Chevretin Savoy, France

Goat; small and square. Named after the mammy nanny, as so many are.

Chevrets, Ponta & St. Remy Bresse & Franche-Comte, France

Dry and semi-dry; crumbly; goat; small squares; lightly salted. Season December to April. Such small goat cheeses are named in the plural in France.

Chevretons du Beaujolais a la creme, les Lyonnais, France

Small goat-milkers served with cream. This is a fair sample of the railroad names some French cheeses stagger under.

Chevrotins Savoy, France

Soft, dried goat milk; white; small; tangy and semi-tangy. Made and eaten from March to December.

Chhana Asia

All we know is that this is made of the whole milk of cows, soured, and it is not as unusual as the double "h" in its name.

Chiavari Italy

There are two different kinds named for the Chiavari region, and both are hard: I. Sour cow's milk, also known as Cacio Romano. II. Sweet whole milker, similar to Corsican Broccio. Chiavari, the historic little port between Genoa and Pisa, is more noted as the birthplace of the barbaric "chivaree" razzing of newlyweds with its raucous serenade of dishpans, sour-note bugling and such.

Chives cream cheese

Of the world's many fine fresh cheeses further freshened with chives, there's Belgian Herve and French Claqueret (with onion added). (See both.) For our taste it's best when the chives are added at home, as it's done in Germany, in person at the table or just before.

Christalinna Canton Graubuenden, Switzerland

Hard; smooth; sharp; tangy.

Christian IX Denmark

A distinguished spiced cheese.

Ciclo Italy

Soft, small cream cheese.

Cierp de Luchon France

Made from November to May in the Comte de Foix, where it has the distinction of being the only local product worth listing with France's three hundred notables.

Citeaux Burgundy, France

Trappist Port-Salut.

Clabber cheese England

Simply cottage cheese left in a cool place until it grows soft and automatically changes its name from cottage to clabber.

Clairvaux France

Formerly made in a Benedictine monastery of that name.

Claqueret, le Lyonnais, France

Fresh cream whipped with chives, chopped fine with onions. See Chives.

Clerimbert see Alpin.

Cleves France

French imitation of the German imitation of a Holland-Dutch original.

Cloves see Nagelkaese.

Club, Potted Club, Snappy, Cold-pack and Comminuted cheese U.S.A. and Canada

Probably McLaren's Imperial Club in pots was first to be called club, but others credit club to the U.S. In any case McLaren's was bought by an American company and is now all-American.

Today there are many clubs that may sound swanky but taste very ordinary, if at all. They are made of finely ground aged, sharp Cheddar mixed with condiments, liquors, olives, pimientos, etc., and mostly carry come-on names to make the customers think they are getting something from Olde England or some aristocratic private club. All are described as "tangy."

Originally butter went into the better clubs which were sold in small porcelain jars, but in these process days they are wrapped in smaller tin foil and wax-paper packets and called "snappy."

Cocktail Cheeses

Recommended from stock by Phil Alpert's "Cheeses of all Nations" stores:

Argentine aged Gruyere Canadian d'Oka French Bleu Brie Camembert Fontainebleu Pont l'Eveque Port du Salut Roblochon Roquefort Grecian Feta Hungarian Brinza Polish Warshawski Syr Rumanian Kaskaval Swiss Schweizerkaese American Cheddar in brandy Hopi Indian

Coeur a la Creme Burgundy, France

This becomes Fromage a la Creme II (see) when served with sugar, and it is also called a heart of cream after being molded into that romantic shape in a wicker or willow-twig basket.

Coeurs d'Arras Artois, France

These hearts of Arras are soft, smooth, mellow, caressingly rich with the cream of Arras.

Coffee-flavored cheese

Just as the Dutch captivated coffee lovers all over the world with their coffee-flavored candies, Haagische Hopjes, so the French with Jonchee cheese and Italians with Ricotta satisfy the universal craving by putting coffee in for flavor.

Coimbra Portugal

Goat or cow; semihard; firm; round; salty; sharp. Not only one of those college-educated cheeses but a postgraduate one, bearing the honored name of Portugal's ancient academic center.

Colby U.S.A.

Similar to Cheddar, but of softer body and more open texture. Contains more moisture, and doesn't keep as well as Cheddar.

College-educated

Besides Coimbra several countries have cheeses brought out by their colleges. Even Brazil has one in Minas Geraes and Transylvania another called Kolos-Monostor, while our agricultural colleges in every big cheese state from California through Ames in Iowa, Madison in Wisconsin, all across the continent to Cornell in New York, vie with one another in turning out diploma-ed American Cheddars and such of high degree. It is largely to the agricultural colleges that we owe the steady improvement in both quality and number of foreign imitations since the University of Wisconsin broke the curds early in this century by importing Swiss professors to teach the high art of Emmentaler.

Colwick see Slipcote.

Combe-air France

Small; similar to Italian Stracchino in everything but size.

Commission Holland

Hard; ball-shaped like Edam and resembling it except being darker in color and packed in a ball weighing about twice as much, around eight pounds. It is made in the province of North Holland and in Friesland. It is often preferred to Edam for size and nutty flavor.

Compiegne France

Soft

Comte see Gruyere.

