Oh, Cheese!
Clifton Fadiman had said, “Cheese [is] milk’s leap towards immortality.” Those delicious, fragrant pieces of ultimate joy amalgamate with anything that it is spread on or served with and can incorporate into heavenly treats. Cheese is one of humanity’s oldest and favorite foods.
The legacy of cheesemaking is almost as old as civilization itself since cheese was discovered way before empires and royalty, before pottery and writing, and before metal tools and weapons even existed. As early as 8000 BCE, the primitive Neolithic farmers living within the Fertile Crescent began this practice. With the rise of agriculture, the ancient farmers began the domestication of sheep and goats for harvesting milk. But an observation was made, when left in warm conditions for several hours, that fresh milk began to sour and the lactic acids then caused proteins to coagulate, therefore binding into soft clumps. Upon discovering this transformation, the farmers drained the remaining liquid – which was later named whey – and discovered that the yellowish globs were edible. These clumps became the building blocks of cheese which would eventually be aged, pressed, ripened, and whizzed into a diverse cornucopia of dairy delights that we enjoy now.
There are numerous Benedictine monasteries scattered across Europe, where medieval monks experimented endlessly and relentlessly with different types of milk, cheesemaking practices, and aging processes that led to the creation of many of today’s popular cheeses. Parmesan, Roquefort, Munster, and a number of other cheeses were all refined and perfected by these cheesemaking clergymen. In the Alps, Swiss cheesemaking was specifically successful, producing a range of cow’s milk cheeses. Cheese remained popular throughout the Renaissance. The industrial revolution took the cheese out of the monastery, and into the machinery. Today the planet manufactures billions of kilograms of cheese a year, which is shipped and consumed around the globe.
Thanks to centuries of cheesemaking experimentation and innovation in different regions of the world, there are dozens of variants of different cheeses on the market with their unique taste, texture, color, aroma, softness, mold content, gas holes as well as shelf life.
So if you are a cheese fanatic and love eating cheese, then here’s a list of some of the most common types of cheeses that you ought to know about. Don't miss out on some fantastically easy cheese board ideas at the end. Dig in!
Cheddar
One of the most popular ones, Cheddar, originated in England and has no patent to this day. This cheese can be white or yellow, is semi-hard, and is made of cow’s milk. Depending upon the temperature and climatic conditions of an area, this cheese may take 24 months to age but will melt the moment you put it in your mouth.
Cheddar can be eaten with fresh fruits like apples, nuts, and honey, or one can also eat them with meat dishes.
Parmigiano – Reggiano, not to be confused with Parmesan, is a protected cheese that can only be produced in Emilia-Romagna and Lombardia in Italy. Therefore, it is quite expensive. It is a hard, dry, flakey cheese, aged 12 to 36 months. It has a caramel-nutty flavor.
This cheese can be consumed with spaghetti, soups, and Cesar salads.
Mozzarella
The very well-known Mozzarella cheese originated in Italy and is made of Buffalo’s milk. This cheese is delicate with its milky flavor, is smooth and has an elastic texture, and can be freshly used for making any dish. This cheese is best used in making pizza and can be preserved for one week from the day it is made.
This cheese is also used in making pasta as well as on top of vegetable salads.
Cottage Cheese
Cottage cheese, or you might be more familiar with its local name, Paneer, is used in our daily life and has its origin in India. It is rich in nutrition and is very delicate and soft. Also, it is easily digestible. It has a mildly sweet flavor and can be used to make a lot of Indian vegetarian dishes.
One can easily find Cottage Cheese in any of your local sweet shops.
Feta
Feta cheese originated in Greece, is a white cheese, and is made of sheep and goat’s milk. This cheese matures after nearly 2 months. The cheese is crumbly and squishy in texture and has a buttery flavor. It has a tangy, rich, and salty taste, and can be served fresh or can be cooked with various dishes as well.
This cheese is usually used in Greek salads or can be eaten with olive oil.
Gouda
Gouda, one of the most exotic Dutch cheeses in the world, originated in the Netherlands. It is made with cow’s milk and is mild yellow. This cheese has a creamy and smooth texture and is widely used all over the world. It can be eaten with sandwiches and vegetable dishes.
One can also pair the Gouda cheese with beer or red wine. Young Goudas go well with beer, medium ones complement fruity wines, while the matured ones are best paired with deeply flavored wines like Merlot and Shiraz.
Gruyere
Gruyere, a semi-soft cheese made from cow’s milk, originated in a Swiss village. Gruyere cheese is slightly grainy as well as dense, with a hard texture, pitted with holes, and a brownish rind.
Gruyere is quite often used with pasta, soups, and salads, and is also served with bread. It can also be paired with beer as well as white wines.
Brie, also known to be the ‘queen of cheeses’, is soft. Made from unpasteurized cow’s milk, it is pale in color, with a tint of grey under its furry rind. It originates from the Brie region, in France.
It is a dessert cheese with a buttery texture that tastes best when served at room temperature.
Parmesan 
Inspired by the Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, Parmesan was created and originated in Parma, Italy, and is one of the most commonly consumed cheeses in the world. Made from unpasteurized cow’s milk, it is pale yellow and has a hard, crumbly texture and a fruity, nutty flavor.
Parmesan can either be eaten on its own or in grated form over soups, risotto, pizzas, pasta, and other snacks.
