodi), the hard smooth rind enclosed a more
crumbly paste than most GRANA CHEESES and tiny scattered holes each of which
may contain a drop of clear liquid. The paste tends to turn green when cut.
GRAVIERA: (Germany)
A cheese made from cows milk and resembling GRUYRE.
GRAZ: (Austria)
A firm and full-flavored cheese made from cows milk.
GRAZALEMA: (Spain)
A ewes milk cheese from Cadiz area, which resembles MANCHEGO. Contains 35%
water, 33% fat and 25% protein.
GREVEOST: (Sweden)
A commercially produced semi-hard Scalded-Curd cows milk cheese with a mild
flavored paste
Containing very large holes.
GRUYRE: (Switzerland):
A sweetish, nutty-flavored large (to 45 kg), hard Cooked-Curd cheese made in
Switzerland from the milk of cows grazed on Alpine pastures but now copied
throughout the world. It is dry salted or Brine for eight days and ripened for up to
three months and eaten between 3 and 10 months. The paste is pale yellow and
contains scattered small holes. Served as a dessert or slicing cheese and used in
fondue.
agent gruyer, an officer of the waterways and forest authorities who, in the Middle
Age, used to collect certaina taxes in the form of timber and cheese.
GRUYRE CHEESE is made in rounds weighing 35-45 kg 50-65 cm in diameter and
about 11 cm thick. It should not be confused with EMMENTAL CHEESE, which has
larger holes.
The cheeses that are exported are less salty than those for local consumption, and
to enhance the pungent flavor of this excellent cheese Swiss preserve it in a cloth
soaked either in salt water or in white wine. The cheese is made in cheese factories
in the mountains, close to the pastures. It keeps for a very long time if uncut. Some
connoisseurs demand a very mature cheese; others prefer it to be fairly fresh. It is
eaten at the end of the meals or in sandwiches and is used to prepare many dishes,
such as fondues, gratins, souffls, crotes, croque-monsieur, and mixed salads; it
also serves as a condiment for pasta and rice, etc.
GRUYRE is also used to make processed cheese called CRME de GRUYRE. This is
also made from COMT is one of a number of GRUYRE-type CHEESE made in the
United States and all over Europe. For a long time, a type of GRUYRE CHEESE was
manufactured in the Jura, but GRUYRE de COMT be replaced simply by Cont.
GUDBRANDSDLSOST: (Norway)
A hard, Cooked-Curd cheese made from a mixture of the Whey from cows milk and
cream and goats milk which is coagulated by heating.
GUSSING: (Austria)
A cheese similar to BRICK made from semi-skimmed cows milk.
HALOUMI: (Greece)
A soft or semi-hard cheese with a salty Lactic flavor made from ewe or goats milk. It
is heated in Whey to boiling point, drained, salted and preserved in salted Whey for
up to 40 days. Known as JUBNA in Arabic, similar to FETA, made in Cyprus, Syria, and
Lebanon for at least 2000 years.
HANDKASE: (Germany)
A variety of soft hand molded cheese (25 to 125 g) made from naturally soured and
Curdled skimmed or semi-skimmed cows milk. Sometimes flavored with herbs or
spices and widely in color, texture and flavor. Contains 50 to 55% water, 2% fat and
27 to 35% protein (also called HAND, HARZKASE, SAURMILCHKASE).
HANGOP: (Holland)
COTTAGE CHEESE, Curds, alternatively a thick buttermilk and sugar dessert.
HARD CHEESE:
A cheese, which is difficult to cut, normally with a water content less than 40%.
HARZERKASE: (Germany)
A small, round, firm, pungent cheese made by hand from cows milk in the Harz
Mountains. Often eaten with goose fat or black bread (also called HARZ, HARZER):
HAVARTI: (Denmark)
A semi-hard Scalded-Curd cows milk cheese with a pungently flavored paste
containing numerous holes. The rind may be dry or washed in which case the cheese
has a better flavor. Either 45% or 60% butterfat content. HAVARTI was the name of
the farm of the cheeses developer, Mrs. Hanne Nielson.
HERKIMER: (U.S.A.)
A CHEDDAR-like factory produced cows milk cheese from New York.
HERRGARDSOST: (Sweden)
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HERVE: (Belgium)
A Belgian cows-milk cheese with a fat content of 45%. It is soft, close-textured,
pliable, and cream-colored, with a smooth pinkish-yellow washed rind. The cheese
has been made since 16th century on the plain of Herve, in the province of Lige. It
tastes mild and creamy after six weeks of ripening, but after eight weeks the taste
becomes more pronounced. Cube-shaped, each side measuring 5-10 cm, it is in
season in summer and autumn. The strong-flavored cheese is best eaten with brown
ale; red wine or even very sweet black coffee is good accompaniment to the mild
cheese.
HUNTSMAN: (U.K.)
A specialty cheese from Melton Mowbray consisting of a layer of BLUE STILTON
between two layers of DOUBLE GLOUCESTER.
HUSHALLSOST: (Sweden)
A semi-soft, Scalded-Curd, pale and mild creamy cows milk cheese shaped like a
cylinder. It has a slightly open texture and some holes. Sometimes flavored with
cloves and cumin and covered in wax or plastic.
IDIAZABEL: (Spain)
A smoked ewes milk cheese from the Basque country. It is firm with a few holes and
has a mild smoky flavor (also called ARALAR, URBASA, URBIA).
IGNY: (France)
A mild cows milk cheese made in the shape of a disc, from the abbey of the same
name in Champagne.
ILHA: (Portugal)
A CHEDDAR type cows milk cheese from the Azores islands. Lit. Island.
IRATY: (France)
A strong cheese from the Basque country made from a mixture of cow and ewes
milk. The flavor depends on the proportions of each milk in turn depends on the
season.
ITALICO: (Italy)
A generic term for a variety of quick ripening cheese starter with Streptococcus
thermopiles and ripened for 20-30 days. Usually contains 51% water, 25% fat and
21% protein.
JARISBERG: (Norway)
A hard Scalded-Curd cheese originating in Oslo in 1959, similar to but softer and
sweeter than EMMENTAL, shaped in a large round and coated with wax. Made from
pasteurized cows milk.
JBANE: (Morocco)
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JOCHBURG: (Austria)
A Tyrolean Cheese made from cow and goats milk with a distinctive flavor and
shaped into large thin disc.
JONCHE: (France)
A fresh soft French cheese (fat content 45%) drained in moulds of different sizes
(formerly made of rush) and sold unwrapped on rush or straw mats. The cheese is
made from cows milk, which is sometimes flavored with bay leaves (in Brittany and
Saintonge); from goats milk (in Aunis and Poitou); or from ewes milk (in Barn and
Basque country). Very white, soft to the touch, and with a slightly acid smell, it has
a mild and creamy flavor.
JUUSTOLEIPA: (Finland)
A hand made low fat cows milk slicing cheese in the form of a loaf. Often sliced and
toasted or drunked in coffee (also called LEIPAJUUSTO).
KACHKEISS: (Luxembourg)
A matured and harden Curd cheese cooked with butter, sour cream, seasoning and
sometimes yolk of egg, served on bread.
KAGGOST: (Sweden)
A medium soft and mild. Yellow colored cheese made from cows milk and
sometimes flavored with cumin.
KAJMAK: (Balkans)
FETA and CREAM CHEESE beaten with butter until fluffy and served as an appetizer.
KARTANO: (Finland)
A cows milk cheese similar to GOUDA.
KASSERI: (Greece)
A hard, Scalded-Curd, mild and white ewes milk cheese similar to PROVOLONE.
Often paned and deep fried a hors doeuvres but also used for dessert or as a
melting cheese on Greek pizza.
KATSHKAWALJ: (Bulgarian)
A Bulgarian cheese made from ewes milk, which is similar to the Italian
CACIOCAVALLO. It is found in various central European countries: in Yugoslavia it is
known as KACKAVALJ, and in Hungary as KASKAVAL SAJT. It has a fat content of
about 45% and its paste has a springy texture. KATSHKAWALJ is served fresh at the
end of a meal, or as a horse doeuvre with raw vegetables. When it is dry it can be
grated and used in the same way as PARMESAN CHEESE:
KERNHEM: (Holland)
A soft sticky cows milk cheese with (60% butterfat). Initially rind-less, it can be
ripened for 30 days in a cool damp atmosphere to give a rich full flavor and an
orange-brown rind.
KESTI: (Finland)
A cheese similar to TILSIT, flavored with caraway seeds.
KLOSTERKASE: (Germany)
A soft, surface ripened cheese made in block from semi-skimmed cows milk. Similar
to ROMADUR. Contains 52% water, 19% fat and 24% protein.
KOMIJNEKASS: (Holland)
A hard cheese flavored with caraway seeds and cloves.
KOPANISTI: (Greece)
A semi-hard creamy strong tasting blue cheese from the Aegean Islands. It is salted
and placed in pots to ripen for 1 to 2 months.
KORBKASE: (Germany)
A soft Acid-Curd cows milk cheese with a smooth texture and thin rind weighing to
125 g.
KRYDDOST: (Sweden)
A cows milk cheese flavored with caraway seeds and cloves.
KRYDDSVECIA: (Sweden)
SVECIAOST CHEESE flavored with various spices.
KUMMELKASE: (Germany)
A soft surface ripened caraway-flavored cows milk cheese. Contains 58% water, 21%
fat and 19% protein.
KURT: (Russian)
A hard pungent sun-dried ewes milk cheese from Kazakhstan.
LA BOUILLE: (France)
A soft double cream Normandy cheese with a fat content of 60%, made from
enriched cows milk. It is produced in the village of La Bouille and has a fruity flavor
and a strong bouquet. Firm to the touch and with a decorated rind, it is cylindrical in
shape, measuring 8 cm in diameter and 5.5 cm deep. LA BOUILLE is best from July to
March or April and should be served with a strong country cider or a full-bodied red
wine.
The local Normandy milk Churns are also called bouilles.