Conches France

Emmentaler type.

Condrieu, Rigotte de la Rhone Valley below Lyons, France

Semihard; goat; small; smooth; creamy; mellow; tasty. A cheese of cheeses for epicures, only made from May to November when pasturage is rich.

Confits au Marc de Bourgogne see Epoisses.

Confits au Vin Blanc see Epoisses.

Cooked, or Pennsylvania pot U.S.A.

Named from cooking sour clabbered curd to the melting point. When cool it is allowed to stand three or four days until it is colored through. Then it is cooked again with salt, milk, and usually caraway. It is stirred until it's as thick as molasses and strings from a spoon. It is then put into pots or molds, whose shape it retains when turned out.

All cooked cheese is apt to be tasteless unless some of the milk flavor cooked out is put back in, as wheat germ is now returned to white bread. Almost every country has a cooked cheese all its own, with or without caraway, such as the following:

Belgium—Kochtounkaese Germany—Kochkaese, Topfen Luxembourg—Kochenkaese France—Fromage Ouit & Le P'Teux Sardinia—Pannedas, Freisa

Coon see Chapter 4.

Cornhusker U.S.A.

A Nebraska product similar to Cheddar and Colby, but with softer body and more moisture.

Cornimont Vosges, France

A splendid French version of Alsatian Muenster spiked with caraway, in flattish cylinders with mahogany-red coating. It is similar to Gerome and the harvest cheese of Gerardmer in the same lush Vosges Valley.

Corse, Roquefort de Corsica, France

Corsican imitation of the real Roquefort, and not nearly so good, of course.

Cossack Caucasus

Cow or sheep. There are two varieties: I. Soft, cured in brine and still soft and mild after two months in the salt bath. II. Semihard and very sharp after aging in brine for a year or more.

Cotherstone Yorkshire, England

Also known as Yorkshire-Stilton, and Wensleydale No. I. (See both.)

Cotrone, Cotronese see Pecorino.

Cotta see Pasta.

Cottage cheese

Made in all countries where any sort of milk is obtainable. In America it's also called pot, Dutch, and smearcase. The English, who like playful names for homely dishes, call cottage cheese smearcase from the German Schmierkaese. It is also called Glumse in Deutschland, and, together with cream, formed the basis of all of our fine Pennsylvania Dutch cuisine.

Cottenham or Double Cottenham English Midlands

Semihard; double cream; blue mold. Similar to Stilton but creamier and richer, and made in flatter and broader forms.

Cottslowe Cotswold, England

A brand of cream cheese named for its home in Cotswold, Gloucester. Although soft, it tastes like hard Cheddar.

Coulommiers Frais, or Petit-Moule Ile-de-France, France

Fresh cream similar to Petit Suisse. (See.)

Coulommiers, le, or Brie de Coulommiers France

Also called Petit-moule, from its small form. This genuine Brie is a pocket edition, no larger than a Camembert, standing only one inch high and measuring five or six inches across. It is made near Paris and is a great favorite from the autumn and winter months, when it is made, on until May. The making starts in October, a month earlier than most Brie, and it is off the market by July, so it's seldom tasted by the avalanche of American summer tourists.

Cow cheese

Sounds redundant, and is used mostly in Germany, where an identifying word is added, such as Berliner Kuhkaese and Alt Kuhkaese: old cow cheese.

Cream cheese International

England, France and America go for it heavily. English cream begins with Devonshire, the world-famous, thick fresh cream that is sold cool in earthenware pots and makes fresh berries—especially the small wild strawberries of rural England—taste out of this world. It is also drained on straw mats and formed into fresh hardened cheeses in small molds. (See Devonshire cream.) Among regional specialties are the following, named from their place of origin or commercial brands:

Cambridge Cottslowe Cornwall Farm Vale Guilford Homer's "Italian" Lincoln New Forest Rush (from being made on rush or straw mats—see Rush) St. Ivel (distinguished for being made with acidophilus bacteria) Scotch Caledonian Slipcote (famous in the eighteenth century) Victoria York

Creme Chantilly see Hable.

Creme de Gien see Fromage.

Creme de Gruyere Franche-Comte France

Soft Gruyere cream cheese, arrives in America in perfect condition in tin foil packets. Expensive but worth it.

Creme des Vosges Alsace, France

Soft cream. Season October to April.

Creme Double see Double-Creme.

Creme, Fromage a la see Fromage.

Creme, Fromage Blanc a la see Fromage Blanc.

Creme St Gervais see Pots de Creme St Gervais.

Cremet Nantais Lower Loire, France

Soft fresh cream of Nantes.

Cremets, les Anjou, France

A fresh cream equal to English Devonshire, served more as a dessert than a dessert cheese. The cream is whipped stiff with egg whites, drained and eaten with more fresh cream, sprinkled with vanilla and sugar.

Cremini Italy

Soft, small cream cheese from Cremona, the violin town. And by the way, art-loving Italians make ornamental cheeses in the form of musical instruments, statues, still life groups and everything.

Creole Louisiana, U.S.A.

Soft, rich, unripened cottage cheese type, made by mixing cottage-type curd and rich cream.

