Brie

Brie is a soft cow's-milk cheese named after Brie, the French region from which it originated (roughly corresponding to the modern département of Seine-et-Marne). It is pale in colour with a slight greyish tinge under a rind of white mould. The rind is typically eaten, with its flavour depending largely upon the ingredients used and its manufacturing environment. It is similar to Camembert, which is native to a different region of France. Brie typically contains between 60% and 75% butterfat, slightly higher than Camembert.

"Brie" is a style of cheese, and is not in itself a protected name, although some regional bries are protected. It may be produced from whole or semi-skimmed milk. The curd is obtained by adding rennet to raw milk and warming it to a maximum temperature of 37 °C (98.6 °F). The cheese is then cast into moulds, sometimes with a traditional perforated ladle called a pelle à brie. The 20 cm (8 in) mould is filled with several thin layers of cheese and drained for approximately 18 hours. The cheese is then taken out of the moulds, salted, innoculated with cheese culture (Penicillium candidum, Penicillium camemberti or Brevibacterium linens), and aged in a controlled environment for at least four or five weeks.

If left to mature for longer, typically several months to a year, the cheese becomes stronger in flavour and taste, th e pâte drier and darker, and the rind also darker and crumbly, and it is called Brie noir.Overripe brie contains an unpleasantly excessive amount of ammonia, produced by the same microorganisms required for ripening.

A 30 gramme serving of brie contains 101 calories (420 kJ) and 8.4 grams of fat, of which 5.26 grammes are saturated fat. Brie is a good source of protein; a serving of brie can provide 5-6 grammes of protein. Brie contains a good amount of vitamins B12 and B2.

There are now many varieties of brie made all over the world, including plain brie, herbed varieties, double and triple brie and versions of brie made with other types of milk. Indeed, although brie is a French cheese, it is possible to obtain Somerset and Wisconsin brie. The French government officially certifies only two types of brie, Brie de Meaux and Brie de Melun. Some varieties of brie cheese are smoked.

Gruyère

Gruyère is a hard Swiss cheese that originated in the cantons of Fribourg, Vaud, Neuchâtel, Jura and Berne. It is named after the town of Gruyères in Fribourg. In 2001, Gruyère gained the appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC), which became the appellation d'origine protégée (AOP) as of 2013.

Gruyère is classified as a Swiss-type or Alpine cheese and is sweet but slightly salty, with a flavour that varies widely with age. It is often described as creamy and nutty when young, becoming more assertive, earthy and complex as it matures. When fully aged (five months to a year), it tends to have small cracks that impart a slightly grainy texture. Unlike Emmental, with which it is often confused, modern Gruyère has few if any eyes, although in the 19th century, this was not always the case. The small cracks that can develop in Gruyère cheese are often referred to as "eyes." These eyes are round or irregularly shaped holes that are formed during the aging process. It is the most popular Swiss cheese in Switzerland and in most of Europe.

It  is used in many ways in countless dishes. It is considered a good cheese for baking because of its distinctive but not overpowering taste. For example in quiche, Gruyère adds savoriness without overshadowing the other ingredients. It is a good melting cheese, particularly suited for fondues, along with Vacherin Fribourgeois and Emmental. It is also traditionally used in French onion soup, as well as in croque-monsieur, a classic French toasted ham and cheese sandwich. Gruyère is also used in chicken and veal cordon bleu. It is a fine table cheese and, when grated, it is often used with salads and pastas. It is used, grated, atop le tourin, a garlic soup from France served on dried bread. White wines, such as Riesling, pair well with Gruyère. Sparkling cider and Bock beer are also beverage affinities.

Double Gloucester

Gloucester is a traditional, semi-hard cheese made in Gloucestershire since the 16th century. There are two varieties, Single and Double; both traditionally made from milk from Gloucester cattle. Both types have a natural rind and a hard texture but Single Gloucester is more crumbly, lighter in texture and lower in fat. Double Gloucester is allowed to age for longer periods than Single and has a stronger and more savoury flavour. It is also slightly firmer. The flower known as lady's bedstraw (Galium verum) was responsible for the distinctively yellow colour of Double Gloucester cheese.

