Cheese Glossary: A Glossary Of The Different Cheese Types

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This ultra-rich, extremely smooth, slightly sweet fresh cheese is called “Italian cream cheese.” However, the distinction is only half correct: While mascarpone is made from the cream of cow’s milk, no cheese starter or rennet is used in its production. Mascarpone is made by draining the moisture from heavy cream using a small amount of citric acid and finely woven cloth. The result is similar to Devon Cream or Clotted Cream. Mascarpone is native to the Lombardy region of Italy, which is also home to the town of Gorgonzola. Incorporated into recipes as an ingredient (tiramisu is one of the most famous), it also makes simple yet luscious desserts, served with fruit and biscuits like gingersnaps and strawberries, or as a topping for fresh berries, poached fruit or compote. Use it to stuff figs, dates or dried apricots (sprinkle with chopped pistachios), or as the filling for cookie sandwiches.

Or, fill tart shells and top the mascarpone with fresh or dried fruit. The name is said to date back to the 16th century, when a visiting Spanish dignitary tasted it and declared it “mas que bueno,” better than good. He was correct!

Although some cheeses, once drained, are consumed fresh, others require some time to mature. To do this, they are placed on racks in the hâloir, a cold room which is well ventilated, with humidity of 80%. The cheeses are then regularly turned by hand. The curd slowly develops a rind, which, depending on what bacteria have been used, develops a fine layer of surface mould, which may be white, yellow or brown. The temperature of the air inside the hâloir influences the taste of the cheeses. The cheesemaker monitors their maturation by touch, sight, smell and taste.

Handmade in central Iowa, Maytag Blue was one of the first great American farmstead cheeses. It is ripened in caves dug into the rolling hills of the Iowa countryside, just as Roquefort is ripened in caves (though naturally-occurring) in southwest France. However, Maytag is a cow’s milk cheese, while Roquefort is made from sheep’s milk. Maytag Blue Cheese is made by the same family that produces washing machines. Fritz Maytag, son of Frederick Louis Maytag, founded the Maytag Dairy, and also owns the Anchor Brewing Company. Perhaps not coincidentally, the cheese pairs well with a medium-bodied ale or lager, or a glass of sweet wine.

Membrillo is a semisoft cheese condiment made from quince. It is made in loaves, and sliced to serve on cheese platters. A relative of the apple and the pear, quince is high in pectin, and the resulting paste has the consistency of a thick jelly. It has a sweet and tart taste and looks somewhat like a dense fruit gelatin dessert. Any salty or blue cheese pairs well with membrillo, but it works best with Spanish cheeses like Roncal, Mahón or Manchego. See more cheese condiments and suggested pairings.
 

Yeasts and other fermenting agents present in milk and milk curd. They can be wild and naturally occurring or cultured and introduced.

These are soft cheeses, not pressed, that are salted and covered with the mold spores Pennicillium candidum (white) and Pennicillium glaucum (grey). The spores use the proteins and fats in the cheese to ripen it from the outside, creating a white rind. The mold acts on the proteins in the curds, breaking them down into more basic components, creating a liquid texture, a more complex flavor and an aroma. Examples include Brie, Camembert and goat cheeses.
 

According to Caseus Montanus, an international association of mountain cheese producers, a mountain cheese is one produced and aged above 800 meters (approximately 2500 feet). Most are made in France, Italy, Spain and Switzerland. A Vermont-made mountain cheese, Tarentaise, was named “Best Farmstead Cow’s Milk Cheese” at the 25th American Cheese Society Conference, for American-made cheeses. According to ArtisanalCheese.com, scientific studies on the flavor profile of mountain cheeses have found as many as 100,000 micro-organisms in the flora of the high altitude mountains, as compared to less than 10,000 microorganisms in lower prairie altitudes. This intensity of micro-organisms is responsible for the deep and complex flavors of mountain cheeses.

Popular mountain cheeses (cow’s milk, except as noted) include Appenzeller (Swiss), Beaufort (French), Bleu des Basques Brebis (French, sheep’s milk blue cheese), Cantalet (French), Comté (French), Fontina Val d’Aosta (Italian), Fourme d’Ambert (French, blue cheese), Gruyère (French and Swiss), Hoch Ybrig (Swiss), Sbrinz (Swiss), Tête de Moine (Swiss) and Valdeón (Spain, blue goat’s milk cheese). Cheeses made in the French or Swiss Alps are also called Alpine cheeses.
 

But unlike other cheeses, whose curds are then gathered and molded, mozzarella curds are plunged into hot whey or lightly salted water, kneaded and pulled to develop the familiar stretchy strings (pasta filata), then shaped into the desired form (mozzarella, provolone, scamorza).
 

When ripe, munster has the aroma of porcini mushrooms and the runny interior evokes truffles. (When young, the paste is creamy.) Washed rind cheeses, also known as “stinky” cheeses, are popular with connoisseurs for their depth of flavor and character. Other popular examples include such as Limburger, Livarot, Pont L’Eveque and Taleggio. Munster has been AOC-protected (Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée) since 1969. Serve with a spicy Alsatian Pinot Gris, a Riesling, sherry or a Belgian ale.