Crescenza, Carsenza, Stracchino Crescenza, Crescenza Lombardi Lombardy, Italy

Uncooked; soft; creamy; mildly sweet; fast-ripening; yellowish; whole milk. Made from September to April.

Creuse Creuse, France

A two-in-one farm cheese of skimmed milk, resulting from two different ways of ripening, after the cheese has been removed from perforated earthen molds seven inches in diameter and five or six inches high, where it has drained for several days: I. It is salted and turned frequently until very dry and hard. II. It is ripened by placing in tightly closed mold, lined with straw. This softens, flavors, and turns it golden-yellow. (See Hay or Fromage de Foin.)

Creusois, or Gueret Limousin, France

Season, October to June.

Croissant Demi-sel France

Soft, double cream, semisalty. All year.

Crottin de Chavignol Berry, France

Semihard; goat's milk; small; lightly salted; mellow. In season April to December. The name is not exactly complimentary.

Crowdie, or Cruddy butter Scotland

Named from the combination of fresh sweet milk curds pressed together with fresh butter. A popular breakfast food in Inverness and the Ross Shires. When kept for months it develops a high flavor. A similar curd and butter is made by Arabs and stored in vats, the same as in India, the land of ghee, where there's no refrigeration.

Crying Kebbuck

F. Marion MacNeill, in The Scots Kitchen says that this was the name of a cheese that used to be part of the Kimmers feast at a lying-in.

Cuajada see Venezuela.

Cubjac see Cajassou.

Cuit see Fromage Cuit.

Cumin, Muenster au see Muenster.

Cup see Koppen.

Curd see Granular curd, Sweet curd and York curd.

Curds and butter Arabia

Fresh sweet milk curd and fresh butter are pressed together as in making Crowdie or Cruddy butter in Scotland. The Arabs put this strong mixture away in vats to get it even stronger than East Indian ghee.

Cure, Fromage de see Nantais.

D

Daisies, fresh

A popular type and packaging of mild Cheddar, originally English. Known as an "all-around cheese," to eat raw, cook, let ripen, and use for seasoning.

Dalmatian Austria

Hard ewe's-milker.

Dambo Denmark

Semihard and nutty.

Damen, or Glory of the Mountains (Gloires des Montagnes) Hungary

Soft, uncured, mild ladies' cheese, as its name asserts. Popular Alpine snack in Viennese cafes with coffee gossip in the afternoon.

Danish Blue Denmark

Semihard, rich, blue-veined, piquant, delicate, excellent imitation of Roquefort. Sometimes called "Danish Roquefort," and because it is exported around the world it is Denmark's best-known cheese. Although it sells for 20% to 30% less than the international triumvirate of Blues, Roquefort, Stilton and Gorgonzola, it rivals them and definitely leads lesser Blues.

Danish Export Denmark

Skim milk and buttermilk. Round and flat, mild and mellow. A fine cheese, as many Danish exports are.

Dansk Schweizerost Denmark

Danish Swiss cheese, imitation Emmentaler, but with small holes. Nutty, sweet dessert or "picnic cheese," as Swiss is often called.

Danzig Poland

A pleasant cheese to accompany a glass of the great liqueur, Goldwasser, Eau de Vie de Danzig, from the same celebrated city.

Darling U.S.A.

One of the finest Vermont Cheddars, handled for years by one of America's finest fancy food suppliers, S.S. Pierce of Boston.

Dauphin Flanders, France

Season, November to May.

d'Aurigny, Fromage see Alderney.

Daventry England

A Stilton type, white, small, round, flat and very rich, with "blue" veins of a darker green.

Decize Nivernaise, France

In season all year. Soft, creamy, mellow, resembles Brie.

de Foin, Fromage see Hay.

de Fontine Spain

Crumbly, sharp, nutty.

de Gascony, Fromage see Castillon.

de Gerardmer see Recollet.

Delft Holland

About the same as Leyden. (See.)

Delicieux

The brand name of a truly delicious Brie.

Delikat U.S.A.

A mellow breakfast spread, on the style of the German Fruehstueck original. (See.)

de Lile, Boule

French name for Belgian Oude Kaas.

Demi-Etuve

Half-size Etuve. (See.)

Demi Petit Suisse

The name for an extra small Petit Suisse to distinguish it from the Gros.

Demi-Sel Normandy, France

Soft, whole, creamy, lightly salted, resembles Gournay but slightly saltier; also like U.S. cream cheese, but softer and creamier.

Demi-Sel, Croissant see Croissant Demi-Sel.

Derby, or Derbyshire England

Hard; shape like Austrian Nagelkassa and the size of Cheshire though sometimes smaller. Dry, large, flat, round, flaky, sharp and tangy. A factory cheese said to be identical with Double Gloucester and similar to Warwickshire, Wiltshire and Leicester. The experts pronounce it "a somewhat inferior Cheshire, but deficient in its quality and the flavor of Cheddar." So it's unlikely to win in any cheese derby in spite of its name.

Devonshire cream and cheese England

Devonshire cream is world famous for its thickness and richness. Superb with wild strawberries; almost a cream cheese by itself. Devonshire cream is made into a luscious cheese ripened on straw, which gives it a special flavor, such as that of French Foin or Hay cheese.

