Top 10 Most Popular Cheeses In The World to Add to your Diet

Top Cheeses in the World

Cheese is prized for its portability, extended shelf life, and high fat, protein, calcium, and phosphorus content. While the amount of time a cheese will keep depends on the type, it is more compact than milk and has a longer shelf life.

1. Mozzarella

Mozzarella is made from whole cow's milk and is a fresh, soft, stretched-curd cheese. Mozzarella is typically paired with light white wines because of its delicate creamy flavor and sweet aroma of fresh milk. Although it was originally made in Campania, Italy, this timeless classic is now made all over the country. In order to distinguish it from mozzarella made with water buffalo milk, the cheese is often referred to as mozzarella fior di latte. It is made with cow's milk or water buffalo milk. The ancient practice of making mozzarella cheese dates back to the 4th century BCE; however, Bartolomeo Scappi, a well-known Renaissance chef, wrote the first official reference to the cheese's name in a 1570 cookery book.

2. Cheddar

One of the most well-known cheeses in the world today is Cheddar, which was first made in the village of Cheddar in Somerset County, England, in the 12th century. Cheddar is a white to pale yellow-colored hard cheese made from pasteurized cow's milk. It has a smooth texture when it is young, but as it ages, its texture becomes more crumbly and its flavor becomes more pungent. The authentic Somerset Cheddar, according to Joseph Harding, a cheesemaker who is often referred to as the "father of Cheddar," should have a close texture, a full, fine flavor that tastes like hazelnuts, and a quality that melts in your mouth.

3. Feta

Feta, affectionately referred to as "the princess of cheeses," is the most well-known Greek cheese. The cheese is made from sheep's milk or a combination of sheep's milk and goat's milk, with the goat's milk not exceeding 30 percent. Macedonia, Thessaly, Thrace, Epirus, the Peloponnese, and Central Greece all produce it.
Although pasteurized milk is now permitted, non-pasteurized milk has traditionally been used to make feta. In order to maintain its freshness and acidity, the cheese is produced in a large square or triangle-shaped molds and preserved in brine-filled wooden barrels or tin containers.

4. Ricotta

 Ricotta is a soft, fresh cheese that can be made with milk from sheep, cow, goat, or Italian water buffalo. Technically, it is not a cheese at all; rather, it is a creamy curd made by reheating the whey, a byproduct of cheesemaking. This is why it is called ricotta, which means "re-cooked" in Italian literature. Ricotta curds have a white, creamy, very fresh flavor with a hint of sweetness. Depending on the milk used in the process, the cheese may have a different shape and weight, but it typically has a conical shape that is made possible by using a fuscella, a traditional container in which the cheese is placed after it has been skimmed to allow it to drain.

5. Parmigiano Reggiano

Parmigiano Reggiano is made with raw, semi-skimmed milk from cows that graze on fresh grass and hay. It is considered to be one of the best cheeses in the world. Depending on how long the cheese had been matured, its flavors can range from nutty to robust and slightly tangy. It has a hard, gritty texture. The Benedictine and Cistercian monks who reclaimed the wetlands in the Po Valley during the Middle Ages began producing Parmigiano Reggiano, which was later given the name "Parma" after the city where it originated.

6. Gouda

Gouda is a yellow-to-orange, creamy, and sweet cow's milk cheese that is the Netherlands' most prominent export product and one of the most widely consumed cheeses worldwide. Gouda cheeses typically have a flattened wheel shape because they are pressed into molds. Their yellow and red waxy coating, which looks like plastic, makes many of them easy to spot. The taste also changes as it ages, and its texture can range from semi-hard to hard depending on how long it has been aged. As a result, Gouda cheeses are categorized according to their age. There are six categories all together: young cheese (four weeks), young matured (8 to 10 weeks), matured (16 to 18 weeks), extra matured (7 to 9 months), old cheese (10 to 12 months), and very old cheese

7. Brie de Meaux

The soft French cheese Brie de Meaux is made from cow's milk. The white mold covers the delicate rind of the flat cheese. It spends at least four weeks maturing on straw mats in cellars on the Île-de-France, near Paris. The most well-known variety of Brie has been referred to as the cheese of royalty and wealthy individuals in the past. To fully enjoy the Brie's moldy, mushroomy, nutty, and fruity flavors, it's important to let it sit at room temperature before eating it. In French dishes like Galettes briardes and Bouchées á la reine au Brie, cheese is frequently used.

8. Paneer

Paneer is a fresh cheese made from pasteurized cow's milk or water buffalo milk that is crumbly and moist. Paneer is a completely vegetarian cheese because, unlike most other cheeses, it is not made with rennet. It is mentioned in the Vedas from 6000 BC and has roots in India and Bangladesh. Peynir, a Persian and Turkish word for cheese, gave it its name. This cheese pairs well with strong and spicy flavors and is frequently used in curries, particularly in the north of India.

9. Gorgonzola

Gorgonzola is a type of blue cheese that was first made in 879 CE in Gorgonzola, a Lombardian town outside of Milan. It is made with cow's milk and is distinguished by mold marbling that is either green or blue. The milk is inoculated with penicillin spores to produce blue veining. This Italian cheese is available in two flavors, depending on how old it is. Gorgonzola Piccante, on the other hand, is a firmer, more crumbly variety that needs to be aged for at least three months in order to develop its strong, pungent flavor. Gorgonzola Dolce, which is matured for approximately two months, has a mild flavor with notes of butter, sour cream, and a less pronounced lactic tang.

10. Camembert de Normandie

Camembert de Normandie is Normandy's most well-known and iconic cheese. Camembert de Normandie is made with raw cow's milk and weighs an average of 250 grams. The aroma is moldy and reminiscent of cabbage, and the flavor is intense, pungent, and reminiscent of mushrooms, grass, and butter. According to one legend, a farming woman by the name of Marie Harel shielded a fugitive priest and received the recipe for the Camembert we know today from him. After being dry-salted and ladled into molds by hand, the cheese is aged for 30 to 35 days. It has a creamy, soft body with a white, moldy rind on its exterior.

50 Most Popular Cheeses In The World

Cheese

Casein, a milk protein, is coagulated into cheese, a dairy product that comes in a wide range of flavors, textures, and forms. It is made of milk's proteins and fat, which typically come from cows, buffalo, goats, or sheep. Casein is coagulated by adding either the enzymes of rennet or bacterial enzymes with similar activity to the milk during production. After that, the finished cheese is made by pressing the solid curds and liquid whey separately. Aromatic molds can be found throughout, on the outer layer, or on the rind of some cheeses. There are over a thousand different kinds of cheese, all of which are made in various nations. The origin of the milk (including the animal's diet), whether it has been pasteurized, the butterfat content, the bacteria and mold, the processing, and how long they have been aged all affect their styles, textures, and flavors. Wood smoke, spices, and herbs can all be used as flavoring agents. The addition of annatto is what gives many varieties of cheese their yellowish-to-red hue. Some cheeses can have black pepper, garlic, chives, or cranberries added to them. Cheeses can be selected, purchased, received, stored, and ripened expertly by a cheesemonger or specialist cheese seller.