American Originals: It’s a growing category of cheese rife with innovation, happy accidents, and overall deliciousness. If you’re looking for your next all-American cheese heartthrob, browse this slideshow from Grub Street — there’s 50 contenders, and they’re all waiting for you, baby.

The following 50 picks represent that diversity, without attempting the impossible task of naming the world’s (or this city’s) best cheeses. You won’t find a rote recitation of classics, but instead the stinky, earthy, oozy, cave-aged, mixed-milk, and even process cheeses of the moment—and where to buy them.

See the slideshow on Grub Street

Photo by Bobby Doherty/New York Magazine

Rebecca Haley-Park

Rebecca Haley-Park is culture's former editor and resident stinky cheese cheerleader. A native New Englander, she holds a BFA in creative writing from University of Maine at Farmington.