LAGUIOLE: (France)
A semi-hard pressed cows milk cheese from the mountains of Aquitaine, with a soft
dry rind and a supple homogeneous paste whose herby flavor comes from the
pasture on which the cows feed, resembling CANTAL. Protected by an appellation
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dorigine. Contains 37% water, 28% fat and 26% protein (also called FORME de
CANTAL, LAGUIOLE-AUBRAC).
LAGUIOLE-AUBRAC: (France)
A cows-milk cheese from Rouergue, contains 45% fat. It is a pressed uncooked
cheese with a natural brushed rind that is either light or dark gray, depending on its
storage time (from three to six months in a damp cellar). Made in Aubrey and
protected by an appellation contrle, LGUIOLE-AUBRAC, or FOURME de LAGUIOLE,
is shaped into a cylinder 40 cm in diameter and 35-40 cm high. A straw- colored
strong-flavored cheese that is springy to the touch; it is very similar to CANTAL. It is
best in March or April. LAGUIOLE-AUBRAC is served at the end of a meal or as a
snack and is also used in cabbage and bread soup. It is manufactured on a small
scale in the mountains pastures.
LANGRES: (France)
A cows-milk cheese (45% fat content) from Bassigny (Haute-Marne department) in
the Champagne area of France. LANGRES is a soft cheese with a reddish-brown rind
and is produced in rounds 10 cm diameter and 5 cm deep, which are slightly
hollowed out in the meddle. It is springy to the touch, with a creamy yellow paste. It
has a strong aroma and flavor, and is best served with a full-bodied wine or with
beer.
LANGRES: (France)
A soft, surface ripened and washed Curd cows milk cheese with a tangy flavor and
shaped like a squat cylinder (300 g). The salted Curd is ripened for 2 to 3 months.
LANGSKAILL: (U.K.)
A cows milk cheese from Scotland that resembles GOUDA.
LARUNS: (France)
A ewes milk cheese from the Basque country.
LATTERIA: (Italy)
The name generally used for cheese from the Friuli region.
LATVIISKI: (Russian)
A cows milk cheese with a strong smell and pungent taste (also called LATVIJSKY).
LAMUS: (France)
A cows milk cheese from Burgundy made in a brick shape and often soaked in
coffee.
LEIDEN: (Holland)
A Dutch cows-milk cheese (containing 40% fat) named after the city where it was
originally made; it is also called LEIDSE KASS and LEYDE. The cheese is flavored with
cumin seeds or cloves and has a brushed washed waxy rind. It is shaped into
flattened globe weighing between 5 and 10 kg, and its mild flavor is dominated by
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the flavor of the spices. LEIDEN is used in sandwiches and for canaps and crotes
as well as being served at the end of a meal.
LE MOINE: (Canada)
A cheese resembling PORT SALUT made by monks in Quebec.
LEON: (Spain)
A hard cows milk cheese, dry salted and ripened for about 20 days. It is made in
small cylinders (500 to 800 g) and has a close texture paste with a hard, yellow and
rough rind.
LEVROUX: (France)
A French goats-milk cheese (45% fat content) from the province of Berry. Shaped
like a truncated pyramid, it is made in the countryside around Levroux, in the Indre
department. It is similar to VALENAY, and some say that the latter is derived from
Levroux; they share the same characteristic.
LIEDERKRANZ: (U.S.A.)
A soft golden yellow cheese with an orange rind somewhat milder than LIEMBURG,
made in Ohio from cows milk.
LIGUEIL: (France)
A strong-flavored goats milk cheese from the Loire valley made in cylindrical shape.
LIMBURG: (Belgium)
A very strong smelling, soft, surface ripened cheese originally from Belgium then
adopted in Germany and now made worldwide. It is made from pasteurized full
cream cows milk started with Streptococcus lactic and Streptococcus thermophilus
to develops acidity, coagulated with Rennet, the Curd formed into small bricks, dry
salted, ripened at high humidity for about 10 days until the surface develops a red
color, then further ripened at lower temperature until finished. (Containing 40% fat)
it has a very strong aroma and a cream colored close textured paste. Many people
enjoy it with a glass of beer. Originally from the Belgian province of Limburg, it has
been copied in Germany, the United States, and Netherlands
LIPTAUER: (German)
The German name for a Hungarian cheese spread; the base is a fresh cheese
originally made in the province of Lipt and also called LIPTAI or JUHTUR. This
cheese is made with ewes milk, sometimes mixed with cows milk, and sold in small
wooden cases. It has a creamy color, a buttery consistency, and a slightly spicy
flavor. The spread is usually made by mixing the fresh cheese with cream, paprika,
chopped capers, onions, and anchovies; it is spread on wholewheat
Bread as a snack. It is also used as a stuffing for sweet pepper for a hors doeuvre:
this dish is very popular in Czechoslovakia, where it is usually accompanied by a
glass of lager.
LIPTAUER CHEESE mixed at the blending stage with cream and flavorings such as
anchovies, onion, capers, caraway seeds, chives, paprika, etc.
LIPTOI: (Hungary)
A soft creamy ewes milk cheese, similar to LIPTAUER.
LIVAROT: (France)
A cows-milk cheese (containing 40-45% fat) from the Calvados region of Normandy.
It ha a soft smooth paste and a washed brownish-red rind, traditionally tinted with
annatto (an orange dye from the fruit of a tropical American flowering tree). It is left
to mature for three or four months in a damp cellar. LIVAROT is one of the earliest
traditional Normandy cheeses. Thomas Cornville, in his dictionnaire universal
gographique ET historique of 1708, mentioned its excellent qualities. Its region of
origin is the Auge, and it is still only made in the village of the Livarot area. It is a
cylindrical cheese, 11-12 cm in diameter and 4-5 cm deep. Livarot is at its best from
November to June and has a fine firm elastic texture, whit no holes. It has a
distinctive but not overwhelming aroma, and a full-bodied flavor that is neither
bitter nor spicy. It is protected by an appellation dorigine and is still made on farms
by the traditional method using fresh milk, although there is some mass production
and smaller versions of the cheese, known as PETIT LISIEUX, are made.
LORMES: (France)
A goats milk cheese shaped like a cone from Nigerians.
LORRAINE: (France)
A whitish cows milk cheese with a distinct Lactic flavor formed into stubby
cylinders. Similar to MUNSTER and GEROME cheeses (also called GERARDMER,
GROSS LORRAINE).
LOUSTARI: (Finland)
A cows milk cheese resembling PORT- SALUT.
LUSIGNAN: (France)
A fresh goats milk cheese from Poitou:
LYMESWOLD: (U.K.)
So called designer cheese deliberately developed and marketed commercially in
1982 as the U.K. answer to soft blue cheeses. It did not survive.
MAASDAM: (Holland)
A yellow wax-coated cows milk cheese resembling EMMENTAL.
MACQUE: (Belgium)
A fresh soft cheese made from skimmed cows milk, which is sold in small blocks or
muslin (cheesecloth) bags. It is used to make a tart, which is very popular in
northern France and Belgium. The cheese is thoroughly drained, mixed with egg yolk
(and sometimes with herbs and pepper although the original recipe does not
include these items), when spread out on a raised dough base. When the tart is
cooked, the top is prickled and spread with butter, which melts and soaks into the
tart. It should be served warm as an entre
MAGNUM: (France)
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A rich creamy cows milk cheese from Normandy made in the shape of a disc and
similar to BRILLAT-SAVARIN.
MAHON: (Spain)
A semi-hard cow and ewes milk cheese from the Balearic Islands, white, soft and
creamy when young but becomes harder, darker and tastier as it matures. It is cast
in rounded brick shape and normally Brined, matured for three weeks, then coated
with olive oil.
MAIGRET: (Canada)
A, medium soft cheese made from skimmed cows milk in Quebec.
MAINZ: (Germany)
A hand molded cheese similar to HARZEKASE and often flavored with cumin. An
acquired taste.
MALAGA: (Spain)
A soft cream-colored cheese made from goats milk, covered with a yellow rind, with
a mild goatee flavor and many fine holes. Eaten fresh within a few days of
manufacture.
MAMIROLLE: (France)
A semi-hard washed-rind cows milk cheese made in the same way as LIMBURGER
but not as pungent. Usually brick-shaped (600 g).
MANCHEGO: (Spain)
A Spanish cheese made from ewes milk (57% fat), which originated in La Mancha. It
is cylindrical, 10 cm deep and 25 cm in diameter, and is sold either fresh or matured
for 5, 20, or 60 days. The cheese is very fatty and firm to the touch, cream in color,
and sometimes pierced with small holes; it has a strong bitter taste if it not very
fresh. MANCHEGO used to be stored in olive oil but today it usually has a waxed
rind.
MANDUR: (Balkan)
A hard gratin cheese made from a mixture of cow and ewes milk and the Whey from
cheese making.
MAREDSOUS: (Belgium)
A rectangular shaped cows milk cheese similar to PORT SALUT.
MANOORI: (Greece)
A ewes milk cheese from Crete eaten with honey as a dessert (also called
MANOURI).
MARGOTIN: (France)
A soft buttery cows milk cheese from Perigord, flavored with pepper or herbs.
MAROILLES: (France)
A French cows-milk cheese (containing 45-50% fat) with a soft yellow paste and a
smooth shiny reddish-brown rind. Named after the Abbey of Maroilles (Thirache),
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where it was first made around 960, it is semi-hard full flavored cheese with a
strong smell. Philippe Auguste, Louis XI, Franois I, and Fnelon, in particular,
greatly appreciated Maroilles cheese, which today is protected by an appellation
dorigine contrle. It is manufactured in the town of Vervins, Avesnes-sur-Helpe.
And Cambrai. MAROILLES is excellent in summer, autumn, and winter and is matured
for four months in a damp cellar. It is sold in 13 cm squares, 6 cm deep and weighing
800 g. SORBAIS, MIGNON, and QUART de MAROILLES are related cheeses that
benefit from the same appellation dorigine. All of them are good to eat at the end
of a meal, especially with beer. They are also used in various regional recipes.