Dolce Verde Italy

This creamy blue-vein variety is named Sweet Green, because cheesemongers are color-blind when it comes to the blue-greens and the green-blues.

Domaci Beli Sir Yugoslavia

"Sir" is not a title but the word for cheese. This is a typical ewe's-milker cured in a fresh sheep skin.

Domestic Gruyere U.S.A.

An imitation of a cheese impossible to imitate.

Domestic Swiss U.S.A

Same as domestic Gruyere, maybe more so, since it is made in ponderous 150-to 200-pound wheels, chiefly in Wisconsin and Ohio. The trouble is there is no Alpine pasturage and Emmentaler Valley in our country.

Domiati Egypt

Whole or partly skimmed cow's or buffalo's milk. Soft; white; no openings; mild and salty when fresh and cleanly acid when cured. It's called "a pickled cheese" and is very popular in the Near East.

Dorset, Double Dorset, Blue Dorset, or Blue Vinny England

Blue mold type from Dorsetshire; crumbly, sharp; made in flat forms. "Its manufacture has been traced back 150 years in the family of F.E. Dare, who says that in all probability it was made longer ago than that." (See Blue Vinny.)

Dotter Nuernberg, Germany

An entirely original cheese perfected by G. Leuchs in Nuernberg. He enriched skim milk with yolk of eggs and made the cheese in the usual way. When well ripened it is splendid.

Doubles

The English name cheese made of whole milk "double," such as Double Cottenham, Double Dorset, Double Gloucester. "Singles" are cheeses from which some of the cream has been removed.

Double-cream England

Similar to Wensleydale.

Double-creme France

There are several of this name, made in the summer when milk is richest in cream. The full name is Fromage a la Double-creme, and Pommel is one well known. They are made throughout France in season and are much in demand.

Dresdener Bierkaese Germany

A celebrated hand cheese made in Dresden. The typical soft, skim milker, strong with caraway and drunk dissolved in beer, as well as merely eaten.

Drinking cheeses

Not only Dresdener, but dozens of regional hand cheeses in Germanic countries are melted in steins of beer or glasses of wine to make distinctive cheesed drinks for strong stomachs and noses. This peps up the drinks in somewhat the same way as ale and beer are laced with pepper sauce in some parts.

Dry Germany

From the drinking cheese just above to dry cheese is quite a leap. "This cheese, known as Sperrkaese and Trockenkaese, is made in the small dairies of the eastern part of the Bavarian Alps and in the Tyrol. It is an extremely simple product, made for home consumption and only in the winter season, when the milk cannot be profitably used for other purposes. As soon as the milk is skimmed it is put into a large kettle which can be swung over a fire, where it is kept warm until it is thoroughly thickened from souring. It is then broken up and cooked quite firm. A small quantity of salt and sometimes some caraway seed are added, and the curd is put into forms of various sizes. It is then placed in a drying room, where it becomes very hard, when it is ready for eating." (From U.S. Department of Agriculture Bulletin No. 608.)

Dubreala see Brina.

Duel Austria

Soft; skim milk; hand type; two by two by one-inch cube.

Dunlop Scotland

One of the national cheeses of Scotland, but now far behind Cheddar, which it resembles, although it is closer in texture and moister. Semihard; white; sharp; buttery; tangy and rich in flavor. It is one of the "toasting cheeses" resembling Lancashire, too, in form and weight. Made in Ayr, Lanark and Renfrew and sold in the markets of Kilmarnock, Kirkcudbright and Wigtown.

Durak Turkey

Mixed with butter; mellow and smoky. Costs three dollars a pound.

Duralag, or Bgug-Panir Armenia

Sheep; semisoft to brittle hard; square; sharp but mellow and tangy with herbs. Sometimes salty from lying in a brine bath from two days to two months.

Durmar, Rarush see Rarush.

Dutch Holland

Cream cheese of skim milk, very perishable spread.

Dutch cheese

American vernacular for cottage or pot cheese.

Dutch Cream Cheese England

Made in England although called Dutch. Contains eggs, and is therefore richer than Dutch cream cheese in Holland itself. In America we call the original Holland-kind Dutch, cottage, pot, and farmer.

Dutch Mill U.S.A.

A specialty of Oakland, California.

Dutch Red Balls

English name for Edam.

E

Echourgnac, Trappe d' Perigord, France

Trappist monastery Port-Salut made in Limousin.

Edam see Chapter 3.

Egg Finland

Semihard. One of the few cheeses made by adding eggs to the curds. Others are Dutch Cream Cheese of England; German Dotter; French Fromage Cuit (cooked cheese), and Westphalian. Authorities agree that these should be labeled "egg cheese" so the buyers won't be fooled by their richness. The Finns age their eggs even as the Chinese ripen their hundred-year-old eggs, by burying them in grain, as all Scandinavians do, and the Scotch as well, in the oat bin. But none of them is left a century to ripen, as eggs are said to be in China.

Elbinger, or Elbing West Prussia

Hard; crumbly; sharp. Made of whole milk except in winter when it is skimmed. Also known as Werderkaese and Niederungskaese.

Ekiwani Caucasus

Hard; sheep; white; sharp; salty with some of the brine it's bathed in.

