Cheese is one of the most popular foods in the world. Every country, every town, every city or every house you go to, there’s always cheese. Tons of recipes make use of cheese as either for flavouring or for decoration. If you are a cheese enthusiast or fan, one of the very first vital information you should know is about the different types of cheese.
Cheese is commonly classified in any number of ways, which includes texture (soft, semi-soft, hard), flavour (mild, sharp and extra sharp), age, preparation method (bacteria-ripened, mold-ripened and unripened), type of milk used (buffalo, goat, cow, sheep), colour, country and region. In other words, we are going to follow the certified cheese professional, Marcella Wright’s lead.
To cut the story short, here are the 8 types of cheese:
- Fresh Cheese
This type of cheese is also known as the unripened cheese. Fresh cheeses include cottage cheese, ricotta, chevre, cream cheese, mascarpone, and queso fresco. This is due to the fact that these cheeses aren’t aged at all. They are soft and spreadable. This type of cheese has a creamy texture and very milk flavour. It can be produced using different types of milk and the amount of salt used to make them also varies.
- Semi-hard Cheese
Probably the most popular examples of a semi-hard cheese is the Edam or raclette cheese. This category is the largest among the ones in the list. Their flavours come from two sources – the strain of bacteria that was introduced to the milk and the aging time. Other examples of this cheese includes Emmental, Gouda, Gruyere and Monterey Jack.
- Hard Cheese
Hard cheeses like cheddar, parmesan, machego and pecorino are extra hard cheeses with extremely low moisture. You can recognise these types of cheese by their pungent saltiness and rich umami flavour..
- Pasta Filata
These are classic Italian stretched-curd cheese preparation which includes mozzarella, burrata, caciocacallo, scamorza affumicata, queso Oaxaca and provolone. To create this type of cheese, fresh cheese curd is soaked in a hot water bath then stretched, spun and kneaded in various shapes.
- Soft-ripened Cheese
This type of cheese is high in moisture and ripened for relatively short time prior sell. This is why the inside part of these types of cheese is softer. Popular types of cheese in this category include Camembert, and Brie.
- Semi-soft Cheese
Instead of focusing on the mechanics of how cheeses are made, this category focuses more on the texture. Although these cheeses have a short aging period, they usually have moist and flexibility, with a creamy consistency. These types of cheeses include Chaumes, Havarti, Jarlsberg and Muenster.
- Washed-rind Cheese
This type of cheese is famous for its aroma. Wash rinds take relatively small portion of the market. During maturation the cheeses are rinsed down each second day with some washed every day with beer, liquor, seawater or wine. Process of maturation may take up to 2 months. This type includes the famous Limburger cheese, Taleggio, Epoisses and Alsatian Munster.
- Blue Cheese
This is characterised as cheeses that have blue veins. This type of cheese is internally inoculated with mold such as Penicillium requeforti. When it is exposed to air, blue mould will grow. This type of cheese usually have strong salty, nutty flavour. These types of cheese include Roquefort, Gorgonzola, Danish blue and Stilton.
So, there you have it – the 8 types of cheese. For more information about cheese, yogurt or dairy equipment, please feel free to go through our website.