Cheese lovers know that the same product can belong to several varieties at once. After all, they are typified by fat content, texture, ripening time and more. Associations of cheesemakers from different countries, creators of reference books, culinary gurus year after year try to create a unified, comprehensive qualification, but so far their work is fruitless and in order to learn to understand the types of cheese, you will have to remember several possible criteria at once.
Moisture of cheese
One of the most commonly used types of cheese types is based on the moisture content of the product. There are soft, semi-soft, semi-hard and hard cheeses.
Soft varieties include all fresh, farmed cheeses such as ricotta, mozzarella, feta. Mature cheeses also include high moisture varieties such as brie or gorgonzolla. Soft varieties are often spread over toast or crackers and served with fruit. They are put in salads, used to prepare such famous dishes as cheesecake, lasagna, pizza.
Semi-soft cheeses include "monastery" cheeses, the most famous of which is Münster. Among the well-known semi-hard varieties of cheese, it is worth mentioning gouda, cheddar, provolone, monterey jack. Semi-soft and semi-hard varieties melt well and form a lovely, golden crust on a variety of casseroles. They are great in both sandwiches and fondue.
Aged, ripe cheeses are hard. These include such famous varieties as Romano, Asiago, Parmesan. Often semi-hard cheeses become hard over time, therefore, for example, cheddar, goudou, many Swiss cheeses - edam, emmenthal, gruyere - you can buy both moisture content. In Swiss cheese, the larger the holes, the more mature and firm it is. Hard cheeses are often finely grated and used to flavor hot dishes.
Blue cheeses
Blue cheeses always belong to mature cheeses, but in terms of their moisture content they can be either soft or semi-hard or completely hard. Soft mature cheeses include the famous Brie and Camembert varieties, covered with a soft, velvety white mold crust. To semi-solid and solid - Münster and the port of Salue.
Blue cheeses, which, despite the name, can be in various shades of green, can also be both soft and hard. True, in this case, the same product is simply subjected to different aging. The rule also works - the older the cheese, the harder it is. These cheeses with different ripening periods include Roquefort, Gorgonzolla and Stilton. Aged blue cheeses have a particularly pungent taste and aroma and are much more expensive.
Milk type and fat content
Although most of the world's cheeses are made from cow's milk, there are varieties that use goat, sheep, and even buffalo milk. Cream cheeses are also distinguished separately; they are made from enriched cream, whose fat content is at least 60%. The higher the fat content of the cheese, the softer its taste. Cheeses made from milk from other animals, except for cows, have special, piquant notes.
Pickled cheeses
Pickled cheeses differ in the way they are stored. Such varieties are placed in containers filled with brine, often with various savory additives. These cheeses are soft, hard, fresh and aged, but always with a distinct salty flavor.