MARIBO: (Denmark)
A semi-hard, Scalded-Curd open-textured cows milk cheese, cream colored with a
slightly lactic flavor and many small holes. The Curd which is cast in large rounds (to
14 kg) is salted and ripened for three to five weeks and covered in yellow wax. The
white paste has a mild to strong aromatic flavor depending on age.
MARIENHOFER: (Austria)
A cheese from Austrian Tyrol resembling LIMBURGER.
MASCARPONE: (Italy)
A rich unsalted CREAM-CHEESE-like confection made from cows cream heated to
90C, Curdled with Citric acid or Tartaric acid, drained then beaten or whipped and
eaten freshly made.
Sometimes flavored with chocolate, coffee, liqueur, brandy, etc. For use as a dessert.
Contains around 45% water, 45% fat, 7% protein and 2 to 3% Lactose (also called
MASCHERPONE).
MASNOR: (Balkan)
A semi-hard Cooked-Curd pear shaped goats milk cheese made in the same way as
RICOTTA,
Dry salted and ripened for one to two months.
MECKLENBERG: (Germany)
A hard cheese made from skimmed cows milk.
MELBURY: (U.K.)
A soft mild molded-ripened cheese with a mellow taste and formed in the shape of a
loaf.
MEREIDERAS: (Portugal)
Small fresh 50 g ewes milk cheese kept in olive oil prior to sale Lit. Intended for
lunch.
MESHANGER: (Holland)
A soft cows milk cheese with a delicate tasting and smooth paste covered with a
thin natural rind. Contains 53% water, 23% fat and 21% protein.
MESOST: (Sweden)
Cow milk Whey cheese made in the same way as GJETOST:
MI-CHEVRE: (France)
Cheese made from a mixture of goat and cows milk containing at least 25% goats
milk.
A cows-milk cheese (45% fat content), characterized by its orange color and shaped
like a flattened ball, 20 cm in diameter. It is compressed cheese with a dry hard gray
or brown rind. Depending on its maturity (young, semi-matured, or matured up to 18
months), the cheese may be supple, dry, or hard and flaky; the nutty flavor of the
young cheese gradually becomes more piquant. (The word mimolette comes from
the French mollet, meaning fairly soft.) The cheese is eaten at the end of a meal, but
may also be used in mixed salads and in preparation of crotes, canaps, cocktail
snacks, etc. The cheese can be steeped in Port or Madeira for one week before
eating. The Mimolette manufactured in France is sometimes called BOULE de LILLE
or VIEUX LILLE.
MISCHLING: (Austria)
A hard-Scalded-Curd strong-flavored mountain cheese made from cows milk
coagulated with a natural Lactic Starter. The paste contains a few irregular shaped
holes and cracked but the rind is dry, hard and unbroken.
MYSH: (Egypt)
A soft buffalo milk cheese which is kept for up to a year in salted buttermik.
MIZITRA: (Greece)
A RICOTTA-like cheese made from the Whey remaining after conventional cheese
making with ewes milk.
MOLBO: (Denmark)
AN EDAM-type cows milk cheese covered with wax.
MOLDAVIA: (Russia)
A hard smoked Scalded-Curd ewes milk cheese made in the form of a cylinder (to 25
kg). Contains 42% water, 31% fat and 25% protein.
MONDSEER: (Austria)
A semi-hard, Cooked-Curd cows milk cheese made with a Lactic Starter. The cheeses
are Brined then ripened for up to 8 weeks. The supple yellow paste contains small
irregular holes and is enclosed in a thin dry rind. The taste varies from mild to
piquant depending on age.
MONT-dOR: (France)
A French cheese made from goats milk, a mixture of cow and goats milk, or (now
increasingly common) from cows milk only. Containing 45% fat, it is a soft cheese
with a crust, which is slightly blue with a hint of red in it. The best MONT-dOR is
made in the region around Lyon and is becoming rare. Sold in the form of small
discs, 8-9 cm in diameter and 1.5 cm thick, it has a delicate flavor like that of a
mature SAINT-MARCELLIN. It is at its best in winter, eaten with Beaujolais. (MONT-
dOR cheese should not be confused with the MONT-dOR VACHERIN):
MONTASIO: (Italy)
A hard, Cooked-Curd wheel shaped (to 15 kg) cows milk cheese made with a Whey
Starter, pressed, salted 10 days, Brined for up 7 days and ripened for 6- to 12
months and varies from dessert cheese to a gratin cheese it ages. Resembles
ASIAGO.
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MONTRACHET: (France)
A small, delicate and creamy goats milk cheese made in the shape of a small
cylinder and wrapped in grape or chestnut leaves.
MONTSEGUR: (France)
A bland cows milk cheese from Languedoc-Roussillon.
MORBIER: (France)
A French cows-milk cheese (45% fat content) from Franche-Comt. Maturing in two
to three months, it is a firm cheese with a natural light gray or slightly orange crust
and a firm creamy paste with a dark horizontal line running through the middle of it.
It should have a fairly strong flavor. MORBIER is disc-shaped, 35-40 cm in diameter
and 8 cm thick. It is traditionally made by superimposing the Curd obtained from the
evenings milking on that obtained from mornings milking, with a protective layer
of fat between them. MORBIER (named after a commune in the Jura) is particularly
good in the spring, the result of the winters production from the chalets of the
foothills.
MORLACCO: (Italy)
A semi-hard, Scalded-Curd cows milk cheese similar to MONTASIO with a smooth
rind and a firm paste with a few holes.
MORON: (Spain)
A mild and delicate white cheese made from a variety of milks in the Seville region
and often consumed within 24 hours of production. If kept longer it is steeped in
olive oil and rubbed with paprika.
MORVEN: (U.K.)
A soft cows milk cheese with a yellow rind from Scotland made into square blocks.
It is similar to BUTTERKASE and like that cheese is flavored with caraway seeds.
MOSKOVSKI: (Russian)
A hard cows milk cheese with a good flavor matured for three to four months.
MOTAL: (Russian)
A salty ewe or cows milk cheese from the Caucasus matured in Brine for three to
four months.
MOZZARELLA: (Italy)
An Italian soft pale spun-curd cheese originating from Latium and Campania, still
made with buffaloes milk in these areas but with cows milk (40-45% fat) in the rest
of Italy. It is a fresh cheese, springy and white; the mild flavor has a slight bite.
MOZZARELLA is kept in salted water or Whey, shaped into balls or loaves of varying
size (100 g to 1 kg). The buffaloes-milk cheese which has a more delicate flavor, is
eaten at the end of a meal; the cows-milk cheese is used mainly for cooking,
particularly for pizzas, but also (with the addition of RICOTTA) for preparing a
lasagne gratin or for stuffing fried rice croquettes. MOZZARELLA in carrozza, a
popular Neapolitan snack, is a small sandwich filled with cheese, rolled in flour,
dipped in beaten egg, fried in oil, and eaten very hot.
MURAZZANO: (Italy)
A soft cheese made from a mixture of 60% ewes milk and 40% cows milk. It is
formed into small cylinders (to 400 g), dry salted, and then wash daily for seven
days. It has no rind and a dense texture.
MURBODNER: (Austria)
A large (to 15 kg) hard, Cooked-Curd cows milk cheese resembling EMMENTAL
which is ripened foe two months. It contains 39% water, 28% fat and 26% protein.
MUROL: (France)
A semi-hard washed-rind pressed cows milk cheese from the Auvergne, with a
compressed center and a pink or reddish washed crust. Its center, which is yellow
and yielding to the touch, has a mild flavor. Named after a village in Puy-de-Dme,
where it was created (according to Androuet) by a man called Jean Brioux, MUROL
is best eaten in summer and autumn. Ti is shaped like a flat cylinder, 12 cm in
diameter and 3.5 cm thick, pierced in the center by a hole 4 cm in diameter (made to
speed up maturing). The central part is shaped into a truncated cone, coated with
red wax, and sold under the name of MUROLAIT.
MYCELLA: (Denmark)
A semi-hard full fat cows milk cheese shaped in cylinders and with a creamy yellow
blue veined paste. Milder than DANSH BLUE. It is used mainly as a table cheese, but
can be also be used in salads, and salads dressing.
MYSST: (Norway)
A fawn, slightly sweet caramel-flavored cheese made from the Whey from a mixture
of cow and goats milk in a similar manner to RICOTTA. The Whey is boiled and
reduced to a brown sticky mass containing Whey proteins, Lactose and caramelized
sugar. It is stirred whilst cooking to a solid to prevent crystallization of the sugar.
43
Usually cut or shaved in very thin slices and served on crisp-bread, but also used in
cooking (also called GJETOST, NORWEGIAN WHEY CHEESE).
MYSUOSTUR: (Iceland)
A cheese very similar to MISST made from the Whey of cows milk.
NAGELKASS: (Holland)
A pale strong-flavored and very hard dense cows milk cheese made with a Lactic
Starter, flavored with cumin and cloves and matured for six months. The hard yellow
rind is usually oiled. The un-spiced version is KANTERKASS (also called FRISSE,
NAGELKAAS, FRISE).
NANTAIS: (France)
A Breton cows-milk cheese made with pressed Curds (40% fat content). It has a
smooth washed rind and the paste is springy to the touch and pale to deep yellow in
color. It has a pronounced flavor and is manufactured in 9 cm squares, 4 cm deep.
NANTAIS is also known as CUR or FROMAGE du CUR because it was first made
in the 19th century by a priest from the Vende.
NEUFCHTEL: (France)
A cows-milk cheese (45% fat content), with a white downy rind mottled with red
and soft smooth creamy golden-yellow paste. It has a mild flavor and is sold in
various shapes rectangular, square, cylindrical, or heart-shaped. It has been made
in Neufchtel, a small town in the Seine-Maritime region, since the Middle Ages and
is now protected by an AOC, guaranteeing its source of manufacture. Several other
cheeses are very similar to NEUFCHTEL, e.g. COEUR de BRAY, BONDON, GOURNAY,
etc.
NIEHEIMER: (Germany)
A soft cheese made with skimmed cows milk coagulated with Lactic acid. The Curd is
salted and flavored with caraway seeds, formed into 40 g cheeses, ripened for a
short time and wrapped in hop leaves (also called HOPFENKASE).