In the UK today, Double Gloucester is more widely sold. Both types are produced in round shapes but Double Gloucester rounds are larger. Traditionally whereas the Double Gloucester was a prized cheese comparable in quality to the best Cheddar or Cheshire and was exported out of the county, Single Gloucester tended to be consumed within Gloucestershire.

Most Double Gloucester sold in UK supermarkets is slab cheese made in large creameries operated by major dairy companies such as Dairy Crest. Supermarkets normally sell Double Gloucester under their own store brand. This version of the cheese is pasteurised but not processed.

Manufacture of traditional Gloucester cheeses from the Gloucester cow died out in the 1950s along with most of the Gloucester cattle. However, in 1973 Charles Martell managed to gather three Old Gloucester cows from the herd of less than 50 left in the county. A BBC TV series A Taste of Britain filmed his successful attempt to revive the tradition of farmhouse Double Gloucester that year. In 1978 Martell went on to revive the lost Single Gloucester cheese. Traditionally produced Gloucester cheese is supported by the Slow Food movement since 2004. Single Gloucester has PDO status and can only be made in Gloucestershire on farms with Gloucester cows. As of 2010 six cheese makers produce it.

The reason for the two types of Gloucester cheese being called 'double' and 'single' is unknown. The main theories are

• the creamy milk had to be skimmed twice to make the double variety
• cream from the morning milk was added to the evening milk
• a Double Gloucester cheese is typically twice the height of a Single Gloucester

Double Gloucester cheese is used every spring for the Cooper's Hill Cheese-Rolling and Wake. Competitors chase a cheese down a steep Gloucestershire hillside; the first person to reach the bottom of the 50% gradient, 200 yards (180 m) slope wins the cheese.

Blue Stilton

Stilton is produced in two varieties: white and blue. Blue has penicillium roqueforti added to generate a characteristic smell and taste. Both have been granted the status of a protected designation of origin (PDO) by the European Commission, requiring that only such cheese produced in the three counties of Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire may be called Stilton. The cheese takes its name from the village of Stilton, now in Cambridgeshire, where it has long been sold. Stilton cheese cannot be made there because it is not in any of the three permitted counties.

Frances Pawlett (Paulet), a cheese maker of Wymondham, Leicestershire, has traditionally been credited with setting up the modern Stilton cheese shape and style in the 1720s but others are named. Early 19th-century research published by William Marshall provides logic and oral history to indicate a continuum between the locally produced cheese of Stilton and the later development of a high turnover commercial industry importing cheese produced elsewhere, under local guidance. A recipe for a Stilton cheese was published in 1726 by Richard Bradley, later first Professor of Botany, Cambridge University.

Another early printed reference to Stilton came from William Stukeley in 1722. Daniel Defoe in his 1724 work A Tour thro' the Whole Island of Great Britain notes, "We pass'd Stilton, a town famous for cheese, which is call'd our English Parmesan, and is brought to table with the mites or maggots round it, so thick, that they bring a spoon with them for you to eat the mites with, as you do the cheese."

According to the Stilton Cheesemaker's Association, the first person to market Blue Stilton was Cooper Thornhill, owner of the Bell Inn in Stilton, Huntingdonshire (now in Cambridgeshire). Tradition has it that in 1730, Thornhill discovered a distinctive blue cheese while visiting a small farm near Melton Mowbray in rural Leicestershire – possibly Wymondham. He fell in love with the cheese and made a business arrangement that granted the Bell Inn exclusive marketing rights to Blue Stilton. Soon thereafter, wagonloads of cheese were being delivered there. The village stood on the Great North Road, a main stagecoach route between London and the north, so Thornhill could promote sales and the fame of Stilton spread rapidly.

In 1936 the Stilton Cheesemakers' Association (SCMA) was formed to lobby for regulation to protect the quality and origin of the cheese. In 1966 Stilton was granted legal protection via a certification trade mark, the only British cheese to have received that status.

