Cheese Glossary: A Glossary Of The Different Cheese Types

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A faisselle is a mold with holes used in cheesemaking. It allows the whey to drain out and the curds to be compacted. Faisselles come in dozens of different shapes and sizes.

A fresh (unaged), simple, cow"™s milk cheese that"™s the "œchild" of cottage cheese (see below), and a relative of paneer, queso blanco (more solid, like feta) and queso campesino (Spanish for farmer"™s cheese, more like cottage cheese with curds). Here"™s more about farmer cheese, including a recipe to make your own at home.

• Cottage cheese: The fresh, drained curds of slightly soured, pasteurized milk. The whey is drained from the curds, and the remaining curds are known as cottage cheese.
• Pot cheese: Drained longer, cottage cheese becomes a drier-curd product known as pot cheese.
• Farmer cheese: When the remaining moisture is pressed out of cottage cheese, causing it to become dry and crumbly, it is called farmer cheese.

A cheese can be both artisan and farmstead, or can be one and not the other. For example, Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese Company makes its cheese from its own herd of dairy cows, Point Reyes Original Blue Cheese, so its cheese is both artisan and farmstead. Cowgirl Creamery makes artisan cheeses, but buys the milk from the Straus Family Creamery, so the cheese is not farmstead. See also artisan cheese.

This term refers to the fat content in the dry matter of the cheese. It is usually indicated on the cheese’s packaging. It can be as low as 4% and as high as 75%. The terms butterfat and milkfat are used interchangeably.

Feta is Greece’s most famous cheese, a pure white, aged curd cheese that crumbles easily. Authentic feta is a sheep’s milk cheese, or a mixture of sheep’s and goat’s milks. Outside of the EU, where it is protected, it can also be made of cow’s milk. It is formed into bricks and salted and cured in a brine solution. The cheese is semi-hard, with a flavor that can range from mild and milky to salty with a very tangy acidity. If too salty, it can be soaked in water or milk to remove some of the saltiness. While the cheese has been made since antiquity, the current name came into the Greek language in the 17th century, from the Italian word fetta, slice, referring to slicing the cheese from the brick.

Only 2% of the feta consumed in the U.S. actually comes from Greece. Much of it is saltier feta from Bulgaria and elsewhere. Authentic feta is aged in wood barrels for 60 days, creating a creamy, tangy cheese with citric notes.

Mozzarella can be made of water buffalo milk or cow’s milk. The former is called mozzarella di bufala; the latter, fior di latte (flower of the milk). While “flower of the milk” may sound more appealing than “water buffalo milk,” water buffalo mozzarella is the more flavorful and costly.

Firm or hard cheeses are a broad group that be very mild to very sharp. Firm cheeses generally have a texture profile that is elastic, at room temperature, like Emmenthaler and Gruyère); some are more rigid, like Cheddar. Others, like Gouda, can be flexible to start, but age to a hard cheese that can be grated. Other hard cheeses are hard at the time of their release, such as Asiago, Grana Padano, Parmigiano-Reggiano (Parmesan) and Pecorino. Read about this group of Italian grating cheeses.

Fontina has been made in the Aosta Valley of the Italian Alps since the 12th century. The Consorzio’s stamp has an image of the Matterhorn. The cows that produce the milk for Fontina Val d’Aosta graze on high-altitude Alpine pastures dotted with wildflowers and native herbs. Authentic Italian Fontina has a natural rind, which is typically tan to orange-brown depending on length of aging; it is fairly pungent with an intense flavor. Fontina is a great melting cheese as well as a popular table cheese; the name comes from the Italian “fondere,” to melt. Young ina, made from unpasteurized cows’ milk aged 90 days, has a mild, somewhat nutty flavor, with herbaceous, grassy and fruity notes. With a softer texture than mature Fontina, it is often used for fondue. Mature ina is a hard cheese, aromatic and “stinky.”
Fontina production occurs in other parts of Italy, as well as Canada, Denmark, France, Sweden and the United States. Derivative cheeses include Fontinella (Italy) and Fontal (Belgium), and are milder than the original. Fonduta alla valdostana is a traditional dish of ina whipped with milk, eggs and truffles.

