Types of Cheese

Published on: Jan 26 2011 by Shenron

Cheese is a type of edible ingredient made from milk. It can be soft or hard and found in yellow or white color. The cheese is made from milk obtained from cow, sheep, goat or any other mammal.

The milk is first turned to curd by means of rennet or any other rennet substitutes available. The curdling milk is then gone through acidification.

Cheese is available in so many different types. Some of the most common types of cheese are given below:

Asiago Cheese

Asiago cheese is first created in Italy and is therefore given the name after that region Asiago. It has a flavor similar to nut.

Asiago cheese is created in two popular forms: Fresh Asiago (pressato) and Mature Asiago (Asiago d´Allevo). Fresh Asiago is white in color with mild, semi-sweet taste. Mature Asiago has a yellowish appearance with firm texture. It is sharp in flavor. These types are commonly called ‘mountain cheeses’.

Blue Cheese

Blue cheese is a type of cheese made from cow’s milk or goat’s milk along with the addition of blue or bluish-green mold. Mold spores added in the cheese include Penicillium roqueforti or Penicillium glacucum.

Nowadays, blue cheese is made from mixing the mold in the curds or injected with the mold. In the ancient times, blue cheese was made in the caves as mold is rich in caves. The cheeses were matured and aged in the caves to get the strong flavor. There are certain other ingredients which are mixed to the cheese to get the desired flavor, color and texture.

Cheddar Cheese

It was first created in an English village, Cheddar and from there it gets its name. Cheddar cheese is made from cow’s milk. Its taste can be range from mild to sharp; and due to this diversity in taste, it is one of the most sought after cheeses.

Cheddar cheese can be available in yellow, off-white or even in pumpkin orange color. The variety in color is achieved by adding dyes to the cheese. Similarly, it is available in variety of different flavors and this is depends on the how the cheese is made and also on the process of aging. Mild taste is achieved with less processed time, while sharp taste is achieved by extending the processing time of the cheese.

Cream Cheese

Cream cheese is known as a fresh type cheese because it doesn’t involve aging. Cream cheese was first created by Americans somewhere around 1872. Cream cheese has a subtle, fresh, and sweet taste with a hint of tanginess. Cream cheese is rich with smooth, creamy texture. To get the richness, cream is added to cow’s milk. As cream cheese is not aged, so it cannot be stored for longer period of time. Cream cheese has white color and hence, often known as white cheese in many parts of the world. It is also available in low or non-fat types.

Feta Cheese

Feta cheese originated from Greece and known as the oldest form of cheese all over the world. It has been given a formal status of being a Greek cheese since October 14, 2002. Mostly, sheep’s milk is used to make feta cheese; however, it is also made by mixing the sheep’s and goat’s milk. In past, cow’s milk was used to make feta cheese.

Feta is a soft cheese, white in color with tasteful flavor with a touch sour in taste. It has a rich aroma as well. Semi-hard variety of feta cheese is also produced. Unlike soft feta cheese variety, semi-hard variety has much saltier and spicier flavor along with distinct aroma.

Fontina Cheese

Fontina cheese is made from cow’s milk and originated from Valle d´Aosta, Italy. It is also creamy like cream cheese. Its interior is pale yellow in color having tiny holes with slight soft texture. It has a mild flavor which tastes like a nut with a touch of honey. Its texture is solely depends on the aging period. Depending on the aging period, it can have a semi-soft to firm texture. Similarly, the flavor also varies depending upon the aging period.

Fontina cheese has a dark brown skin that gets even darker with the aging. Normally, fontina cheese requires three months of aging before it gets its final texture. The true fontina cheese has an orange brown skin. The other varieties of fontina cheese come from United States, France and Denmark.

Goat Cheese

As its name suggests, this cheese is made from goat’s milk. It is often referred to as ‘Chevre’. So many different varieties of goat cheese are present which come in textures ranging from semi-firm to firm.

Goat cheese has a soft, smooth structure with a tangy taste. This tanginess is perhaps because of the fact the goats often east bitter plants and this bitterness transfer to goat’s milk through hormones giving its milk a unique taste.

Mascarpone Cheese

It is also an Italian form of cheese made from milk in which cream is added. The mascarpone cheese is rich in fat contents. These rich fat contents are due to the fact that it is made from buttery rich double cream or triple cream. Hence, this cheese is rich, buttery, creamy and smooth texture. However, there are other varieties of mascarpone cheese which can have a firm texture. This cheese is a product of Italy where it is extensively used in variety of foods and desserts.

Swiss Cheese

Swiss cheese is a combined term used for several varieties of cheeses that were made in the past in Switzerland. Another name given to Swiss cheese is Emmental. It is also prepared from cow’s milk and has a sweet, nutty flavor. It has large holes inside it which come into being during the process of maturation due to the release of carbon dioxide gas. These holes are referred to as eyes.

Vegetarian Cheese

Vegetarian cheese is a type of cheese that doesn’t use rennet for curdling of milk instead the vegetarian cheese is curdled with the help of plants, bacteria or fungi. Presently, two major types of rennet are known which are microbial rennet and vegetarian rennet.

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