NIEGUSKI: (Balkan)
A hard, Scalded-Curd, pressed ewes milk cheese made in a drum shape (to 3 kg). It
is dry salted and ripened for up to four months. Contains 33% water, 33% fat and
31% protein.
NIOLO: (France)
A Corsican cheese made either from ewes milk or a mixture of goat and ewes milk
(fat content at least 45%). NIOLO has a soft texture and a natural grayish-white rind.
After being soaked for three or four months in Brine it is firm to the touch, with a
sharp flavor and a strong smell. NIOLO is a farmhouse cheese, made in 13 cm
squares, 4-6 cm deep. It is best from May to December.
NOKKELOST: (Norway)
A hard Scalded-curd cheese made in wheels (to 15 kg) from semi-skimmed cows
milk flavored with cumin and caraway. It contains 43% water, 20% fat and 33%
protein also called NOKKE).
NORMANNA: (Norway)
A semi-hard cows milk cheese made with a Lactic Starter. The cylindrical cheese (to
3 kg) is ripened for two months and develops a sharp flavor and patches of greenish
blue coloration in the white paste.
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NORVEGIA: (Norway)
A semi-hard cows milk cheese resembling GOUDA. The paste contains small holes.
OAXACA: (Mexico)
A fresh spun-Curd cows milk cheese similar to PROVOLONE.
ODELSOSTUR: (Iceland)
A cows milk cheese, which resembles EMMENTAL.
OELENBERG: (France)
A mild-flavored, cows milk cheese from Oelenberg monastery, suitable for cooking
as well as dessert uses (also called TRAPPISTE dOELENBERG).
OKA: (Canada)
A semi-hard cows milk cheese resembling PORT-SALUT from the village of Oka near
Montreal.
OLENDA: (Italy)
A cheese similar to EDAM.
OLERON: (France)
A mild cream ewes milk cheese from the Ile dOleron on the Atlantic coast.
OLIVET: (France)
A soft cows milk cheese made in the same way as CAMEMBERT in Loiret. It is eaten
after two days ripening or left to ripen for a months in damp cellars when it
develops a stronger flavor due to the growth of mould on its surface. It is then
known as OLIVET BLUE.
OLMUTZER: (Austria)
A strong-flavored cows milk cheese similar to HANDKASE, sometimes flavored with
caraway seeds.
ORDUNA: (Spain)
A hard cylindrical (to 1.5 kg) ewes milk cheese with no holes, ripened for 30 to 40
days.
ORKNEY: (U.K.)
A firm cows milk cheese from Orkney, resembling DUNLOP:
OROPESA: (Spain)
A hard ewes milk cheese from Toledo cast in cylinders (to 2 kg). It has a dark paste
containing small holes and a hard thick rind after ripening for two or three months.
Similar to MANCHEGO.
ORRIS: (France)
A hard strong tasting cows milk cheese from Languedoc-Roussillon made in shape
of a large flat disc. May be used for gratin.
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OSSAU-IRATY: (France)
A French ewes-milk cheese produced by an appellation dorigine but often sold
under the name FROMAGE de BREBIS des PYRNES, with a fat content of at least
50%, the cheese has a creamy yellow lightly pressed Curd, a smooth orange-yellow
to gray rind, and a pronounced flavor. It is made in the shape of a flat disc with
straight or slightly convex sides, in two sizes 24.5-28 cm in diameter, 12-14 cm
deep, weighing 4-7 kg; and 20 cm in diameter, 10-12 cm deep, weighing 2-3 kg. It
can be eaten at the end of a meal, on canaps, as a snack, or as part of mixed salad.
OVAR: (Hungary)
A supple textured, yellow cows milk cheese with a reddish-brown rind resembling
TILSIT.
OVOLI: (Italy)
A small- shaped MOZZARELLA CHEESE sometimes eaten with Parma Ham.
PAGLIA: (Switzerland)
A soft cheese similar to GORGONZOLA from Ticino.
PANNARONE: (Italy)
A rich, soft, quick ripening cheese from south Lombardy, made from whole milk, the
Curds not salted but gathered in cheese cloths, drained, kept at 28C for seven days
and ripened for further 8 to 19 days at a lower temperature. It has a thin yellow rind
and a white to fawn, mild and slightly bitter paste with lots of small holes (also
called PANNERONE).
PANNONIA: Hungary)
A hard cows milk cheese similar to GRUYRE and made in cylinders (to 40 kg). The
paste has a few holes and a pleasant flavor. Contains 38% water, 31% fat and 30%
protein.
PARMESAN: (Italy)
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An Italian cheese made from skimmed cows milk (32% butterfat) mixed with Rennet
and cooked for 30 minutes. It goes throughout several processes of draining and
drying before being coated. Hard, yellow, and with crumbly granular consistency
(hence the generic name of grana given in Italy to gratin cheeses of the same type),
PARMESAN CHEESE has a very fruity, even piquant, flavor. It was known in Parma in
the 13th century (it may have originated here or in Tuscany, in the 11 th century) and
by the 14th was being used grated on pasta. A Duchess of Parma who married a
grandson of Louis XV introduced it into France.
The true PARMESAN CHEESE (Parmigiano reggiano) is manufactured from 15 April
to 11 November in the province of Parma and also in the provinces of Bologna and
Mantua. Known and appreciated throughout the world, PARMESAN CHESE is formed
into cylindrical milestone shapes with slightly convex side, 33-45 cm in diameter, 18-
24 cm in height, and weighing about 30 kg. It takes at least one year to mature; the
best, called STRAVECCHIO, takes more than three years, and some cheeses mature
for up to ten years (they are then extremely hard).
PARMIGIANO continue
The cheese experts judge the cheese millestone, by tapping them with a little
hammer; those with a doubtful sound are sold grated. PARMESAN CHEESE is
principally used grated in cookery, for soups, pasta, souffls, gratins, and stuffed
vegetables, particularly aubergines (eggplant). It is always preferable to grate the
cheese just before using it. PARMESAN is rarely included on a cheese board,
although it is sometimes served cut into small pieces with aperitifs.
The term la parmesane is used to describe preparations, which include
PARMESAN CHEESE, usually gratins.
They are categorized as VECCHIO (OLD); STRAVECCHIO (EXTRA OLD); TIPICO (4or 5
years old); GIOVANE (LESS MATURE TABLE CHEESE). Other GRANA CHEESES included
GRANA PADANO, made in considerable quantity throughout Lombardy, a low-fat
cheese with a Eyed paste of small holes; GRANA LOMBARDO from around Milan.
PASSENDALE: (Belgium)
A semi-hard loaf shaped cows milk cheese weighing up to 7 kg. The moist and
supple paste has many small holes.
PASTORELLA: (Italy)
A small version of BEL PAESE CHEESE.
PECORINO: (Italy)
An Italian ewes-milk grana (grain) cheese. PECORINO is hard-pressed with a yellow
crust when mature (those made in Siena have e red crust). The name is derived from
the Italian word of ewe (pecora). The cheese was praised by Pliny and Columella,
who described its manufacture in De re rustica. PECORINO CHEESE has a white,
cream, or straw- yellow center, depending on its degree of maturity. It is produced
from October to June in southern Italy. There are several varieties, the best known
being PECORINO ROMANO, a cooked cheese from Lazio. It is matured for at least
eight months and contains 36% fat. It is manufactured in cylinders 20-26 cm in
diameter and 14-22 cm high. It has a strong flavor, and is used as a table cheese or,
when sufficiently aged, as a condiment, likes PARMESAN CHEESE. PECORINO
SICILIANO and PECORINO SARDO, the Sicilian and Sardinian varieties, contains more
fat and are uncooked cheeses. They have an equally strong flavor.
PEDROCHES: (Spain)
A hard ewes milk cheese with holes in the paste, ripened for one to two months.
Contains 40% water, 30% fat and 24% protein.
PANCARRENG: (U.K.)
A Welsh cheese made from pasteurized cows milk resembling BRIE in appearance
but softer and with a stronger flavor.
PENTELEU: (Romania)
A ewes milk cheese very similar to KASHKAVAL (also called DOBROGEA):
PLARDRON: (France)
A small goats-milk cheese from Cvennes (45% fat content), with a soft white
center and a very fine natural crust. Its full name depends on the region where it is
produced: in Cvennes it is known as PLARDON des CVENNES; in the ARDCHE as
PLARDON de RUOMS; and in Gard, where it is often steeped in white wine, it is
called PLARDON dANDUZE (or sometimes PRALDOU). It measure 6-7 cm in
diameter and is 2.5-3 cm thick. This cheese is made on the farm and has a delicious
nutty flavor. It is in season from May to November.
PEPATO: (Italy)
A PECORINO type cheese containing crushed peppercorns.
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PETRUS: (Belgium)
A pale yellow, supple textured, strong smelling but mild-flavored cows milk cheese
from Loo with an orange rind. The cheese contains many small holes.
PETIT-SUISS: (France)
A French cheese made with cows milk enriched with cream, giving it a high fat
content (60-75%). It is a fresh cheese, unsalted, smooth, and soft, sold in form of
30-g wrapped cylinders. Originally, it weight 60 g and was called SUISSE. In spite of
its name, it was first made not in Switzerland but in Normandy, in 1850, when a
Swiss employee of a cheese-monger in Auvilliers had the idea of adding cream to
the milk used to make the fresh BONDON CHEESE. The larger cheeses are now
known as DOUBLE PETITS-SUISSE.
PICADON: (France)
A soft goats-milk cheese from the Rhone valley cast in 100 g discs. The white paste
has a sharp nutty-flavored taste after maturing for one to four weeks. It has AOC
status contains 45% fat.
PICODON: (France)
A goats-milk cheese (45% fat content) with a soft center and a fine natural crust
that is bluish, golden, or reddish, depending on the ripeness of the cheese. Picodon
the name comes from the Languedocian word pico (to sting) has a strong or nutty
flavor. It id produced in several regions and is in season between May to December.