Elisavetpolen, or Eriwani Caucasus

Hard; sheep; sweetish-sharp and slightly salty when fresh from the brine bath. Also called Kasach (Cossack), Tali, Kurini and Karab in different locales.

Elmo Table Italy

Soft, mellow, tasty.

Emiliano Italy

Hard; flavor varies from mild to sharp. Parmesan type.

Emmentaler Switzerland

There are so many, many types of this celebrated Swiss all around the world that we're not surprised to find Lapland reindeer milk cheese listed as similar to Emmentaler of the hardest variety. (See Chapter 3, also Vacherin Fondu.)

"En enveloppe"

French phrase of packaged cheese, "in the envelope." Similar to English packet and our process. Raw natural cheese the French refer to frankly as nu, "in the nude."

Engadine Graubuenden, Switzerland

Semihard; mild; tangy-sweet.

English Dairy England and U.S.A.

Extra-hard, crumbly and sharp. Resembles Cheddar and has long been imitated in the States, chiefly as a cooking cheese.

Entrechaux, le Cachat d' see Cachat.

Epoisses, Fromage d' Cote d'Or, Upper Burgundy, France

Soft, small cylinder with flattened end, about five inches across. The season is from November to July. Equally proud of their wine and cheese, the Burgundians marry white wine or marc to d'Epoisses in making confits with that name.

Erbo Italy

Similar to Gorgonzola. The Galvani cheesemakers of Italy who put out both Bel Paese and Taleggio also export Erbo to our shores.

Erce Languedoc, France

Soft, smooth and sharp. A winter cheese in season only from November to May.

Eriwani see Elisavetpolen.

Ervy Champagne, France

Soft; yellow rind; smooth; tangy; piquant; seven by two-and-a-half inches, weight four pounds. Resembles Camembert. A washed cheese, also known as Fromage de Troyes. In season November to May.

Essex U.S.A.

Imitation of an extinct or at least dormant English type.

Estrella see Serra da Estrella.

Etuve and Demi-Etuve Holland

Semihard; smooth; mellow. In full size and demi (half) size. In season all year.

Evarglice Yugoslavia

Sharp, nutty flavor.

Excelsior Normandy, France

Season all year.

F

Factory Cheddar U.S.A.

Very Old Factory Cheddar is the trade name for well-aged sharp Cheddar. New Factory is just that—mild, young and tractable—too tractable, in fact.

Farm France

Known as Ferme; Maigre (thin); Fromage a la Pie (nothing to do with apple pie); and Mou (weak). About the same as our cottage cheese.

Farmer U.S.A.

This is curd only and is nowadays mixed with pepper, lachs, nuts, fruits, almost anything. A very good base for your own fancy spread, or season a slab to fancy and bake it like a hoe cake, but in the oven.

Farmhouse see Herrgardsost.

Farm Vale England

Cream cheese of Somerset wrapped in tin foil and boxed in wedges, eight to a box.

Fat cheese see Frontage Gras and Maile Pener.

Fenouil see Tome de Savoie.

Ferme see Farm.

Feta see Chapter 3.

Feuille de Dreux Bearn, France

November to May.

"Filled cheese" England

Before our processed and food cheese era some scoundrels in the cheese business over there added animal fats and margarine to skimmed milk to make it pass as whole milk in making cheese. Such adulteration killed the flavor and quality, and no doubt some of the customers. Luckily in America we put down this vicious counterfeiting with pure food laws. But such foreign fats are still stuffed into the skimmed milk of many foreign cheeses. To take the place of the natural butterfat the phony fats are whipped in violently and extra rennet is added to speed up coagulation.

Fin de Siecle Normandy, France

Although this is an "all year" cheese its name dates it back to the years at the close of the nineteenth century.

Fiore di Alpe Italy

Hard; sharp; tangy. Romantically named "Flowers of the Alps."

Fiore Sardo Italy

Ewe's milk. Hard. Table cheese when immature; a condiment when fully cured.

Flandre, Tuile de France

A kind of Marolles.

Fleur de Deauville France

A type of Brie, in season December to May.

Fleur des Alpes see Bel Paese and Millefiori.

Floedeost Norway

Like Gjedeost, but not so rich because it's made of cow's milk.

Flotost Norway

Although the name translates Cream Cheese it is made of boiled whey. Similar to Mysost, but fatter.

Flower England

Soft and fragrant with petals of roses, violets, marigolds and such, delicately mixed in. Since the English are so fond of oriental teas scented with jasmine and other flowers, perhaps they imported the idea of mixing petals with their cheese, since there is no oriental cheese for them to import except bean curd.

Fodder cheese

A term for cheese made from fodder in seasons when there is no grass. Good fresh grass is the essence of all fine cheese, so silo or barn-fed cows can't give the kind of milk it takes.

Foggiano Apulia, Italy

A member of the big Pecorino family because it's made of sheep's milk.

Foin, Fromage de see Hay.

Fondu, Vacherin see Vacherin Fondu.

Fontainebleau France

Named after its own royal commune. Soft; fresh cream; smooth; mellow; summer variety.

Fontina Val d'Acosta, Italy

Soft; goat; creamy; with a nutty flavor and delightful aroma.

Fontine, de Franche-Comte, France

A favorite all-year product.

