CHEESE GLOSSARY

Blue Cheese

Blue Costello - A rich triple-crème, cows milk Danish blue, with a sharp, full, Gorgonzola like flavor.

Cambazola – A cheese native to Germany and Austria that is produced as a combination of a Camembert and a Gorgonzola. Soft and spreadable in texture, this cheese is made from cow's milk with added cream, is coated with an outer white mold, and contains a few blue veins providing a slightly spicy, but overall mild and somewhat mellow flavor.

Clemson Blue – The first Clemson University Blue Cheese was cured in Stumphouse Mountain Tunnel in 1941. Using traditional artisanal methods, the cheese is aged for six months, then scraped and packaged by hand, resulting in a blue prized for its smooth, mild flavor.

Dolcelatte Gorgonzola – This is a smooth, creamy blue cheese, milder than regular gorgonzola, and a registered trade name meaning “sweet milk.” It is a semi-soft cheese that is made from cow’s milk and matured for about 40 days.

Fourme au Sauternes - French-made Fourme d'Ambert, ripened with white Sauternes and aged for two months. Sauternes imparts accents of fruit and vanilla, and the result is an incredibly smooth and creamy, yet complex blue.

Fourme d’Ambert – Creamy, savory, buttery cow’s milk blue from Auvergne, France with nutty overtones. It is named for the wooden mold which forms its cylinder shape and the town, Ambert, from which the milk for this cheese originates.

Gorgonzola – An Italian cow’s milk cheese, white or light yellow and streaked with blue. Gorgonzola should be delicate and creamy with a natural grey rind, pitted with red.

Jasper Hill Bayley Hazen Blue – A creamy natural-rinded, blue veined cheese made with whole, raw, lower-fat morning milk, and aged 4–6 months. Though drier and crumblier than most blues, its texture is reminiscent of chocolate or butter, with an array of flavors that hint at nuts and grasses and in the odd batch, licorice.

Point Reyes – Made by Giacomini Dairy in Marin County, from a closed herd of Holstein cows, Point Reyes is aged at least 6 months. Use of the same mold used in the Roquefort lends to the lemony tang in the finish but there’s also a sea salty note.

Roaring Forties - This Australian Cheese is named after the winds that blow across the 40th Parallel. A fruity blue, it is great crumbled in a warm beet salad or served with pears.

Rogue River Blue – A rare cow’s milk blue cheese from Oregon that was selected in February 2004 as the Best Blue Cheese at the World Cheese Awards in London, the first time in history that a US cheese has beaten such perennial favorites as Stilton and Roquefort. Rich, creamy, and somewhat sweet, Rogue River Blue is covered in grape leaves macerated in Oregon pear brandy that impart an earthiness to the flavor.

Rogue River Smokey Blue – “Oregon Blue”, a classic style blue cheese, is cold smoked 16 hours with Oregon Hazelnut shells. The smoking process releases a sweet creamy Smokey flavor that balances both the sharp blue flavor and sweet creamy flavor of the 100% natural full cream sustainable milk.

Roquefort – A French ewe’s milk cheese made in the Rouerge district. Only the milk of specially bred sheep is used, and is ripened in limestone caverns. The cheese is blue-veined, smooth and creamy, with a naturally formed rind, and has a strong smell and a pronounced flavor. It is one of the oldest known cheeses.

Shropshire – A British blue cheese invented in Scotland. One month into the maturing process the surfaces of the cheeses are punctured to bring about increased veining. The end result is a bright red cheese with blue veining. It has a sharper taste than Stilton.

Stilton - A rich crème cow’s milk cheese from England, Stilton is still made exclusively from local milk by six dairies in the counties of Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire. Aged at least three months, the flavor is full of mellow nuts and fruit.

Valdeón – A rich, creamy, intensely-flavored cow and goat’s milk blue cheese, saltier than Stilton and tamer than Cabrales. The Valdeón wheels are wrapped in Sycamore leaves, which contribute to their distinctive appearance and complex flavor. Valdeón was named best blue cheese in Spain’s 2003 national competition.

