Classifying Cheese by Type and Category

A REFERENCE GUIDE

Brought to you by Peaceful Heart Farm and Creamery www.peacefulheartfarm.com

TWO REFERENCE TABLES American Cheese Society Categories Basic Types INCORPORATES AMERICA'S USED WORLDWIDE MELTING POT Classifying Cheese By Type And Category

Basic Types

Cheese Characteristics and Examples Type

Fresh Unaged, lactic-fermented cheeses, including what are called tub cheeses (unmolded, unpressed).

Chevre Goat’s milk soft ripened Loire Valley-style cheese. Examples: Selles-sur-Cher, Sainte-Maure de Touraine, Bonne Bouche, Wabash Cannonball. Note: many chevre-like cheeses can also be placed under the next category, bloomy rind.

These unpressed cheeses result from curds that have been gently poured or ladled Bloomy Rind into molds. Examples: Brie, Camembert, constant bliss, Tomme Vaudoise, and a (soft ripened) triple-cream family of cheeses.

Washed Rind These can be slimy (outside), melting (inside), mild tasting, and stinky (Epoisses); they can also be semihard with strong, pronounced but elegant flavors (Appenzeller). Examples: Langres, Maroilles, Pont l’Eveque, Talleggio.

Natural Rind Blue cheeses actually fall under this category, which can also include any cheese for which the rind is allowed to form on its own—that is, without special treatments. Examples: Orb, Weaver, Piedmont, various blue cheeses.

Uncooked, These are semihard and hard cheeses that feature pressing. Examples: bra, Pressed Caerphilly, Cantal, Laguiole, Saint-Nectaire, Tomme de Savoie.

Cooked, These are hard, aged Alpine, “Swiss style” cheeses. Examples: Appenzeller, Pressed Beaufort, Comte, Gruyere, Pleasant Ridge Reserve, Tarentaise.

Blue This is a wide-ranging class whose cheeses are all categorized by blue-green molds, the vast majority of which occur as interior veins (in the paste) but a few of which appear only on a cheese’s exterior. Examples: Fourme d’Ambert, Gogonzola, Monte Enebro Roquefort, Stilton, Bleu de Gex.

OTHER TYPES

Stretched This is an indigenous Italian style, made by hand-stretching the curds after Curd (pasta acidification. Examples: provolone, mozzarella, Caciocavallo, and Scamorza. filata):

Whey Cheeses: Whey from primary cheesemaking is made into cheese and a secondary process— hence the name ricotta, from the Latin recoctus meaning “re-cooked.” Example: ricotta. American Cheese Society Basic Categories

Cheese Category Characteristics and Examples

Fresh Unripened Cow, goat, sheep or mixed, marscapone, ricotta.

Soft Ripened Cow, brie, Camembert, goat, sheep and/or mixed, flavor added, triple crème.

American Originals Cow, goat, sheep and/or mixed, Monterey Jack, Monterey Jack with flavors, Colby.

American-Made — Dutch style (all milks), cow, goat, sheep and/or mixed. International-Style

Cheddars: Aged (all milks; 12 to 24 months), flavor added, cow (less than 12 months), goat, mature (aged 25 to 35 months) mature (over 49 months).

Blue Mold Blue-veined cow, blue-veined goat, blue-veined sheep and/or mixed; external molds (all milks).

Hispanic and Ripened; fresh, unripened (queso Blanco/queso fresco); flavor added. Portuguese Style

Italian Type Pasta filata, grating types, mozzarella types, fresh mozzarella types.

Feta Cow, goat, sheep, flavor added.

Low-Fat, Low Salt Goat, sheep, water buffalo; light/lite; flavor added.

Flavored All peppers, herbs, fruits, vegetables, flowers, syrups; crushed or whole peppercorns or savory spices; goat, sheep.

Smoked Cow, goat, sheep, Italian styles, cheddars.

Farmstead All milks, aged over 90 days, cow, goat, sheep, flavor added.

Fresh Goat Flavor added.

Fresh Sheep Flavor added.

Marinated Cow, goat, sheep.

Aged Sheep

Aged Goat

Washed Rind Cow, goat, sheep