Repeat after us: brie is not a style of cheese! It’s classified as a “bloomy rind,” and there are all kinds of “brie-like” cheeses across the globe. To cut down confusion when it comes to types of cheese, we’ve crafted a simple chart:
TYPE | DEFINITION | EXAMPLES |
Blue | The growth of blue mold on or in cheeses. | Roquefort, Gorgonzola, Stilton, or Cabrales |
Bloomy Rind | The white, edible rind formed by spraying the surface with a harmless, flavor-producing, white Penicillium candidum mold before aging, which allows it to ripen from the outside in and retain a high percentage of moisture. | Brie, Camembert, or Triple Cream |
Pasta Filata | Italian for spun paste, a process in which curds are heated and then kneaded, stretched, and molded into a desired shape, which creates elastic cheeses that stretch when melted. | Mozzarella, Provolone, Oaxaca, or Burrata |
Alpine-style | Any cheese made in the traditional style indigenous to the Alps, the European mountain range that marks the borders of Switzerland, France, Austria, and Italy. | Gruyère, Emmental, Comté |
Cheddar or cheddar-like | Any cheese that is made by the process of cheddaring, where curds are left to sit together for a few hours after they coagulate. As the curds drain, they knit together into a solid mass. This mass is then sliced into smaller loaves and stacked on top of one another. | Clothbound cheddars such as Montgomery’s, Jasper Hill Farm Cabot Clothbound, or Westcombe; Vermont Cheddars such as Grafton Village, or Shelburne Farms; or Wisconsin Cheddars such as Hook’s 5-Year, Carr Valley’s Master Reserve, or Henning’s |
Fresh | Cheese that has not been aged for more than a few weeks. | Ricotta, Cottage Cheese, Chèvre |
Grana/Grating Cheese | Grana is a firm, aged cheese from Italy that is commonly used for grating and is known for its grainy texture | Grana Padano, Parmigiano Reggiano, or Pecorino Romano |
Processed Cheese | A term generally used to describe cheese that has been processed after its manufacture to make it more shelf-stable. | Powdered Cheese, American Cheese, or Canned Cheese |
Washed-rind | A cheese that is bathed in brine, whey, beer, cider, wine, or brandy during ripening to encourage the growth of B. linens bacteria, which lends a pungent aroma, full, salty flavor, and a reddish-orange rind. | Epoisses, Taleggio, Munster |