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Soft Ripened Cheese

Bittersweet Plantation Fleur de Teche – A triple cream cow's milk cheese with vegetable ash snaking through the buttery, creamy interior of this soft rind.

Brie - A cow’s milk cheese (45% fat content) originating in the Île-de-France, which has a soft texture and a crust that is springy to the touch, covered in white down. The cheese ripens quickly, and must be eaten before the flavor and aroma become offensive.

Brillat Saverin - Soft-ripening, triple crème, un-pasteurized cow’s milk cheese from the Burgundy region of France. A delicate white penicillin rind surrounds a core that is decadently creamy and buttery.

Explorateaur – Triple crème (75% fat content) soft cheese from the Île-de-France made from enriched un-pasteurized cow’s milk. It has a firm but very creamy texture.

Jean de Brie – This raw milk bloomy rind triple cream cheese from France has a smooth delightful grassy flavor with salty undertones.

Mt. Tam – This triple crème, soft ripening organic cow’s milk cheese made by Sue Conley of the Cowgirl Creamery in Pt. Reyes Station, Marin County, has a delicate flavor with a pleasant, subtle rind.

Reblochon – A cow’s milk cheese made in Savoy, with a pressed uncooked curd and a washed rind that is yellow, pink, or orange in color. It is very pliable, creamy and fine-textured, with a sweet nutty taste. Reblochon means "second milking": herdsmen would use the last milk drawn from the cow (which is very rich in fat) for their cheese making.

Red Hawk – A triple crème, washed rind cheese from Cowgirl Creamery, made from organic cow’s milk and crème fraiche. It won Best of Show at the American Cheese Society’s Conference in 2003, with its soft, creamy, texture and meaty flavor.

St. Andre – This French triple-crème cheese is made from cow's milk and enriched with pure cream. The taste is described as a blend of the perfect brie mixed with equal parts of thick, sour cream and whipped sweet cream, resembling a beautiful, velvet-coated cheesecake.

Taleggio – A wonderful washed rind whole cow’s milk cheese from Lombardy, Italy. Its flavor can range from mild to pungent, depending on its age. When young, Taleggio’s color is pale yellow and its texture semi soft. As it ages it darkens to deep yellow and becomes rather runny.

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Hard Ripened Cheese

Asiago – A spicy, nutty-flavored Italian cheese, originally made of sheep’s milk, now of cow’s milk. When young it is firm and slightly salty, and good for sandwiches. It’s best for grating when it becomes older and hardens. American Asiago isn’t as fine as its Italian counterpart.

Cave Aged Gruyere – A raw cow’s milk cheese from Switzerland. As the cheese ages, the potassium lactate crystallizes, as do the natural minerals, giving a light crunchy texture to go with the deep nutty taste.

Mimolette – A cow’s milk cheese characterized by its orange color and shaped like a flattened ball. It is a compressed cheese with a dry, hard grey or brown rind. It can be matured up to 18 months, and depending on its maturity may be supple, dry, or hard and flaky; the nutty flavor of the young cheese gradually becomes more piquant.

Parmigiano Reggiano (Parmesan) – Made from skimmed cow’s milk, it is a hard cheese with a granular consistency. It has a very fruity, even piquant flavor.

Pecorino Romano – Made only from November to June, this sheep’s milk cheese is dry salted by hand over a period of 2 months and aged for a minimum of 9, with the slightly spicy, sharp, tangy flavor which gets increasingly robust with age.

Piave Vecchio – Aging enhances the already sweet, rich flavor of Piave. It has the texture of a young Parmigiano-Reggiano, not crystalline yet, nor dry enough for grating. It has the toasted walnut character of Gruyere and the caramel-like sweetness of aged Gouda. Produced entirely from milk from the mountainous part of Veneto. (Vecchio is the Italian term for a cheese matured for 9 months.)