Fontinelli Italy

Semidry; flaky; nutty; sharp.

Fontini Parma, Italy

Hard; goat; similar to Swiss, but harder and sharper. From the same region as Parmesan.

Food cheese U.S.A.

An unattractive type of processed mixes, presumably with some cheese content to flavor it.

Forez, also called d'Ambert France

The process of making this is said to be very crude, and the ripening unusual. The cheeses are cylindrical, ten inches in diameter and six inches high. They are ripened by placing them on the floor of the cellar, covering with dirt, and allowing water to trickle over them. Many are spoiled by the unusual growths of mold and bacteria. The flavor of the best of these is said to resemble Roquefort. (From Bulletin No. 608 of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, to which we are indebted for descriptions of hundreds of varieties in this alphabet.)

Formagelle Northwest Italy

Soft, ripened specialty put up in half-pound packages.

Formaggi di Pasta Filata Italy

A group of Italian cheeses made by curdling milk with rennet, warming and fermenting the curd, heating it until it is plastic, drawing it into ropes and then kneading and shaping while hot. Provolone, Caciocavallo and Mozzarella are in this group.

Formaggini, and Formaggini di Lecco Italy

Several small cheeses answer to this name, of which Lecco is typical. A Lombardy dessert cheese measuring 1-1/4 by two inches, weighing two ounces. It is eaten from the time it is fresh and sweet until it ripens to piquance. Sometimes made of cow and goat milk mixed, with the addition of oil and vinegar, as well as salt, pepper, sugar and cinnamon.

Formaggio d'Oro Northwest Italy

Hard, sharp, mountain-made.

Formaggio Duro (Dry) and Formaggio Tenero see Nostrale.

Fort see Fromage Fort.

Fourme, Cantal, and la Tome Auvergne, France

This is a big family in the rich cheese province of Auvergne, where many mountain varieties are baptized after their districts, such as Aubrac, Aurilla, Grand Murol, Roche and Salers. (See Fourme d'Ambert and Cantal.)

Fourme de Montebrison Auvergne, France

This belongs to the Fourme clan and is in season from November to May.

Fourme de Salers see Cantal, which it resembles so closely it is sometimes sold under that name.

Fresa, or Pannedas Sardinia, Italy

A soft, mild and sweet cooked cheese.

Fribourg Italy and Switzerland

Hard; cooked-curd, Swiss type very similar to Spalen. (See)

Frissche Kaas, Fresh cheese Holland

Dutch generic name for any soft, fresh spring cheese, although some is made in winter, beginning in November.

Friesian see West Friesian.

Fromage a la Creme France

I. Sour milk drained and mixed with cream. Eaten with sugar. That of Gien is a noted produce, and so is d'Isigny. II. Franche-Comte—fresh sheep milk melted with fresh thick cream, whipped egg whites and sugar. III. Morvan—homemade cottage cheese. When milk has soured solid it is hung in cheesecloth in a cool place to drain, then mixed with a little fresh milk and served with cream. IV. When Morvan or other type is put into a heart-shaped wicker basket for a mold, and marketed in that, it becomes Coeur a la Creme, heart of cream, to be eaten with sugar.

Fromage a la Pie see Fromage Blanc just below, and Farm

Fromage Bavarois a la Vanille France

Dessert cheese sweetened and flavored with vanilla and named after Bavaria where it probably originated.

Fromage Blanc France

Soft cream or cottage cheese, called a la Pie, too, suggesting pie a la mode; also Farm from the place it's made. Usually eaten with salt and pepper, in summer only. It is the ascetic version of Fromage a la Creme, usually eaten with salt and pepper and without cream or sugar, except in the Province of Bresse where it is served with cream and called Fromage Blanc a la Creme.

Every milky province has its own Blanc. In Champagne it's made of fresh ewe milk. In Upper Brittany it is named after Nantes and also called Fromage de Cure. Other districts devoted to it are Alsace-Lorraine, Auvergne, Languedoc, and Ile-de-France.

Fromage Bleu see Bleu d'Auvergne.

Fromage Cuit (cooked cheese) Thionville, Lorraine, France

Although a specialty of Lorraine, this cooked cheese is produced in many places. First it is made with fresh whole cow milk, then pressed and potted. After maturing a while it is de-potted, mixed with milk and egg yolk, re-cooked and re-potted.

Fromage d'Aurigny see Alderney.

Fromage de Bayonne Bayonne, France

Made with ewe's milk.

Fromage de Boite Doubs, France

Soft, mountain-made, in the fall only. Resembles Pont l'Eveque.

Fromage de Bourgogne

see Burgundy.

Fromage de Chevre de Chateauroux Berry, France

A seasonal goat cheese.

Fromage de Cure see Nantais.

Fromage de Fontenay-le Comte Poitou, France

Half goat and half cow milk.

Fromage de Gascony see Castillon.

Fromage de Pau see La Foncee.

Fromage de St. Remy see Chevrets.

Fromage de Serac Savoy, France

Half and half, cow and goat, from Serac des Allues.

Fromage de Troyes France

Two cheeses have this name. (See Barberry and Ervy.)

Fromage de Vache

Another name for Autun.