PICODON de DIEULEFIT (in Dauphin) is 6-7 cm in diameter and 2-3 cm thick; it is
steeped in white wine: PICODON de SAINT-AGRVE (in Languedoc) is slightly larger
and has a less pronounced flavor. PICODON de VALRAS is eaten when half-ripe.
PIGOUILLE: (France)
A creamy cheese from Charente made from any milk and usually sold wrapped in
straw.
PIKATINIJ: (Russian)
A semi-hard surface ripened cows milk cheese with scatted holes. Contains 45%
water, 25% fat and 23% protein.
PLIZ: (Germany)
A crumbly, yellowish, blue-veined semi-soft cows milk cheese (to 5 kg) with a strong
distinctive flavor and a soft dry rind. Usually served as a dessert cheese. Contains
49% water, 27% fat and 18% protein (also called EDELPIZKASE).
PIORA: Switzerland)
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A hard scalded-curd cows milk cheese shaped like a cylinder (to 12 kg). The cheeses
are salted and ripened for up to six months.
PITHIVIERS: (France)
A cows-milk cheese from the Orlans area, with a high fat content (40-50%), a soft
textured, and ripened under a thin layer of hay, it is a supple cream-yellow cheese
when ripe, with a strong flavor. Very similar to COLOMMIERS, it is shaped into
rounds, 12 cm in diameter and 2.5 cm thick.
PLATTEKAAS: (Belgium)
A Curd cheese usually made from cows milk.
PLODERKASE: (Switzerland)
A soft scalded-curd surface ripened cows milk cheese coagulated with a Lactic
Starter, formed into blocks (to 10 kg), dry salted and ripened. The paste is smooth
with a slightly bitter taste.
POMMEL: (France)
An unsalted double cream cows milk cheese similar to PETIT-SUISS.
PONT-lVQUE: (France)
A soft cows-milk cheese (50% fat) from Normandy, with a washed or brushed crust,
matured for six weeks in a damp cellar. 10 cm square and 3 cm thick, it is sold either
wrapped in waxed paper in a wooden box or unwrapped. It should have a smooth
crust, golden yellow or orange in color and never sticky, hard, or grayish. The
interior should be soft but not runny. It has a pronounced flavor and should smell
of the earth, not manure: if it smells too strong, it can be unpacked and wrapped in
a dump cloth for half a day.
PONT-lVQUE is served at the end of a meal with a full-bodied red wine. The
name comes from the chief market town of Calvados, where it is made. Probably one
of the oldest cheeses of Normandy, it was mentioned by Guillarme de Lorris in the
Roman de la Rose, when it was known as Angelot (from Augelot, meaning cheese
from Auge). It is best in the autumn and winter. The cheese should be cut first in
half through the center, then progressively towards the edges, keeping the
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remaining portions together so that the interior does not dry out. It is still often
farm produced. The PAV dAUGE is similar but thicker. It has AOC status. Contains
47% water, 27% fat and 20% protein.
POSHEKHSKIJ: (Russian)
A hard scalded-curd cows milk cheese with a hard dry rind and containing small
irregular holes. Contains 41% water, 26% fat and 26% protein.
POULIGNY-SAINT-PIERRE: (Russia)
A goats-milk cheese from Berry (45% fat content), with a smooth Curd and a fine
natural rind with a bluish tinge. It is firm but smooth with a pronounced flavor, and
is shaped like an elongated pyramid (hence its nickname EIFFEL TOWER. It is
farmhouse-made, at its best from April to November, and protected by an AOC
(which limits its production to the district of Blanc, in the department of Indre). It is
sometimes maturated in its mould, between plane leaves, with a little marc brandy.
POURLY: (France)
A goats-milk cheese from Burgundy (45% fat content) with a soft Curd and a natural
rind, which is fine and bluish. It is fairly smooth, with a flavor of hazelnuts and a
goatee smell, and is made exclusively i.e. Dessert (Yonne): Molded into a small
cylinder with convex sides, 10 cm in diameter, 6 cm high, and weighing about 300 g,
it is at its best between April and November.
PRASTOST: (Sweden)
A semi-hard, creamy cows milk cheese with an open textured and some scatted
holes. Sometimes covered in wax. Contains 40% water, 30% fat and 25% protein. Lit.
PRIESTS CHEESE.
PROVOLA: (Italy)
A soft spun-curd cheese made with buffalo or cows milk in the same way as
MOZZARELLA but ending up rather more firm. It is formed into 500 g pear shapes
and a string tied around the top leaves a small sphere where the stalk of the pear
would be.
PROVOLONE: (Italy)
An Italian cows-milk cheese (44% butterfat), generally smoked, with a compressed
and grained center. It has a natural crust which is smooth, shiny, and usually golden-
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yellow (sometimes brown). Soft, smooth, and creamy or yellow inside, PROVOLONE
cheese has a mild or piquant flavor depending on how long it has been ripened (two
to six months).
Originating from Campania (where it was originally manufactured with buffaloes
milk), it is now produced throughout southern Italy. It is molded by hand into
various shapes (pear, melon, piglet, sausage, etc.), weighing 1-5 kg. The giant
PROVOLONE is in the form of a long cylinder weighing 22-90 kg. IT generally bears
to marks of the string, which has been used to hang it up during ripening. Fine and
soft when young, PROVOLONE is a good table cheese, which is also used for
canaps, on toast, and in mixed salads; it is grated like PARMESAN when mature.
PULTOST: (Norway)
A soft cooked-curd naturally Curdled cheese made from very low fat cows milk. The
Curds are salted and often flavored with caraway seeds to give a very tasty paste.
Contains 60% water, 3% fat and 30% protein (also called KNAOST, RAMOST).
PUZOL: (Spain)
A soft ewes milk cheese eaten very fresh. Contains 61% water, 21% fat and 18%
protein.
PYRAMIDE: (France)
A soft surface ripened goats milk cheese with a sweet flavor, which becomes
stronger as it ripens. It is formed in the shape of a truncated pyramid and
sometimes coated with ashes to dry it out.
QUARTIROLO: (Italy)
A soft, cows milk cheese similar to TALEGGIO made with a Lactic Starter and having
a distinctive mushroom flavor.
QUEIJO da SERRA:
The famous semi-hard high fat cheese made from the milk of ewes pastured on the
high meadows of the northeast. It resembles well-flavored BRIE and is eaten either
runny or ripened until firm and pungent. Its origin and method of production are
controlled by the government (also called SERRA).
QUESO: (Spain)
A Spanish word for cheese. Numerous cheeses in Spain and Latin America are called
simply queso, followed by a qualifying adjective.
QUESO ANEJO: (Mexico)
A dry Mexican crumbly cheese made from goat or cows milk, served with cornmeal
pancakes, and sometimes sprinkled with red pepper (it is then known as
ENCHILADO).
RABACAL: (Portugal)
53
A mild, white and soft Curd cheese made from a mixture of ewe and goats milk
Eaten young but the taste intensified as it ripens.
RACLETTE: (Switzerland)
Unpasteurized cows milk cheese similar to GRUYRE and made in rounds (to 10 kg)
the word RACLETTE means literally a scraping. (See VALAIS RACLETTE).
RAGUSANO: (Italy)
A hard, Scalded and Spun Curd cheese from Sicily made in rectangular blocks (to 12
kg). It is matured for three months for dessert use up to 12 months for gratin. The
dessert cheese has a mild delicate flavor; the gratin cheese which had an oiled dark
brown rind is sharp and savory.
RAHMFRISCHKASE: (German)
A soft fresh cheese made with Acid Curdled cows milk. Contains 70% water, 18% fat
and 9% protein:
RASCHERA: (Italy)
A semi-hard cows milk cheese sometimes with ewe or goats milk added. It is made
in squares (to 8 kg) and has a yellow, supple paste with a delicate taste and
containing a few holes (also called RASCHIERA).
RASSKASE: (Switzerland)
A hard cooked-curd cows milk cheese similar to but stronger tasting and less supple
than APPENZELL and with more holes. It is slightly bitter.
RAUCHERKASE: (Germany)
Natural smoked cheese, often of the processed kind and with various flavorings and
additives.
REBLOCHON: (France)
A cows-milk cheese made in Savoy (50% fat content), with a pressed uncooked curd
and a washed rind, yellow, pink, or orange in color. It is very pliable, creamy, and
fine-textured, with a sweet nutty taste, and was known in the 15 th century. Its name
comes from the French verb reblocher, meaning to milk a second time, because
the cheese used to be made in the Alpine meadows from the last milk to be drawn
from the cow, which is very rich in fat. Since 1958 it has been protected by an AOC,
applying to the districts of Annecy, Bonneville, Saint-Julien-en-Genevois, and Thonon
(in the department of Haute-Savoie) and Albertville and saint-Jean-de-Maurienne 8in
the department of Savoie). It is shaped like a flat disc 13 cm in diameter and 2.5 cm
thick; there is also smaller version, 9 cm in diameter and 3 cm thick. It is made both
on farms and in dairies and can be eaten from May to October.
REMOUDOU: (Belgium)
A Belgian cows-milk cheese with a fat content of 45%; it has a soft Curd and a
piquant flavor. The name is derived from the German Rahum, meaning fresh
cream. The cheese is made in the town of Battice and dates from the time of
Charles V. La Confrrie du Remoudou undertake the promotion of all dairy products
from the plain of Herve. The German cheese ROMADOUR is similar, as is ROMALOUR
from Lorraine, which Zola mentions in Le Vendre de Paris. The ROMANTOUR (sic)
wrapped in its silver paper.
REQUEIJAO: (Portugal)
A cheese similar to RICOTTA made from the Whey of ewes milk, often enriched with
butter and cream. It is white, smooth and has a fresh taste. Sold in straw baskets
and served on figs or cabbage leaves.
54
RICOTTA: (Italy)
An Italian soft Curd cheese made from the Whey produced as a by-product in the
manufacture of various cow and ewes milk cheeses. Rind-less, with a granular
crumbly texture, RICOTTA is used mainly in cooking, to spread on canaps and
sandwiches, in mixed salads, for pancake fillings, in sauces for pasta, in forcemeats
and stuffings, in fritter batters, or as an ingredient for gnocchi. It may also be
served as a dessert with sugar or jam, or blended with Marsala, or white vinaigrette.