Pozo Tomme – Produced by Rinconada Dairy located in Santa Margarita, this rustic farmstead, pressed raw sheep milk cheese is aged for a minimum of two months, developing a natural rind resulting in a rich, nutty flavor with old world characteristics. As it ages, it becomes a superior grating cheese, reminiscent of the Italian pecorinos.

Roomano Pradera 3-year Cave-Aged Gouda – This Dutch farmer’s cheese is a skimmed cow's milk aged gouda from Holland. Often aged even longer (up to six years) the texture is hard and crystalline; the flavor has intense caramel and butterscotch tones.

Tumalo Farms Fenacho – a hard goat’s milk cheese from Oregon seasoned with fenugreek seeds which impart a pleasing sweetness that faintly hints of onion and gives the cheese wonderful texture. Complex and aromatic, this farmstead goat cheese lingers on the palate with flavors of butterscotch.

Ubriaco - Traditional, hard cheese made from cow's milk. The name of the cheese means "drunken" in Italian and it is because the young cheese is soaked in wine, covered with the crushed grape skins left after pressing, and then allowed to mature for six to ten months. The cheese has a firm, crumbly but open texture that is fairly wet and the taste has a hint of pineapple.

Vella Cheese Company Dry Monterey Jack – This cow’s milk cheese was created in California’s Gold Rush Days by a Scot named David Jacks. The rind to this Special Select Extra Aged Dry Jack is made up of olive oil and cocoa. The crystalline texture and nutty flavors compliment fruits and wines.

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Cheese of Choice

Abbaye de Belloc - Unpasteurized sheep’s milk cheese made by Benedictine monks in France’s Basque region. The creaminess of this firm cheese expands on your palate with hints of nutty and fruity flavors.

Arina Goat Gouda – A semi-hard goat's milk cheese from Holland. Aged for only four months, it has a semi-firm but creamy consistency. The taste is tangy but also subtle and silky. It is milder than an unaged goat but sharper than a cow’s milk gouda.

Bellweather Farms Carmody – Jersey cow milk aged at least 6 weeks with a naturally golden color and smooth texture. The extra aging (four months) of the Carmody Reserve produces an astoundingly deep flavor in this semi-hard cheese.

Boschetto al Tartuffo - Flecks of truffle are found throughout this, semi soft textured sheep’s milk cheese from Italy. The taste of the truffle permeates the cheese giving it a rich, complex flavor with hints of garlic.

Burrata – Considered by many the best fresh cheese in the world. Apulia, in Southern Italy is the home of this cheese, which at first sight looks like a big Mozzarella, weighing about 1 pound. Traditionally was made with buffalo milk, but today cow’s milk is used. It is buttery tasting, and has a higher fat content than Mozzarella. The outer layer is edible and the cheese is soft and creamy.

Cheddar – The most widely purchased and eaten cheese in the world, Cheddar is an English cow’s milk cheese (45% butterfat) that originates from Cheddar in Somerset. It has a compressed pâte and a natural oily rind, wrapped in cloth. It is firm to the touch and varies in colour from white-yellow to orange-yellow. Young cheddar is mild but it strengthens in flavour as it matures. Some of the more interesting cheddars used in the Iron Chef Central Coast competition include: Bandaged Cheddar, Keen’s Cheddar, Fiscalini Cheddar, Mike’s Firehouse White Cheddar, Spring Hill Dairy and Grafton Village Cheese Company Sage Cheddar.

Chevre – This is the French term for goat’s milk cheeses. The Loire Valley is the starting point in the history of goat’s milk cheeses in France, and remains the most important area of production. A variety of chevre was used including Haystack, Firefly Farms Merry Goat Round, and Laura Chanel.

Comté – A cheese made from cow’s milk, which is cooked and pressed. It is ivory-coloured or pale yellow and has a natural brushed rind, varying from golden yellow to brown. It is matured for 3-6 months. Traditionally it should have small ‘eyes’ or holes, a fruity flavour and a strong bouquet.

