The one type of cheese almost all of us have in our fridge is a traditional grating cheese—most likely Parmigiano Reggiano, Grana Padano, or, at least, cheddar. Considering the variety of cheeses we enjoy on a cheeseboard, it’s curious how unadventurous most of us are when it comes to choosing grating cheese. There’s a whole world of cheeses out there that could do as good a job as the standards— sometimes even better.

Our guide to the American Cheese Society's annual meeting and competition.

Read on for over 300 award-winning cheeses and behind-the-scenes interviews, along with hand-selected cheeseplates and pairings from Montreal's to chefs and mongers! Read the digital edition here.

A Texas teenager recounts his early years of cheese discovery

It started with my mother’s quest to find a snack food that would suit my toddler palate and dexterity. When she handed me a few Cheerios, I tasted one and handed the rest back. A series of other toddler snack attempts followed, but to no avail. Just when it appeared that I was destined for a snackless life, cheese came along, in the form of a fish: cheddar Goldfish, to be precise.

I was hooked. Goldfish were my first exposure to cheesy goodness. I even had my own name for them: “Wop Wops,” which was, I told my mother, what a fish says when it swims. I continued to use the nickname out of habit until an embarrassingly unrepeatable age. Today at 18 I’m pleased to say I no longer use this reference when reaching for my favorite midnight snack. . . . But I’m getting ahead of myself.

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Baserri is a washed-rind cheese with a grassy, nutty, sweet-hay flavor and a dense, moist texture.

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The assets possessed by a T-shirt are numerous, the most notable being its power to silently broadcast the wearer’s personal persuasions while nonchalantly hanging out above any old jeans. As devotees of all things cheese, we find that there are moments when this comes in very handy. For example, when explaining the fine alchemy of cheesemaking to an Easy Mac diehard begins to feel futile, it’s good to have a backup plan. Here’s where the cheese T-shirt comes in. Get your point across without opening your mouth, or, conversely, use it to spark a hot cheese conversation among strangers. Either way, be prepared with any one of the cotton tops featured here. Now that’s a real fashion statement.

The assets possessed by a T-shirt are numerous, the most notable being its power to silently broadcast the wearer’s personal persuasions while nonchalantly hanging out above any old jeans. As devotees of all things cheese, we find that there are moments when this comes in very handy. For example, when explaining the fine alchemy of cheesemaking to an Easy Mac diehard begins to feel futile, it’s good to have a backup plan. Here’s where the cheese T-shirt comes in. Get your point across without opening your mouth, or, conversely, use it to spark a hot cheese conversation among strangers. Either way, be prepared with any one of the cotton tops featured here. Now that’s a real fashion statement.

The assets possessed by a T-shirt are numerous, the most notable being its power to silently broadcast the wearer’s personal persuasions while nonchalantly hanging out above any old jeans. As devotees of all things cheese, we find that there are moments when this comes in very handy. For example, when explaining the fine alchemy of cheesemaking to an Easy Mac diehard begins to feel futile, it’s good to have a backup plan. Here’s where the cheese T-shirt comes in. Get your point across without opening your mouth, or, conversely, use it to spark a hot cheese conversation among strangers. Either way, be prepared with any one of the cotton tops featured here. Now that’s a real fashion statement.

The assets possessed by a T-shirt are numerous, the most notable being its power to silently broadcast the wearer’s personal persuasions while nonchalantly hanging out above any old jeans. As devotees of all things cheese, we find that there are moments when this comes in very handy. For example, when explaining the fine alchemy of cheesemaking to an Easy Mac diehard begins to feel futile, it’s good to have a backup plan. Here’s where the cheese T-shirt comes in. Get your point across without opening your mouth, or, conversely, use it to spark a hot cheese conversation among strangers. Either way, be prepared with any one of the cotton tops featured here. Now that’s a real fashion statement.

The assets possessed by a T-shirt are numerous, the most notable being its power to silently broadcast the wearer’s personal persuasions while nonchalantly hanging out above any old jeans. As devotees of all things cheese, we find that there are moments when this comes in very handy. For example, when explaining the fine alchemy of cheesemaking to an Easy Mac diehard begins to feel futile, it’s good to have a backup plan. Here’s where the cheese T-shirt comes in. Get your point across without opening your mouth, or, conversely, use it to spark a hot cheese conversation among strangers. Either way, be prepared with any one of the cotton tops featured here. Now that’s a real fashion statement.

The assets possessed by a T-shirt are numerous, the most notable being its power to silently broadcast the wearer’s personal persuasions while nonchalantly hanging out above any old jeans. As devotees of all things cheese, we find that there are moments when this comes in very handy. For example, when explaining the fine alchemy of cheesemaking to an Easy Mac diehard begins to feel futile, it’s good to have a backup plan. Here’s where the cheese T-shirt comes in. Get your point across without opening your mouth, or, conversely, use it to spark a hot cheese conversation among strangers. Either way, be prepared with any one of the cotton tops featured here. Now that’s a real fashion statement.