Cheese 101: How to Identify Cheese by Texture

Learning about cheese can be intimidating at first, but like anything the more time you spend exploring different types, the more comfortable you'll feel choosing the perfect cheese for your dish.

A few basics:

Cheese is typically made from milk from one (or a combination of) the following sources: cow's milk, sheep's milk, or goat's milk.

Cheeses have the following textures: very soft, soft, semi soft, semi hard, and hard. Here are a few favorites that fall into each category.

Very soft: Fresh, often spoonable. Burrata and Mascarpone

Soft: Spreadable, typically not cooked or pressed. Brie, Chèvre, or Feta

Semi Soft: Often times pressed, firm, possibly crumbly, and usually moist. Fontina, Stilton, or Halloumi

Semi hard: Cooked, pressed, somewhat firm, yet sliceable. Cheddar, Gouda, or Gruyere.

Hard: Cooked, pressed, very firm, dry, possibly grated. Petite Basque, Parmesan, some Cheddars, or Asiago