Blue Stilton's distinctive blue veins are created by piercing the crust of the cheese with stainless steel needles, allowing air into the core. The manufacturing and ripening process takes some 9-12 weeks.

For cheese to use the name "Stilton", it must be made in one of the right county and use pasteurised local milk. PDO was grabted in 1996. The cheese remains protected by its PDO even after Brexit. Some six dairies are licensed (three in Leicestershire, two in Nottinghamshire, one in Derbyshire).  Four are based in the Vale of Belvoir.

On average, finished Stilton cheese has a typical fat content of 35% and protein content of 23%.

Red Leicester

Belton Farm is west of Leicestershire via Staffordhsire in Shropshire. An independent family-run business, cheese has been made there by the Beckett family since 1922.

Red Leicester (also known simply as Leicester or Leicestershire) is an English cheese similar to Cheddar but crumbly in texture. It is typically aged 6-12 months. The rind is reddish-orange with a powdery mould on it. Since the eighteenth century, it has been coloured by adding annatto extract during manufacture. It is made with cow's milk and is named after the Midlands city of Leicester or the county it is in.

Traditionally made wheels are fairly firm and dry, with a friable texture and a slightly sweet, mellow flavour that becomes stronger as the cheese matures. Block-made cheeses are moister and have a slightly sweet aftertaste and a creamy texture. The cheese has a slightly nutty taste. Versions sold in supermarkets are typically coloured with annatto, though it is possible to obtain Red Leicester without it.

It is aged anywhere from four-nine months. "Young" Leicesters, at the beginning of that range, will be very mild; it is usually after six months that a Leicester begins to develop enough of a tang to be classified as "old". The modern industrial method for aging is the Vac pac method. Smaller "farmhouse" makers usually still use the traditional way of maturing it in cloth, for a better flavour development.

Originally made on farms in Leicestershire with surplus milk, once all the Stilton desired was made, it was originally coloured with carrot or beetroot juice.

It used to be called Leicestershire Cheese but came to be called Red Leicester to distinguish it from "White Leicester," which was made to a national wartime recipe in the 1940s due to rationing. When fresh, the fat content of Red Leicester is generally 33 or 34%. Regulations require minimum fat levels be stated in terms of the "fat in dry matter" or FDM. This is because moisture levels decrease as cheese ages. FDM measures the amount of fat present in the solids, which includes protein, minerals, vitamins and salt. The minimum FDM listed for Red Leicester is generally 48%.

Emmental

Emmental, Emmentaler or Emmenthal is a yellow, medium-hard cheese that originated in the area around the Emmental, in the canton of Bern, Switzerland. It is classified as a Swiss-type or Alpine cheese.

Emmental was first mentioned in written records in 1293, but first called by its present name in 1542. It has a savoury but mild taste. While "Emmentaler" is registered as a geographical indication in Switzerland, a limited number of countries recognise the term as a geographical indication: similar cheeses of other origins, especially from France (as Emmental), the Netherlands, Bavaria and Finland, are widely available and sold by that name. In some parts of the world, the names "Emmentaler" and "Swiss cheese" are used interchangeably for Emmental-style cheese.

Three types of bacteria are needed to prepare Emmental: Streptococcus thermophilus, Lactobacillus helveticus and Propionibacterium freudenreichii. Historically, the holes were a sign of imperfection, and until modern times, cheese makers would try to avoid them. Nowadays, however, eye formation is valued as a sign of maturation and quality and acoustic analysis has been developed for this purpose. Emmental cheese is usually consumed cold, as chunks or slices and is also used in a variety of dishes, particularly in gratins and fondue, in which it is mixed with Gruyère, the other highly popular Swiss cheese.