Fromage de Monsieur Fromage Normandy, France

This Cheese of Mr. Cheese is as exceptional as its name. Its season runs from November to June. It comes wrapped in a green leaf, maybe from a grape vine, suggesting what to drink with it. It is semidry, mildly snappy with a piquant pungence all its own. The playful name suggests the celebrated dish, Poulette de Madame Poulet, Chick of Mrs. Chicken.

Fromage Fort France

Several cooked cheeses are named Fort (strong) chiefly in the department of Aisne. Well-drained curd is melted, poured into a cloth and pressed, then buried in dry ashes to remove any whey left. After being fermented eight to ten days it is grated, mixed with butter, salt, pepper, wine, juniper berries, butter and other things, before fermenting some more.

Similar extra-strong cheeses are the one in Lorraine called Fondue and Fromagere of eastern France, classed as the strongest cheeses in all France.

Fort No. I: That of Flanders, potted with juniper berries, as the gin of this section is flavored, plus pepper, salt and white wine.

Fort No. II: That from Franche-Comte Small dry goat cheeses pounded and potted with thyme, tarragon, leeks, pepper and brandy. (See Hazebrook.)

Fort No. III: From Provence, also called Cachat d'Entrechaux. In production from May to November. Semihard, sheep milk, mixed with brandy, white wine, strong herbs and seasonings and well marinated.

Fromage Gras (fat cheese) Savoy, France

Soft, round, fat ball called tete de mort, "death's head." Winter Brie is also called Gras but there is no relation. This macabre name incited Victor Meusy to these lines:

Les gens a l'humeur morose Prennent la Tete-de-Mort.

People of a morose disposition Take the Death's Head.

Fromage Mou

Any soft cheese.

Fromage Piquant see Remoudon.

Fromagere see Canquillote.

Fromages de Chevre Orleanais, France

Small, dried goat-milkers.

Fruehstueck

Also known as breakfast and lunch cheese. Small rounds two-and-a-half to three inches in diameter. Limburger type. Cheeses on which many Germans and Americans break their fast.

Ftinoporino Macedonia, Greece

Sheep's-milker similar to Brinza.

G

Gaiskaesli Germany and Switzerland

A general name for goat's milk cheese. Usually a small cylinder three inches in diameter and an inch-and-a-half thick, weighing up to a half pound. In making, the curds are set on a straw mat in molds, for the whey to run away. They are salted and turned after two days to salt the other side. They ripen in three weeks with a very pleasing flavor.

Gammelost Norway

Hard, golden-brown, sour-milker. After being pressed it is turned daily for fourteen days and then packed in a chest with wet straw. So far as we are concerned it can stay there. The color all the way through is tobacco-brown and the taste, too. It has been compared to medicine, chewing tobacco, petrified Limburger, and worse. In his Encyclopedia of Food Artemas Ward says that in Gammelost the ferments absorb so much of the curd that "in consequence, instead of eating cheese flavored by fungi, one is practically eating fungi flavored with cheese."

Garda Italy

Soft, creamy, fermented. A truly fine product made in the resort town on Gardasee where d'Annunzio retired. It is one of those luscious little ones exported in tin foil to America, and edible, including the moldy crust that could hardly be called a rind.

Garden U.S.A.

Cream cheese with some greens or vegetables mixed in.

Garlic U.S.A.

A processed Cheddar type flavored with garlic.

Garlic-onion Link U.S.A.

A strong processed Cheddar put up to look like links of sausage, nobody knows why.

Gascony, Fromage de see Castillon.

Gautrias Mayenne, France

Soft, cylinder weighing about five pounds and resembling Port-Salut.

Gavot Hautes-Alpes, France

A good Alpine cheese whether made of sheep, goat or cow milk.

Geheimrath Netherlands

A factory cheese turned out in small quantities. The color is deep yellow and it resembles a Baby Gouda in every way, down to the weight

Gerardmer, de see Recollet

German-American adopted types

Bierkaese Delikat Grinnen Hand Harzkaese Kuemmelkaese Koppen Lager Liederkranz Mein Kaese Muenster Old Heidelberg Schafkaese (sheep) Silesian Stein Tilsit Weisslack (piquant like Bavarian Allgaeuer)

Gerome, la Vosges, France

Semihard: cylinders up to eleven pounds; brick-red rind; like Muenster, but larger. Strong, fragrant and flavorsome, sometimes with aniseed. It stands high at home, where it is in season from October to April.

Gervais Ile-de-France, France

Cream cheese like Neufchatel, long made by Maison Gervais, near Paris. Sold in tiny tin-foil squares not much larger than old-time yeast. Like Petit Suisse, it makes a perfect luncheon dessert with honey.

Gesundheitkaese, Holsteiner see Holstein Health.

Getmesost Sweden

Soft; goat; whey; sweet.

Gex Pays de Gex, France

Semihard; skim milk; blue-veined. A "little" Roquefort in season from November to May.

Gex Marbre France

A very special type marbled with rich milks of cow, goat and sheep, mixed. A full-flavored ambassador of the big international Blues family, that are green in spite of their name.

Gien see Fromage a la Creme.

Gislev Scandinavia

Hard; mild, made from skimmed cow's milk.

