Discovering Different Types of Cheese Around the World: From Halloumi to Paneer

Cheese is a worldwide staple, beloved and revered across cultures. With more than a thousand varieties, you can quite literally find cheese everywhere. However, although all are made from some kind of milk, the similarities often stop there. Cheese can be hard or creamy, sour or salty, aged or unaged, and with or without brine.

Creativity and cheese have long gone hand in hand. For centuries, humans have been inventing interesting new cheese types and re-imagining uses for classic favourites. The same can be done today. Why not add some cheesiness into your food product or introduce an exotic cheese to your dairy offerings?

In this post, we hope to inspire you to get serious about cheese. We will explore 19 types of cheese from around the world, from halloumi in Cyprus to paneer in India.

1. Halloumi: Cyprus

Though originating in Cyprus, halloumi is a prominent ingredient throughout the Mediterranean, as well as in Egypt, Turkey, and Lebanon. It is an unripened cheese with a high melting point, typically grilled or fried. This white cheese is semi-hard with a layered texture and slightly salty taste. It’s often described as “squeaky.”

2. Camembert: France

Camembert is a moist and creamy cheese that hails from 18th century Normandy in northern France. A wheel of camembert has an edible white rind that encases a soft, runny white interior. It is moist and creamy and possesses a mild milky flavour and potent aroma. Made from unpasteurized cow’s milk, camembert is only surface-ripened.

3. Cotija: Mexico

Handmade from cow’s milk, cotija is a hard, non-melting cheese that can be mild or flavourful depending on how long it is aged. There are two types of cotija: cotija de montaña and tajo. Cotija de montaña is firm with a mild, salty taste. Tajo, on the other hand, is more moist, less salty, and fattier.

4. Gorgonzola: Italy

Originally from northern Italy near Milan, gorgonzola is mainly produced in the regions of Lombardy and Piedmont in Italy. It’s made from pasteurized, unskimmed cow’s milk. The taste is salty with an appealing tang from the blue mould. Gorgonzola has a buttery, crumbly, yet firm consistency.

5. Havarti: Denmark

Havarti is a buttery, semi-soft cheese with small holes distributed throughout. This Danish cheese is smooth and rindless with a sweet and acidic taste. Its colour ranges from cream to yellow. To make havarti, washed curds are typically aged for three months. The taste becomes saltier the longer that the cheese is aged.

6. Feta: Greece

Feta is either made from sheep’s milk or a combination of sheep and goat’s milk. It’s a brined white cheese with a salty, tangy flavour that can be mild or quite sharp. Additionally, this cheese has a distinctive crumbly texture, which is popular in salads and across Greek cuisine.

7. Ayib: Ethiopia

With its mild, milky flavour and crumbly texture, ayib resembles a mixture between cottage cheese and hard feta. It’s typically served with spicy dishes in Ethiopian cuisine.

8. Roquefort: France

A cheese can only be called a roquefort if it has been aged in the Combalou caves of Roquefort-sur-Soulzon in Southern France. It is a white sheep’s milk cheese with characteristic veins of blue mould. Roquefort is tangy, crumbly, a bit moist, semi-hard, and rindless.

9. Labne: Middle East

Labne (or labna) is almost yogurt. It has a thick, curd-whey texture that is creamy and spreadable. The taste is very sour, which complements many Mediterranean and Middle Eastern dishes.

10. Sirene: Balkans

Sirene is a brined cheese made from cow, goat, and sheep’s milk. It is slightly crumbly and grainy. Originating from southeastern Europe, it’s a popular table cheese throughout the Balkan countries.

11. Manchego: Spain

To make manchego cheese, sheep’s milk is aged from 30 days to two years. It must come from the Manchega breed of sheep in the La Mancha region of Spain. The cheese is firm and compact with a buttery texture. It tastes strong, tangy, nutty and is like caramel. It is yellow-to-beige in colour and has a distinctive zig-zag texture.

12. Cheddar: England

This popular cheese originates from the English village of Cheddar in Somerset. It’s made from cooked milk that is then milled into tiny pieces, which are pressed together to form a block. This process gives the cheese its distinct nutty flavour. Cheddar cheese can be creamy and mild or extremely sharp and bitter. 

13. Gouda: The Netherlands

Gouda is one of the oldest cheeses in the world and easily recognized by its red or yellow wax coating. Older goudas (aged over a year) possess a harder consistency, similar to parmesan, whereas younger types of gouda are soft and able to melt. It’s beloved for its nutty and aromatic characteristics.

14. Emmental: Switzerland

Emmental is a classic example of a Swiss cheese. It has characteristic holes, a savoury flavour profile, medium-hard firmness, and a fruity taste. Typically, emmental cheeses are aged between 2-13 months. They originated in 1293 in the valley of the Emme River in Switzerland.

15. Nabulsi: Palestine

Nabulsi is a popular semi-hard brined cheese in the West Bank and Jordan. Most Nabulsi cheese is made from sheep’s milk, although it can also come from goat’s milk. It’s flavoured with mastic and mahleb, a Middle Eastern spice. Soft and rectangular, it’s often used as a table cheese or to make traditional Palestinian desserts.

16. Mozzarella: Italy

Mozzarella is one of the world’s most popular cheeses. It originates in Italy and is traditionally made from water buffalo milk. The curds are heated in warm water, stretched until smooth, and then rolled into balls. The result is a semi-soft, mild cheese.

17. Sulguni: Georgia

This Georgian cheese has a sour, salty flavour with an elastic consistency and dimples on its surface. Its unique flavour profile has earned it the nickname, “pickle cheese.” Made from homogenised cow or buffalo milk (or a combination), it is traditionally deep-fried before eating.

18. Lighvan: Iran

Lighvan is an Iranian brined curd cheese made from sheep’s milk. It’s a sour cheese that ripens over the course of three to four months. This white cheese is produced in triangular blocks and characterized by holes.

19. Paneer: India

Paneer is a staple in Northern Indian cuisine. It is made from adding acidic ingredients (like lemon juice) to hot, curdled milk. Although soft, this unaged cheese does not melt. It’s commonly used in vegetarian dishes. 

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