It is an ingredient of two famous Italian specialties: Sicilian cassata, a cake made
with chocolate, RICOTTA, and crystallized (candied) fruit; and CROSTATA di RICOTTA,
a kind of tart filled with a mixture of RICOTTA, grated orange and lemon peel, sugar,
raisins, almonds, pine nuts, candied orange peel end egg yolk. Also the very world
famous CANNOLI ALLA SICILIANA.
RIGATELLO: (Italy)
A hard-scalded-curd cows milk cheese made in cylinders (to 3 kg). The paste is
hard, dense with a few cracks and strong tasting. Eaten for a dessert or used for
cooking; see also CANESTRATO.
RIGOTTE de CONDRIEU: (France)
A cheese from the Lyon district made from cows milk or mixed cows and goats
milk; it is soft, with a naturally formed yellow or reddish rind, and contains 45-50%
fat. Firm and creamy white with a mild but slightly acid flavor, it is made in shape of
squat cylinders, 4 cm in diameter and 3.5 cm deep, usually sold in threes or more.
The very similar RIGOTTE des ALPS, produced in Dauphin, is often macerated in
white wine.
ROBIOLA: (Italy)
A soft surface ripened cows milk cheese from Lombardy and Piedmont made by
using a natural or Cultured Lactic Starter and Rennet coagulation. The Curd is cast
in square moulds (20 by 20 cm) to drain, remolded, cut in 4 pieces, dry salted or
Brined and ripened at high humidity (also called ROBBIOLA)
ROBIOLINI: (Italy)
Very small (to 70 g) soft raw cows milk cheese Curdled with Acid Whey and Rennet
and ripened for 10 to 15 days at high humidity (also called FORMAGGINI):
ROMANO: (U.S.A.)
A hard, cooked-curd drum-shaped cows milk cheese made in the PECORINO
ROMANO manner. It is close textured with a strong taste and thin rind. Contains 32%
water, 26% fat and 33% protein.
RONCAL: (Spain)
A hard ewes milk cheese made in 2 kg rounds and matured for 4 months. It has a
yellowish white, hard but open textured paste with a pungent taste. The rind is
slightly brown and slightly greasy. Used as a dessert cheese or for cooking.
ROLLOT: (France)
A soft highly flavored cows-milk cheese from the Picardy region (45% fat content),
with a washed reddish or orange-yellow rind. It was already a popular cheese in the
reign of LOUIS XIV. ROLLOT is either heart-shaped or wheel-shaped (about 4 cm
thick) and is made by smaller dairies, especially those in the region around Rollot,
Amiens, and Beauvais. It is at the best between November and June.
ROUY: (France)
A soft strong-smelling cows milk cheese from Dijon, packed in square boxes.
ROYALP: (Switzerland)
A mild, semi-hard cheese made from un-pasteurized cows milk cast in large rounds
(to 5 kg), similar to TILSIT with a buttery paste and moist reddish brown rind.
Contains 39% water, 28% fat and 27% protein.
RUTALND: (U.K.)
CHEDDAR CHEESE flavored with beer, chopped parsley and garlic.
ROQUEFORT: (France)
French ewes-milk cheese (45% fat content) made in the Rougue district. The cheese
is blue-veined, smooth, and creamy, with a naturally formed rind, and has a strong
smell and pronounced flavor. ROQUEFORT is one of the oldest known cheeses: it was
mentioned by Pliny the Elder; it was Charlemagnes favorite cheese; and in 1411
Charles VI signed a charter giving the inhabitants of Roquefor-sur-Soulzon, a village
in the Aveyron, sole rights to the maturing of this soft cheese.
ROQUEFORT was the first cheese to benefit from an appellation dorigine,
conferred by a statute of 26 July 1926. The cheese is matured in natural caves in the
mountains of Cambelou. Most of the milk comes from the Aveyronregion, then from
Tarn, Lozre, Hrault, and Gard; the Pyrenees and Corsica make up any shortfall, but
the only place where the cheese can be matured is the commune of Roquefort. After
being seeded with the Spore of Penicillium roqueforti, the cheese is matured for
three months in a dump cave, where the fleurines (humid currents of air) encourage
the development of the blue veins. The best season is from June to December.
A ROQUEFORT CHEESE is shaped like a cylinder, 19-20 cm in diameter and 8.5-10.5
cm high, wrapped in foil. It can be bought in slices, portions, or even creamed, but it
is always better to take a piece from the whole cheese, particularly when it is to be
served at the end of a meal. It should then be accompanied by a really full-bodied
red wine (such as Chteauneuf-du Pape or Madiran) or even an old Port or
Sauternes. Curnonsky recommended a Clos de Vougeot or Haut-Brion. ROQUEFORT
is also used in a number of recipes: mixed salads, sauces and flavored butters (for
spreading on canaps or to serve with a grill or roast meat), souffls, pancakes, puff
pastries, soups, etc.
SAANENKASE: (Switzerland)
56
A hard, cooked-curd cows milk cheese similar to SBRINZ, suitable for slicing or
grating. The cheese is dry salted and matured in cool damp conditions for up to five
years (also called WALLISKASE.
SAINGORLON: (France)
A soft blue-veined cows milk cheese similar to GORGONZOLA and cast in 5 to 10 kg
cylinders. Contains 55% water, 21% fat and 20% protein.
SAINT-BENOIT: (France)
A round cows milk cheese from the Loire with a fruity flavor.
SAINTE-MAURE: (France)
A French goats-milk cheese from Touraine (45% fat content), with a soft Curd and a
thin natural bluish rind, sometimes marked with pink. The best source is the Sante-
Maure plateau, where the cheese is farmhouse-made and has a particularly good
flavor in summer and autumn. It is firm and creamy with a fairly pronounced goatee
smell and a well-developed bouquet. It is cylindrical in shape, 15 cm long and 4 cm
in diameter. Sometimes a straw is inserted through the center, running the length of
the cheese. LIGUEIL, another cheese from the Tours is, is similar to SAINTE-MAURE
and has the same shape.
SAINT-FLORENTIN: (France)
A French cows-milk cheese (45% fat content), with a soft Curd and a smooth
reddish-brown washed rind. SAINT-FLORENTIN is a wheel-shaped cheese, 12-13 cm
in diameter and 3 cm thick; it is best from November to June and has a fairly strong
flavor. However, it is often sold unmatured, as a soft cheese, which tastes very
sweet and milky.
The small town in the Yonne region from which it comes has also given its name to
a trout dish known as la Saint-Florentin, which was described by Fulbert Dumonteil
as flavored with nutmeg and cloves, cooked over a clear flame in a Chablis wine
which, when well heated, gives it a crown of fire.
Saint-Florentin is also the name of a square Genoese sponge cake which is split in
half, soaked with Kirsch, and filled with a cream made with Italian meringue, melted
butter, Kirsch, and glac (candied) cherries (or fresh strawberries, in season). The
top of the cake is iced (frosted) with pink fondant and the sides are left uncovered,
to show the fruit in the filling.
SAINT-MARCELLIN: (France)
57
A French cows-milk (formerly goats-milk) cheese from the Dauphin (50% fat
content), with a soft Curd and thin natural rind, which is bluish-gray. It has a sweet
but slightly acid taste, and is marketed as small disc, 7-8 cm in diameter and 2 cm
thick. SAINT MARCELLIN goes well with light fruity Beaujolais. In Lyon it is also used
for making fromage fort (see cheese), macerated in salt, herbs, and sometimes
cream.
It is said to have been discovered by the future LUIS XI when he was governor
of the Dauphin; when he come to the throne he had it included on the royal table.
SAINT-PAULIN: (France)
Pasteurized cows-milk cheese (45% fat content) with a pressed Curd and washed
smooth orange rind, which shows traces of the cheesecloth in which it is wrapped
when pressed. Now made all over France, it is derived from the monastery cheeses,
particularly that of PORT-du-SALUT (the best come from Maine, Anjou, and Brittany).
SANT-PAULIN is soft and smooth, with a sweet taste. It looks like a small millstone,
20-22 cm in diameter and 4-6 cm thick. It is served at the end of the meal, but can
also be used for crotes, croque-monsieur, mixed salad
SAINT-REMY: (France)
A soft, washed rind cows milk cheese from Lorraine with a strong smelling paste
and reddish-brown rind. Made in squares.
SALERS: (France)
A cheese from Auvergne made from untreated whole cows milk (45% fat), with a
firm Curd, pressed twice, and a grayish-brown natural brushed rind. It is protected
by an appellation dorigine, which defines its area of production and maturing as
well as its shape and condition of manufacture. Farmhouse SALERS is similar to
LAGUIOLE and CANTAL; it has a strong flavor, is cylindrical (38-48 cm in diameter),
and weighs 30-40 kg. Formerly, the milk used came exclusively from Salers cows.
SAMSO: (Denmark)
A Danish cows-milk cheese (45% fat), from the island of the same name, with a
pressed Curd and a golden yellow rind coated with paraffin wax. Mild and firm, with
a few holes, it acquires a nutty flavor after a few months maturing. It is made in
rounds disc 45 cm in diameter, weighing about 15 kg.
SANROCH: (Italy)
A somewhat sharp soft goats milk cheese made in small elongated- cylinders.
SAPSAGO: (Switzerland)
A very hard grating cheese from Switzerland made from cows milk and shaped like
a truncated cone, weighing from 50 to 200 g. it is flavored with a local herb
Melilotus caerulea which gives it a green tinge. Contains 37% water, 15% fat and
41% protein (also called SCHABZIEGER (USA), ZIGER (HE), GIARNERSCHABZIGER
(HE), KRAUTERKASE, green cheese).
SARUSO: (Denmark)
A semi-hard cows milk cheese made in squat cylinders to 14 kg. It has a dry golden-
brown rind and a firm, mild and sweet paste with pea sized holes.
SAVARON: (France)
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A semi-hard mild-flavored cows milk cheese from the Auvergne with a thick
covering of mould on the rind. Similar to SANT-Paulin.