Several varieties of Emmental are registered as geographical indications, including: Switzerland. Eighteen-month-old raw-milk Emmentaler AOCEmmentaler was registered in 2000 as an appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC) in Switzerland. In 2013, it was replaced by the appellation d'origine protégée (AOP) certification. The Emmentaler produced according to the AOC-registration needs to be produced in small rural dairies with raw cow's milk, adding only natural ingredients (water, salt, natural starter cultures and rennet); preservatives or ingredients from genetically modified organisms are not allowed. The cheese is produced in a round shape with a natural rind, and aged in traditional cellars for a minimum of four months. Emmentaler must be produced in Kantons Aargau, Bern (except Amtsbezirk Moutier), Glarus, Luzern, Schwyz, Solothurn, St. Gallen, Thurgau, Zug or Zürich or in the See- and Sensebezirk of Kanton Freiburg.

Emmentaler is also recognized as a geographical indication in the Czech Republic, France, Georgia, Germany, Hungary, Jamaica, Portugal, Russia, Slovakia and Spain.

Outside Switzerland: Emmental de Savoie from France

In many parts of the English-speaking world the terms "Emmentaler" and "Swiss cheese" are both used to refer to any cheese of the Emmental type, whether produced in Switzerland or elsewhere. The US Department of Agriculture, for example, uses the terms 'Swiss cheese' and 'Emmentaler cheese' interchangeably.

Emmental cheese is very widely imitated around the world, and is often just called "Swiss cheese".

Edam

What cheese is made backwards? Edam, of course, (Dutch: Edammer). It is a semi-hard cheese that originated in the Netherlands and is named after the town Edam in the province of North Holland. Made from cows' milk, it is traditionally sold in flat-ended spheres with a pale yellow interior and a coat, or rind, of red paraffin wax (not to be eaten!). Edam ages and travels well, and does not spoil; it only hardens. These qualities (among others) made it the world's most popular cheese between the 14th and 18th centuries, both at sea and in remote colonies.

Most "young" Edam cheese sold in stores has a very mild flavour, slightly salty or nutty, and almost no smell when compared to other cheeses. As the cheese ages, its flavour sharpens, and it becomes firmer. Edam may have as little as 28% fat in dry matter. Modern Edam is softer than other cheeses, such as Cheddar cheese, due to its low fat content.

Mild Edam goes well with fruit such as peaches, melons, apricots, and cherries. Aged Edam is often eaten with traditional "cheese fruits" like pears and apples. Like most cheeses, it is commonly eaten on crackers and bread, and may be eaten with crackers following the main course of a meal as a dessert of "cheese and biscuits". Pinot gris, dry Riesling, semidry Riesling, sparkling wine, Chardonnay, and Shiraz/Syrah are some recommended wines to accompany this cheese.

Edam has been treated dramatically and humorously in a variety of cultural art forms. In the novel All Quiet on the Western Front, the main character believes its red outer covering is a sign of impending death. It is a wine aroma nuance in Sideways and an object of desire in the animated film Shopper 13. Edam is a seriocomic pivot in the Australian film Three Dollars. Actor Jason Flemyng advertised Edam in the UK. Edam was tested by MythBusters in episode 128 for its putative suitability as cannon ammunition against a ship's sail, but it bounced off the sail without damaging it.

Roquefort

Roquefort, a well known blue cheese, is made using sheep milk in Southern France. Similar items are produced elsewhere but EU law says only those aged in the natural Combalou caves, Roquefort-sur-Soulzon may be called Roquefort. It is a recognised geographical indication or has a protected designation of origin.

White, tangy, creamy and slightly moist, it has distinctive veins of blue mould and a characteristic fragrance and flavour with a notable taste of butyric acid. The blue veins provide a sharp tang. It has no rind; the exterior is edible and slightly salty. A typical wheel of Roquefort weighs 6 or 7 lb and is about 4 inches thick. Each kilo of finished cheese requires about 4.5 litres of milk to produce. In France, Roquefort is often called "King of Cheeses" or the "Cheese of Kings", although so are others.

