When it came time to send “We’re just crackers about cheese” (read the original table here) to press, we had way more cheeses than we had space. We didn’t want you to miss out, though, so the rest of them are included here. Just like the printed table, it includes how Americans pronounce the cheese’s name; the place it’s named for; its appearance and type (soft, semi-firm, hard, etc.); which animal’s milk it’s made from; someone’s opinion on what it tastes like; and what’s done to the milk, curd or cheese that makes it different from other cheeses.
Name; Pronunciation; Place; Type; Made From; Taste; Treatment
Asiago; ah-syah-goh; town of Asiago, Italy; (fresh) straw-colored semi-firm with small holes, (aged) amber-colored firm with larger holes; cow milk; (fresh) sweet with a little acidity, (aged) sweet but with more savory flavor; heated curd, pressed, salted and aged in humidity- and temperature-controlled area
blue (or bleu) cheese; general classification, sharp and a bit salty with pungent smell; cow, sheep or goat milk with Penicillium cultures added to make the final product spotted or veined with blue or blue-green mold; some are injected with spores before curds form and other have spores mixed with the curds after they form; includes Roquefort, Gorgonzola and Stilton
Camembert; kam-uhm-behr; commune of Camember, Normandy region, France; pale soft-ripened under rind of white mold; cow milk; buttery rich; inoculated with mold (Penicillium candida and Penicillium camemberti) and aged for at least three weeks
Cheddar; cheh-duhr; named for Cheddar, Somerset, England; pale yellow to orange hard; cow milk; sharp; dyed, cheddared (a process where, after heating, curd is cut into cubes and then stacked and turned) and aged for at least three weeks
chèvre; shev-ruh; general classification, goat milk cheese
Colby; kohl-bee; town of Colby, Wisconsin; semi-hard yellow; cow milk; softer, moister and milder than cheddar; curds are washed before pressing, not aged
Emmental/Swiss Cheese (Emmentaler, Emmenthal, Emmenthaler); em-en-tahl; Emme Valley, Switzerland; yellow, medium-hard with large holes; cow milk; nutty and piquant, but not really sharp; three types of bacteria are used: Streptococcus thermophilus, Lactobacillus (L. helveticus or L. bulgaricus), and Propionibacter (P. freudenreichii or P. shermani). In a late stage of production, the Proprionibacter consumes the lactic acidexcreted by the other bacteria and releases carbon dioxide gas, which slowly forms the bubbles that develop the eyes.
Gorgonzola; gohr-guhn-zoh-lah; named for the town of Gorgonzola, near Milan, Italy, produced in Piedmont and Lombardy regions; white, crumbly and soft to firm with blue veins; cow milk; quite salty with a bite from the mold; uncooked, unpressed, inoculated with the bacterial species Lactobacillus bulgaricus and Streptococcusthermophilus along with spores of the mold Penicillium glaucum and aged at low temperatures, metal rods are inserted to create air channels to help the mold grow
Havarti; hah-vahr-tee; Denmark; cream to yellow semi-soft with small and irregular holes; cow milk; buttery from sweet to very sweet, ages to more salty and nutty; interior-ripened, rind-washed, aged
Monterey Jack; mon-ter-ay jak; Monterey, California; creamy-white semi-hard; cow milk; mild; eaten fresh and named for the monks who made it in Monterey valley and David Jacks, the businessman who marketed it
mozzarella; maht-suh-rehl-lah; Italy; fresh white semi-soft; cow milk (also water buffalo, mozzarella di bufala campana); mild, delicate, sweet; curd mixed with heated whey then stretched and kneaded, two varieties: high-moisture or fresh (very soft and often packaged in water) and low moisture (dried more for firmness and better for pizza)
Munster; muhn-stuhr; Alsace, France; pale semi-soft; cow milk; strong penetrating odor and tangy taste; uncooked, unpressed, rind washed and brined periodically, aged in damp caves
Neufchâtel; noo-shuh-tell; town of Neufchâtel, Normandy, France; soft, white, unripened; cow milk; slightly salty but delicate, more pungent when aged; uncooked, unpressed, Americans eat fresh, French prefer aged with white mold
paneer; pah-neer; India; unaged, acid-set, nonmelting, unsalted, white; cow milk; very mild; made by adding food acid (such as lemon juice or vinegar) to hot milk to separate curds and whey (no rennet necessary)
parmesan (Parmigianoa-Reggiano); pahr-muh-zahn; provinces of Parma and Reggio Emilia, Italy; white hard, granular; cow milk; pungent and salty; cooked, brined, aged
Stilton; stihl-tn; named for the village of Stilton, England (though not made there); firm and crumbly white with veins of blue mold; sheep milk; mild, sweet and smoky, with a salty finish; inoculated with Penicillium roqueforti, aged in natural Cambalou caves
Tilsit; tihl-ziht; town of Tilsit (modern Sovetsk, Russia); light yellow semi-soft with holes; cow milk; intense and full-flavored; created in the mid-19th century by Swiss settlers in Prussia (using a Swiss recipe but with local mold, yeast and bacteria)