SBRINZ: (Switzerland)
A Swiss cows-milk cheese (45% fat), which is produced mainly in the cantons of
Lucerne, Schwyz, Uri, and Unterwald. It has a cooked pressed center and a washed
brushed smooth crust, which is dark yellow or brown. SBRINZ is the oldest known
Swiss cheese (it is the caseus helveticus mentioned by Pliny). Hard and brittle and
with a strong flavor, this cheese is marketed in wheel shapes, 60 cm in diameter and
14 cm deep, weighing 20 kg. It can be eaten at the end of the meal and is also used
to make canaps and toasted cheese; it can be grated like PARMESAN.
SCAMORZA: (Italy)
An Italian soft spun-curd cows-milk cheese similar to but firmer than MOZZARELLA.
A Lactic Starter is used followed by Rennet and the Curds are hot kneaded,
originally made from buffaloes milk in the center of peninsula but now made from
cows milk (and sometimes goats milk) throughout Italy. A pressed cheese with a
natural crust, it is white or cream in color with a nutty flavor. This cheese is related
to CACIOCAVALLO but is not matured for so long. It is molded into the shape of a
narrow gourd with four little ears at the top for handling. It is often eaten fresh
and can be used in cookery like MOZZARELLA.
SCHLOSSKASE: (Austria)
A cows milk cheese similar to, but milder than LIMBURGER.
SCHABZIEGER: (Switzerland)
A Swiss cheese made of skimmed cows milk, which is very hard and has no rind.
Sharp and strong, it is flavored with dried sweet clover, which gives it a greenish
color. The French-speaking Swiss call it SAPSAGO, and the German-speaking Swiss
call it KRUTERKSE (herb cheese). It is shaped like a truncated cone, 7.5 cm at the
base and 10 cm high. When completely dry, it is used like PARMESAN to flavor rice,
pasta, polenta, or eggs.
SELLES-sur-CHER: (France)
A goats-milk cheese (45% fat content) made in Sologne and protected by an
appellation dorigine. A soft white cheese that matures slowly, it has a natural crust
dusted with wood charcoal ash and is at its best from May to November. It is firm
with a strong smell and a nutty flavor but it is sometimes over-salted. The cheese is
shaped like a very flat truncated cone, 8 cm at the base, 2.5 cm thick.
SELVA: (Spain)
A soft cows-milk cheese made in small cylinders (to 2 kg) with a delicate slightly
salty taste, which develops after ripening for 3 to 6 weeks.
SERENA: (Spain)
A hard vegetarian cows-milk cheese with a dry rind and dense hole-free yellow
paste cast in cylinders (to 1.5 kg). The Curd is molded in esparto grass containers
and is ripened for 50 days. Contains 40% water, 30% fat and 26% protein.
SHERWOOD: (U.K.)
A DOUBLE GLOUCESTER CHEESE flavored with chives and onion.
SILBA: (Balkans)
A cows milk cheese resembling PORT-SALUT.
SILTER: (Italy)
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A hard, scalded-curd skimmed cows milk cheese from Brescia. It has a close
textured Curd with a few cracks holes.
SIRENE: (Bulgaria)
A firm white salty and crumbly white cheese similar to Greek FETA.
SKYROS: (Greece)
A cheese from the island of the same name similar to KEFALOTIRI.
SLIPCOTE: (U.K.)
A small soft cheese produced in Kent, which is placed between cabbage leaves to
ripen for one to 2 weeks. When ripe its skin becomes loose.
STANGENKASE: (Austria)
A soft cows-milk cheese cast in bricks and resembling TILSIT.
SOUMAINTRAIN: (France)
A French cows-milk cheese (45% fat content) that is soft-textured and has a washed
reddish damp rind. A specialty of the Yvonne region, it has a penetrating odor and a
spicy flavor. It is sold without a wrapping in a round slab 12-13 cm in diameter, and
2.5-3 cm deep. It is farm-made and is at its best from the end of spring to autumn,
accompanied by a full-bodied Burgundy.
SOVIETSKI: (Russia)
A Russian pasteurized pressed cows-milk cheese (50% fat content). It is elastic in
consistency and has rather a piquant taste. After it has been ripened for a few
months, small holes appear in it. It comes in rectangular slab, 50 cm by 20 cm,
weighing 12-16 kg. It is usually eaten fro breakfast and is also used in cooking.
STEINBUSCHER: (Germany)
A soft cheese made with whole or partially skimmed cows milk. It is brick-shaped
and has a smooth buttery paste with a few holes. It comes from the east of the
country and is similar to RONADEUR. Contains 52% water, 21% fat and 24% protein.
STEPPE: (Germany)
A strong-flavored cows milk cheese similar to TILSIT and sometimes flavored with
caraway seeds, made in Germany, Austria, Scandinavia, Russia, and Canada. (Also
called SEPNOI (Russia), STEPNOJ, STEPPEN, STEPNOY).
STILTON: (U.K.)
En English cheese made from cows milk (55% fat); it is firm and cream-colored,
uniformly mottled with bluish veins, and has a natural brushed rind. Considered as
one of the best cheeses in the world, some say it was originally made in the village
of Stilton in Cambridge shire, where its production dates back to 1730. Others say it
was first served at the Bell Inn, Stilton, in the 18 th century but it was and still is
made in parts of Leicestershire, Derbyshire, and Nottingamshire, and its production
is protected, even today, STILTON is molded in a cylinder, 15 cm in diameter by 25
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cm high, and weighs 4-4.5 kg. It is still farm-made and is at its best from autumn to
spring.
STILTON is traditionally accompanied by a glass of old Port or Burgundy, together
with fresh walnuts or grapes. Some people soak in Port, Madeira, or Sherry, by
pouring the wine into a hollow cut out of the center of the cheese, which is eaten
after a week or two with a small spoon. This is not considered advisable by cheese
enthusiast, who, to revive a slightly drying cheese, would simply wrap it in a
moisted cloth and leave it until the dampness restored the proper consistency.
STRACCHINO: (Italy)
A soft cows milk cheese from the north, specialty from Lombardy region. Cultured
with Streptococcus thermophilus, coagulated with Rennet, the Curd then heated to
80C for 6 to 10 hours in square 20 cm molds. Salted in Brine and matured for 7-10
days. Originally made in the autumn from the milk of cows brought dawn from
Alpine pasture (when they are tired, STRACCHE in Italian), also called CRESCENZA.
SUISSE: (France)
Despite the name this is a French unsalted soft fresh cheese made from cows milk
enriched with cream. The mixture is curdled with a small quantity of Rennet and left
to stand for one two days. The soft Curd is then collected and packed into 60 g pots
for immediate consumption. Served with fruit, dessert etc.; see also PETIT-SUISSE,
DEMI-SUISSE.
SVECIAOST: Sweden)
A hard cows milk cheese made in very large blocks and varying in taste from mild to
strong depending on maturaty. It has a few medium sized holes.
SVEMBO: (Denmark)
A semi-hard cooked-curd cows milk cheese with a mild flavor and a few large holes.
Contains 43% water, 25% fat and 24% protein.
SWALEDALE: (U.K.)
A semi-soft, creamy and moist cheese matured for three weeks to give it a mild
distinctive flavor. It is made from whole Jersey cows milk in Swaledale, Yorkshire.
TAFFEL: (Austria)
A semi-hard cooked-curd cows milk cheese with a close textured paste containing a
few holes. Contains 45% water, 24% fat and 23% protein.
TALEGGIO: (Italy)
An Italian cows-milk cheese resembling CAMEMBERT, (48% fat content); pressed,
uncooked, and white or cream yellow, it has a soft texture and a washed thin pale-
pink rind. The fruity taste is accompanied by a pronounced smell. Originally from
Taleggio (a province of Bergamo), it is now made throughout Lombardy and is sold
as slabs, 20 cm square by 5 cm thick, in silver paper. Benefiting from an AOC, it is
best between June and November.
TALEMEA: (Romania)
A soft rind-less ewes milk cheese resembling FETA made from uncooked Curd which
is dried, pressed in square blocks, dry salted and matured for 30 days in a salty acid
Whey. It can be stored for long period in the same Whey at 5C. Contains 50% water,
25% fat and 20% protein.
TAMI: (France)
A cows-milk cheese from Savoy (40-45% fat), made by the Trappiste monks of the
monastery of Tami. Pressed and uncooked, with a soft and elastic texture, TAMI
has a washed smooth clear rind, a fairly pronounced lactic taste, and is made in the
form of rounds, 18 cm in diameter and 4-5 cm thick. Also called TRAPPISTE de
TAMI, it is served at the end of the meal or grilled (broiled) on crotes.
TETILLA: (Spain)
A soft white cheese made from cows milk, the salted Curd being placed in pear-
shaped molds and Cured for two months. It has a slightly sour salty flavor. Contains
50% water, 22% fat and 21% protein (also called PERILLA).
TILSIT: (Germany)
A semi-hard, cooked curd, slicing cheese made from raw or pasteurized cows milk
inoculated with Lactobacillus spp. And Curdled with Rennet. They are cast in large
rounds or loaf shapes, dry salted and ripened for a month whilst being regularly
washed with Brine, then matured for 5 months. The paste is creamy-yellow with a
mild and delicate flavor and numerous small holes. It is suitable for cooking and
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melting's as well for slicing. Made in many CE countries. Contains 45 to 50% water,
and 10 to 39% fat (also called TOLLENSER, TILSITER).
TILSIT: (Switzerland)
A Swiss cows-milk cheese (45% fat) from the cantons of Saint-Gall and Thurgovie. It
is pressed, uncooked, pliable, and gold and yellow, with small regular holes and a
polished yellow-brown rind. It has a very fruity flavor and a strong odor and takes
the form of a small round slab about 35 cm in diameter and 7-8 cm high.
Originally from Holland, the cheese was imported several centuries ago into Tilsit,
East Prussia (now Sovietsk, in the Soviet Union). It was not until the end of the 19 th
century that it was introduced into Switzerland. It is also made in northern Germany
and central Europe, but has a stronger taste and is sometimes flavored with
aniseed. Used for canaps and toasted croutes; it is also served at the end of a meal
and may replace EMMENTAL in gratin dishes and souffls, which it flavored more
strongly. When it has matured for more than four months, it is used like PARMESAN
CHEESE.