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Camembert originated from Normandy, France, and is a rare type of cheese. It is made from cow’s milk and is moist, creamy, and soft in texture, with a furry rind. It has a buttery taste with a hint of earthy mushroom, which only gets better as it ages. Since the procedure of making this cheese is not widely known, there are very few manufacturers of camembert cheese.
This cheese can be served with crispy bread, crackers, and a baguette.
Mascarpone 
Mascarpone is an Italian cheese made from Pasteurized cow’s milk by curdling milk cream with citric acid. This procedure leaves behind a rich buttery creamy cheese, which is used in sweet as well as savory dishes, like Italian delicacies such as Tiramisu and several cheesecakes. It must be used soon after its preparation, as it can spoil easily.
It can be served with fruits and is also used to thicken puddings and creamy desserts.
Roquefort cheese originated from the south of France and is one of the most popular blue cheeses. This cheese made of sheep milk lasts for about 5 months from the time it’s manufactured. It is white, tangy, and crumbly with distinctive veins of blue mold. It is best known for its multilayered flavors and its richness.
It can be served with meat sauce, as well as garnished with grilled salad.
Emmental 
Emmental, produced from cow’s milk, originated in Switzerland, is hard in texture. It is yellow and its thin rind is typically wrapped in paper. It has a sweet aroma and fruity flavor, with a tinge of acidity to it. Compared to its other counterparts, bigger gas holes are formed in this cheese during the fermentation process, which makes it one of the most difficult cheeses to be produced.
Emmental is usually paired with wine and also served with fruits.
Manchego cheese, which originated in Spain, is made of sheep’s milk and takes about a year to mature. The freshly made cheese is fruity and sweet in flavor and has an ivory-yellow color.
It can be eaten with dried tomatoes and crusty bread. It can also be paired with olives and wine.
Edam 
Edam cheese first originated in Edam, Netherlands. It is made from cow’s milk and is semi-hard. It has a pale yellow interior and a crust of paraffin wax. Its flavor is mild, salty, and nutty, and is comparatively low in fat content, as compared to its other counterparts.
The young Edam cheese goes well with fruits like peaches, apricots, cherries, and melons, while the aged Edam cheese is often consumed with apples and pears. It also goes best with crackers, biscuits, and wines such as Pinot Gris, Champagne, Chardonnay, and Shiraz.
Blue Cheese
It isn’t literally blue in color, but this family of cheese has over 100 variants, with a distinctive strong flavor. It has the rich aroma of lanolin and yeast. It has a “melt-in-your-mouth texture like butter. The flavor is burnt caramel. This moist and slightly crumbly cheese achieves a spicy piquancy from the blue-green streaks of penicillium roqueforti.
The characteristic flavor of blue cheeses tends to be sharp and salty. The smell of this food is due to both the mold and types of bacteria encouraged to grow on the cheese.
Monterey Jack
In its earliest form, Monterey Jack was made by 18th-century Franciscan friars in California. Often shortened to Jack, it is a white to pale yellow, semi-hard cheese made using cow's milk, with a mild lemony flavor and slight sweetness.
Usually eaten by itself, it is commonly used as an interior melting cheese for quesadillas, burritos, cheeseburgers, grilled cheese sandwiches, and some pasta dishes.
Mentioned above are just a few of the vast varieties of cheeses in the world. This savory, mouth-watering delicacy is truly the happiest accident of mankind, and out there are so many more kinds of delectable, rare cheeses that you can explore.
Cheese Platter
You can make one as fancy or as simple as you like. The key to an amazing meat and cheese platter is variety. Meats, cheese, olives, marinated veggies, fresh fruit, nuts, plus more!
Choosing a cheese platter is essential, after all, you need enough space to work on it, and it should look good as well. You can either choose a wooden board or a flat fancy plate you have at home if you do not feel like investing in a board specifically for this.
Remember, it should be large enough to hold all of your cheeses, as well as your accompaniments. You’ll also need cheese knives (one for each cheese). This too can be opted against, by simply cutting up your cheeses before adding them to your board. These knives are expensive, so if you're on a budget, just chop off your cheese beforehand, and avoid having your guests maneuver weird-looking knives completely.
Depending upon how many people will be indulging in your cheese board, your budget, and your target audience, choose three to five different cheeses, such as some basics and a few seasonal kinds of cheese. It's always a good idea to mix it up with different textures, such as soft, semi-firm, and hard/aged cheeses. You can also spice it up with the type of milk, such as cow, sheep, and goat’s cheese.
Whether you are chopping your cheese beforehand or keeping chunks on the board for your guests to help themselves, display the cheeses in different ways, for example, spears, wedges, cubes, whole, sliced, or rolled up.
Don't let it all be about the cheese, add accompaniments, such as cured meats, dried salami, prosciutto, a variety of crackers, crusty bread, baguette, seasonal fruits, dry fruits, olives, honey, jam, hummus, pesto, and even chocolate. There is really no limit when selecting things to pair with your cheese. It also helps add variety, color, and texture, and an elevates the flavor of the cheese.
Fill in any empty spots with nuts, bread, and any other accompaniments you are choosing to use. The key presentation goal here is to group everything in piles and mix different shapes, sizes, and colors. Get as creative with it as you want!
Do keep in mind though, that cheese tastes best at room temperature. So let the cheese sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes before serving.
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