Examples of fresh cheese include many goat cheeses, plus burrata, caciotta, cottage cheese, cream cheese, feta, fromage blanc, hoop cheese, mascarpone, mozzarella, ricotta, string cheese, quark, queso blanco and queso fresco. Learn the terms for describing fresh cheeses.

The French word for cheese.

Fromage blanc is a cow’s milk cheese related to quark. It is totally fat free and all protein. (Quark is not fat free). Many people eat it for dessert, either plain or with sugar and/or fruit. Fromage blanc is also used in uncooked savory dishes. Since it has no butterfat, it will separate if cooked. While fromage blanc looks like yogurt (see photo at right), it is a proper cheese, beginning with rennet and a starter culture added to the milk. However, the curds are not allowed to coagulate as they would with a traditional cheese. Instead, they are stirred to the consistency of yogurt. Some producers add cream to achieve more richness, which can produce a product with up to 8% fat. Read the label! Without the cream, it’s a caloric bargain, like nonfat plain yogurt.
 

The French word for cheesemonger or cheese expert.

The French word for cheese store.

Specific to the French region of Savoie, the word for a small cheese producer or cooperative that collects milk.

Chèvre is the French word for both goat and goat cheese. Goats were tamed around 10,000 B.C.E. and goat’s milk cheese began to be made in the Mediterranean. The Romans ate small goat’s cheeses soaked in olive oil, which were part of army rations. Goat cheese is known for both its fresh and aged cheeses. Some cheeses are briefly aged (4 to 6 weeks), developing rinds and flavors that have length and complexity. Examples of goat cheeses are classic Loire styles such as Selles sur Cher, Ste. Maure, Chevrot and new American classics like Humboldt Fog. Goat cheese is so white because goat’s milk contains no beta-carotene. Goats produce more milk by volume than sheep, but far less milk than the much larger cows. Milked twice a day, cows produce 8-20 quarts per day, goats produce 3-5 quarts of milk and sheep produce one quart of milk.

As a result, many goat cheeses are small and delicate, such as the ones in the photo. In general, goat’s milk is tangy and herbaceous, flavors that are found in both fresh and aged cheeses. Goat milk’s has a reputation for having a “goaty” flavor and aroma, which puts off some people. However, this is the result of mishandled milk or an unclean milking parlor rather than an inherent flavor of goat’s milk. Goat’s milk has the lowest fat content (when compared to cow’s and sheep’s milk) and, along with water buffalo’s milk, is the easiest on the human digestive system. Also see cow’s milk, sheep’s milk and water buffalo’s milkç

One of the world’s great blue cheeses, Gorgonzola comes from the Lombardy region of Italy; the actual town is outside of Milan, although the neighboring town of Pasturo claims the cheese originated there. A stracchino-type cow’s milk cheese,* Gorgonzola dates to 879 C.E. The cheese was originally made without its famous blue-green veining and piquant flavor, which happened sometime in the 11th century and come from Penicillium gorgonzola mold spores that are injected into the cheese. Gorgonzola is made in two varieties: Mountain Gorgonzola, the sharper and firmer version, and Dolce (sweet) Gorgonzola, a spreadable and elegant version that lacks the sharpness of the Mountain Gorgonzola. Both types are a wonderful dessert when served with a drizzle of honey.

*Goat’s milk Gorgonzola is also made.

In the Middle Ages, the Van der Goude family built a castle on the bank of the Gouwe River. The settlement around the castle grew into the town of Gouda, which became known for its fine aged cheese, Goudse kaas (“Cheese from

Gouda”) made from cow’s milk. The name is not origin-protected, so anyone can make Gouda (pronounced HOW-duh in Dutch). With an authentic Gouda, the longer the cheese ages, the harder and saltier it gets. Younger Goudas are creamier. Extra-aged and triple-aged Goudas (five years of aging) can be found. The longer the cheese is aged, the more intense and complex the flavors. Older Goudas deliver exciting butterscotch flavors that complement the pungency. Read our full article on Gouda to learn all about this wonderful cheese and see photos of younger Goudas.

Gruyère is both the name of one of the best-known Swiss cheeses and a general name for large cheeses made in France, such as Beaufort, Emmentaler and Gruyère de Comté.
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