TOGGERNBURGER: (Switzerland)
A semi-hard white cheese made from naturally soured skimmed cows milk, which is
shaped into cubes and matured for six months.
TOMA: (Italy)
A hard cheese made from whole or partially skimmed cows milk and cast in thick
discs (to 4 kg). The Curd is molded, dries salted or Brined and ripened for at least 30
days. The rind is rough and the dense paste has a sharp salty taste.
TOMAR: (Portugal)
A very small ewes milk cheese from Tomar north of Lisbon. It may be smoked.
TOMINO: (Italy)
A soft cows milk cheese shaped in 2-3 cm elongated cylinders, which are consumed
as soon as they have been salted. A Lactic Starter is used which gives the fresh
white paste its characteristic flavor. Used for dessert or as a hors doeuvre.
TOMMES: (France)
Goat- or ewes-milk TOMMES, TOMME des ALLUES (from the Haute Tarentaise),
pressed and uncooked (45% fat), is shaped like a flat disc, pliable, soft, and pale
yellow with a thin smooth gray or light yellow rind; it has a strong smell. The TOMME
de BELLEY (from Franche-Cont) is soft (40-45% fat), shaped like a small flat disc or
briquette, and smooth and homogeneous with a thin bluish rind; it has a nutty flavor
and a pronounced bouquet and is sometimes made of cow and goats milk mixed
together. Ewes-milk TOMME de BRACH (from Limousin) is soft (45% fat), in the
shape of a tall cylinder, with a pronounced flavor; it is firm and rich, sometimes blue-
veined, and has a natural rind. Ewes-milk TOMME de CAMARGUE (45% fat) is a fresh
cheese flavored with thyme and bay leaf, with a mild creamy taste. TOMME de
COMBOVIN (from Dauphin) is produced from goats milk (45% fat) and is soft with a
thin bluish natural rind, similar to PLARDON, and has a bouquet flavor, Goats-milk
TOMME de CORPS (from Dauphin) is soft (45%fat), with a thin smooth natural rind,
which is bluish to pinky-gray, and has a pronounced goat-like smell. Goats-milk
TOMME de COURCHEVEL is similar to TOMME des ALLUES but has slightly more
bouquet. TOMME de CREST (from Valence) is shaped like a small round disc, firm
(45% fat), with a thin bluish rind and a pronounced flavor, similar to PICODON. It is
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also used to make strong cheeses (fromages forts). TOMME de SOSPEL (from the
Alpes-Maritimes), made from ewe or goats milk (45% fat), is pressed, uncooked,
and has a natural rind; shaped like a wide flat cylinder, it is eaten either young (with
a mild slightly acid creamy flavor) or old (with a piquant flavor and strong smell) and
is sometimes used grated as a condiment. Goats-milk TOMME de VERCOS (45% fat)
is shaped like a small disc; soft a thin bluish natural rind and a spicy flavor, is used
in the preparation of ptafine.
TOMMES: (France)
Cows-milk TOMMES these are usually pressed, uncooked, and have a natural
polished rind. TOMME de BELLEVILLE (from Tarentaise), TOMME de BOUDANE (from
Savoy), and TOMME de REVARD are variants of TOMME de SAVOIE (20-40% fat),
pliable and homogeneous, whit a uniform yellow or red rind, a pronounced smell of
mould, and a nutty flavor; it is best from June to November and eaten at the end of
the meal and in sandwiches. It is sometimes flavored with fennel. TOMME au MARC
has a strong smell of alcoholic fermentation and a fairly piquant taste: the cheeses
are dried slightly, then arranged in layers with marc brandy, in a cask sealed with
clay, and left to ferment (it should not be confused with TOMME au RAISIN, a kind of
processed cheese, coated with roasted grape seeds). TOMME de ROMANS (from the
Dauphin), shaped like a flat disc, it thoroughly pliable, with a mild to nutty flavor
and a Lactic smell. TOMME VAUDOISE (or de PAYERNE) is a soft almost rind-less
Swiss cheese, white and springy, with s creamy taste; it is sometimes flavored with
cumin. Finally there is TOMME de SIXT, which is eaten very dry, and TOMME de
VIVARAIS, which Charles Forot recommends kneading with rapeseed oil, a little
vinegar, salt and pepper, and serving with potatoes cooked in their skins.
TWARONG: (Poland)
A soft acid Curdled cows milk cheese without rind eaten young. Contains
approximately 70% water, 10% fat and 20% protein (also called TVOROG RUSSIAN).
TROIS-CORNES: (France)
A triangular cheese from Poitou formerly made from ewes milk. Now rare, it is
usually made from cows milk today. Because of its characteristic triangular shape,
it is also known as TRBCHE, from the Celtic tri (three) and bzeck (point)
TRAPPISTE: (France)
A generic name for various cheeses made by monks, particularly in the Rapist
Monastries of CTEAUX, BELVAL, BRIQUEBEC, MONT-des-CATS, and TAMI, as well in
certain Belgian Monasteries (e.g. Orval). They bear the name of the abbey where
they are made, sometimes preceded by the words TRAPPISTE de Made from
cows milk (40-45% fat), they take the form of discs of varying sizes. TRAPPISTE de
BELVAL, originating in Picardy, is a pressed uncooked cheese with a smooth washed
rind, straw yellow to grayish in color. Pliable and delicate, the ivory yellow cheese
has a mild flavor. TRAPPISTE de CTEAUX (Burgundy), with the same characteristic,
has a more fruitier flavour. TRAPPISTE de BRIQUEBEC (Manche), another pressed
cheese with a washed rind, is characterized by a slight smell of the cellar and a
bland flavor. TRAPPISTE dNCHOURGNAC (Prigod), an ivory, yellow cheese pierced
with very small holes, which have a mild flavor, and TRAPPISTE dENTRAMMES
(Maine), which has a fruity flavor, should also be mentioned.
TRAPPISTEN: (Austria)
An Austrian cheese made from cows milk (sometimes mixed with ewe or goats
milk), matured to a varying degree; pale yellow, with a mild flavor, it is also made in
Bosnia and Hungary.
ULLOA (Spain)
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ULZAMA: (Spain)
A semi-hard ewes milk cheese from Navarra made in cylinders to 2 kg. With dense
paste have a strong flavor and a few holes and is covered in a brown rind.
VACHARD: (France)
A strong-flavored cows milk cheese from the Massif Central similar to SAINT
NECTAIRE.
VALDETEJA: (Spain)
A semi-hard goats milk cheese shaped into long cylinders with a white paste
containing a few holes. It is ripened for up to 15 days and the rind is rubbed with
olive oil.
VALENAY: (France)
A goats-milk cheese from Berry (45% fat content), also made in Touraine and the
Charentes. It has a soft textured and a natural rind that is dusted with charcoal if it
comes from a farm (in which case it is in season from April to November); otherwise
the rind may have bloomed surface (it is sometimes also dusted with charcoal if the
cheese is industrially produced). Made in shape of truncated pyramid (8 cm across
by 6-7 cm high, it is firm to the touch, with a musty smell and a nutty flavor.
VASTERBOTTENOST: Sweden)
A hard scalded-curd cows milk cheese made with a Lactic Starter followed by
Rennet. The Scalded Curds are pressed in moulds, salted and ripened for up to 8
months to give a strong flavored firm paste with small holes (also called
VESTERGOTA).
VEGETARIAN CHEESE:
Cheese made with a curdling agent not derived from animal (see TOFU).
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VENACO: (France)
A Corsican cheese made from goat or ewes milk (45% fat content), with a soft
texture and grayish scraped natural rind. It comes from Venaco and Corte and is
made only on a small scale as a cottage industry, in season from June to September.
It is made in the form of a 13 cm square slab, 6 cm high. Venaco is a whitish fatty
cheese, firm to the touch, with a strong smell and sometimes a piquant flavor. It is
served with a full-bodied red wine. Sometimes crumbled and soaked in wine and
marc brandy.
VENDME: (France)
A cows-milk cheese (50% fat) made in Orlans. It is in season from June to
December and has a soft textured and a natural bluish or ash-gray rind. It is small
round cheese, 11 cm in diameter and 3.5 cm high. VENDME is firm to the touch; the
cheese with a gray rind has a more fruitier flavour and more pronounced smell than
that with a blue rind. It is made only on farms and is becoming increasingly rare.
VERMONT: (U.S.A.)
A CHEDDAR-type cheese from the state of the same name.
VEZELAY: (France)
A strong-flavored goats milk cheese from Burgundy, shaped like a cone.
VEZZENA: (Italy)
A hard scalded-curd cheese made from skimmed cows milk, Curdled with Rennet
and formed into cylinders (to 40kg). These are dry salted and ripened for 6 months
to give a slicing cheese or 12 months to give a gratin cheese.
VILLALON: (Spain)
An even textured, soft, mild and rind-less ewes milk cheese from Valladolid. The
paste is made from Scalded Curds and has lots of small holes. It is molded in the
shape of a long cylinder with rounded ends and an oval cross section (also called
PATA de MULO).
VIVARO: (Italy)
A semi-hard scalded-curd cows milk cheese very similar to MONTASIO. The pale
yellow paste has e few holes, a mild pleasant taste and is covered with a hard
smooth brown rind.
WEDMORE: (U.K.)
A semi-hard cheese from Somerset made with un-pasteurized cows milk and with a
band of chopped chives running through the center.
WEICHKASE: (Germany)
The generic name for various fresh tasting soft cows milk cheese with high water
content, close textured pastes and white bloom covered rinds.
WEISSLACKER: (Germany)
A German cows-milk cheese produced in foil-wrapped blocks weighing about 1.5 kg.
Golden-yellow right through, with a dense texture and a washed rind, it has a
pronounced flavor and smell. It originated in Bavaria and is also called BIERKSE
(beer cheese). It is traditionally served with rye bread and Doppelbock beer.
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