Legend has it that it was discovered when a youth, eating his lunch of bread and ewes' milk cheese, saw a beautiful girl in the distance, abandoned his meal in a nearby cave and ran to meet her. When he returned a few months later, the mould (Penicillium roqueforti) had transformed his plain cheese into Roquefort.

In 79 AD, Pliny the Elder praised the cheeses of Lozère and Gévaudan and reported their popularity in ancient Rome. In 1737, Jean Astruc suggested this was a reference to an ancestor of Roquefort. The theory was widely taken up, and by the 1860s was being promoted by the Société des Caves. Others have dismissed the idea, as Pliny does not clearly identify a blue cheese and so he could be referring to fromage frais, cheese pickled in grape-juice or even fondue.

By the middle ages, Roquefort had become a recognised cheese. On 4 June 1411, Charles VI granted a monopoly for the ripening it to the people of R-sur-S, as they had been doing for centuries.

By 1820, Roquefort was producing 300 tonnes a year, a figure that steadily increased throughout the next century so that by 1914 it was 9,250 tonnes.

In 1925, the cheese was the recipient of France's first Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée when regulations controlling its production and naming were first defined.

In 1961, in a landmark ruling that removed imitation, the Tribunal de Grande Instance at Millau decreed that, although the method for its manufacture could be followed across the south of France, only cheeses ripened in the natural caves of Mont Combalou, Roquefort-sur-Soulzon were permitted to bear the name Roquefort.

The mould that gives Roquefort its distinctive character is found in the soil of the local caves. Traditionally, cheesemakers extracted it by leaving bread in the caves for six to eight weeks until it was consumed by the mould. The interior of the bread was then dried to produce a powder. In modern times, the mould can be grown in a laboratory, allowing greater consistency. The mould may either be added to the curd or introduced as an aerosol through holes poked in the rind.

Roquefort is made entirely from the milk of the Lacaune breed. Prior to AOC regulations in 1925, a small amount of cow's or goat's milk was sometimes added.

The cheese is produced throughout the Département of Aveyron and part of the nearby départements of Aude, Lozère, Gard, Hérault and Tarn.

As of 2009, there are seven Roquefort producers. The largest-volume brand by far is Roquefort Société made by the Société des Caves de Roquefort (a subsidiary of Lactalis), which holds several caves and opens its facilities to tourists, It accounts for around 60% of all production. Roquefort Papillon is also a well-known brand. The five other producers, each hold only one cave, and are Carles, Gabriel Coulet, Fromageries occitanes, Vernières and Le Vieux Berger.

Around three million were made in 2005 making it, after Comté, France's second-most-popular cheese.

Production of Roquefort involves 4,500 people who herd special ewes on 2,100 farms producing milk in a carefully defined oval grazing area across the Larzac Plain and up and down nearby hills and valleys. Total production in 2008 of about 19,000 tons was reported. The proportion of Roquefort exported to the USA remains small (450 tons out of 3,700 tons in total exports). Spain (with purchases of 1,000 tons) was by far the largest foreign customer.

The regional cuisine in and around Aveyron includes many Roquefort-based recipes for main-course meat sauces, savoury tarts and quiches, pies and fillings.

Contrary to popular belief, Penicillium roqueforti does not produce penicillin. However, due to the presence of other anti-inflammatory proteins, it was common in country districts for shepherds to apply it to wounds to avoid gangrene.

The Appellation d'origine contrôlée regulations that govern the production of Roquefort have been laid down over a number of decrees by the INAO. These include:

1. All milk used must be delivered at least 20 days after lambing has taken place.
2. The sheep must be on pasture, whenever possible, in an area that includes most of Aveyron and parts of neighbouring départements. At least 75% of any grain or fodder used must be local.
3. The milk must be whole, raw (not heated above 34 °C) and unfiltered except to remove microscopic particles.
4. The addition of rennet must occur within 48 hours of milking.
5. The Penicillium roqueforti used must be produced in France from the natural caves of R-sur-S.
6. The salting process must be performed using dry salt.
7. The whole process of maturation, cutting, packaging and refrigeration must take place in the commune of R-sur-S.