Crème Chantilly – A French dessert cheese that has a soft, delicate flavor.

Crème Fraiche – This thick, cow’s milk cream is tangy and sweet. It is the perfect ingredient for sauces, and pastries.

Feta - The most famous of Greek cheeses. Salty and sharp, Feta was originally made with either ewe’s milk or a mixture of ewe’s and goat’s milk, but is now being mass-produced with primarily cow’s milk (although recent trends have seen the return of goat’s milk feta).

Fontina d’ Aosta - Genuine Fontina comes from the Valle d’Aosta in the most north west corner of Italy, it is a cow’s milk cheese (45% fat content), with a pressed cooked centre and a brushed, sometimes oiled crust. Elastic to the touch and with a few small holes, it has a light yellow pâte and tastes delicately nutty.

Fromage Blanc – Fromage Blanc is a staple of the French diet. Made with pasteurized whole or skimmed cows milk, the results range from a product that is used like cream cheese, to one that resembles yogurt.

Gjetost (YEAY-toast) – This Norwegian classic is a blend of goat and cow’s milk with the sweet flavors of caramel and peanut butter.

Gruyere - A Swiss or French cow’s milk cheese with a firm but pliable texture and a brushed and washed rind. Gruyere is ivory-yellow or golden-brown in color, and has a predominantly nutty flavor with fruity undertones. Great for fondue or melting over a bowl of French onion soup.

Humbolt Fog – Goat’s milk cheese made by Mary Keehn of Cypress Grove Chevre in McKinleyville, California. Soft-ripened with a layer of vegetable ash in the center and along the exterior of the cheese. Tangy in flavor, with a satisfying soft creaminess on the palate. Won Best Goat’s Milk Cheese at the American Cheese Society’s Conference in 2003.

Kasseri – This Greek cheese is made from sheep’s or goat’s milk. It has a sharp, salty flavor and hard cheddarlike texture that’s perfect for grating. An American version is made with cow’s milk.

Lamb Chopper – This cheese from McKinleyville, California uses 100% pasteurized organic sheep’s milk. The cheese is firm and smooth, the flavor is buttery and nutty, and the aroma is sweet and fruity.

Mascarpone - A soft, white fresh cream cheese from the Lombardy region of southern Italy. It is made from cream separated from milk, accounting for its high fat content. The cream is heated, citric acid is added, and the curd is stirred. The clumps of curd are drained in cloth for 24 hours, then the cheese is whipped and packed in tubs.

Matos St. George – An American adaptation of a semi-soft Portuguese cheese, reminiscent of a good English cheddar, with a dense, waxy texture. Using only the heat-treated milk from their own small herd of Holsteins in Santa Rosa, California, the cheese is aged three months, and develops a hard rind and a firm, golden paste with lots of tiny eyes. The aroma is milky and grassy, the flavor exhibits a pleasant acidity.

Mozzarella – It originated in Latium and Campania in Italy and is still made with buffalo’s milk in these areas but with cow’s milk in the rest of Italy. Buffalo mozzarella has a more delicate flavor. The ability to ‘tear’ mozzarella indicates a high quality cheese.

Raclette - Traditionally, French Raclette was not the name of a cheese, rather it was the name of a melted cheese dish where several cheeses were scraped or “racler” (the French word, hence the name of the cheese, Raclette) and melted together with vegetables. Today, this blend of cheeses has been produced as one cheese, known as Raclette. This cheese has a full nutty and fruity flavor that becomes stronger when the cheese is heated.

Ricotta - An Italian curd cheese made from the whey produced as a by-product in the manufacture of various cow’s and sheep’s milk cheeses. Soft and rindless, with a crumbly texture and a mild flavour, Ricotta is used mainly in cooking.

Ricotta Salata – Italian sheep’s milk cheese. The milk curds and whey are pressed and dried prior to aging, giving this pure white cheese a dense but slightly spongy texture and a salty, milky flavor – like a dry Italian feta.