Gjetost Norway

A traditional chocolate-colored companion piece to Gammelost, but made with goat's milk.

Glavis Switzerland

The brand name of a cone of Sapsago. (See.)

Glattkaese, or Gelbkaese Germany

Smooth cheese or yellow cheese. A classification of sour-milkers that includes Olmuetzer Quargel.

Cloire des Montagnes see Damen.

Gloucester Gloucestershire, England

There are two types: I. Double, the better of the two Gloucesters, is eaten only after six months of ripening. "It has a pronounced, but mellow, delicacy of flavor...the tiniest morsel being pregnant with savour. To measure its refinement, it can undergo the same comparison as that we apply to vintage wines. Begin with a small piece of Red Cheshire. If you then pass to a morsel of Double Gloucester, you will find that the praises accorded to the latter have been no whit exaggerated." A Concise Encyclopedia of Gastronomy, by Andre L. Simon. II. Single. By way of comparison, the spring and summer Single Gloucester ripens in two months and is not as big as its "large grindstone" brother. And neither is it "glorified Cheshire." It is mild and "as different in qualify of flavour as a young and crisp wine is from an old vintage."

Glumse West Prussia, Germany

A common, undistinguished cottage cheese.

Glux Nivernais, France

Season, all year.

Goat France

A frank and fair name for a semihard, brittle mouthful of flavor. Every country has its goat specialties. In Norway the milk is boiled dry, then fresh milk or cream added. In Czechoslovakia the peasants smoke the cheese up the kitchen chimney. No matter how you slice it, goat cheese is always notable or noble.

Gold-N-Rich U.S.A.

Golden in color and rich in taste. Bland, as American taste demands. Like Bel Paese but not so full-flavored and a bit sweet. A good and deservedly popular cheese none the less, easily recognized by its red rind.

Gomost Norway

Usually made from cow's milk, but sometimes from goat's. Milk is curdled with rennet and condensed by heating until it has a butter-like consistency. (See Mysost.)

Gorgonzola Italy

Besides the standard type exported to us (See Chapter 3.) there is White Gorgonzola, little known outside Italy where it is enjoyed by local caseophiles, who like it put up in crocks with brandy, too.

Gouda see Chapter 3.

Gouda, Kosher Holland

The same semihard good Gouda, but made with kosher rennet. It is a bit more mellow than most and, like all kosher products, is stamped by the Jewish authorities who prepare it.

Goya Corrientes, Argentine

Hard, dry, Italian type for grating. Like all fine Argentine cheeses the milk of pedigreed herds fed on prime pampas grass distinguishes Goya from lesser Parmesan types, even back in Italy.

It is interesting that the nitrate in Chilean soil makes their wines the best in America, and the richness of Argentine milk does the same for their cheeses, most of which are Italian imitations and some of which excel the originals.

Gournay Seine, France

Soft, similar to Demi-sel, comes in round and flat forms about 1/4 pound in weight. Those shaped like Bondons resemble corks about 3/4 of an inch thick and four inches long.

Grana Italy

Another name for Parmesan. From "grains", the size of big shot, that the curd is cut into.

Grana Lombardo Lombardy

The same hard type for grating, named after its origin in Lombardy.

Grana Reggiano Reggio, Italy

A brand of Parmesan type made near Reggio and widely imitated, not only in Lombardy and Mantua, but also in the Argentine where it goes by a pet name of its own—Regianito.

Grande Bornand, la Switzerland

A luscious half-dried sheep's milker.

Granular curd see Stirred curd.

Gras, or Velvet Kaas Holland

Named from its butterfat content and called "Moors Head", Tete de Maure, in France, from its shape and size. The same is true of Fromage de Gras in France, called Tete de Mort, "Death's Head". Gras is also the popular name for Brie that's made in the autumn in France and sold from November to May. (See Brie.)

Gratairon France

Goat milk named, as so many are, from the place it is made.

Graubuenden Switzerland

A luscious half-dried sheep's milker.

Green Bay U.S.A.

Medium-sharp, splendid White Cheddar from Green Bay, Wisconsin, the Limburger county.

Grey Germany and Austrian Tyrol

Semisoft; sour skim milk with salty flavor from curing in brine bath. Named from the gray color that pervades the entire cheese when ripe. It has a very pleasant taste.

Gruyere see Chapter 3.

Guessing, or Land-l-kas Austria

Similar to Brick. Skim milk. Weight between four and eight pounds.

H

Habas see Caille.

Hable Creme Chantilly Oesmo, Sweden

Soft ripened dessert cheese made from pasteurized cream by the old Walla Creamery. Put up in five-ounce wedge-shaped boxes for export and sold for a high price, well over two dollars a pound, in fancy big city groceries. Truly an aristocrat of cheeses to compare with the finest French Brie or Camembert. See Chapter 3.

Hand see Chapter 3.

Hard Puerto Rico

Dry; tangy.

Harzkaese, Harz Harz Mountains, Germany

Tiny hand cheese. Probably the world's smallest soft cheese, varying from 2-1/2 inches by 1-1/2 down to 1/4 by 1-1/2. Packed in little boxes, a dozen together, rubbing rinds, as close as sardines. And like Harz canaries, they thrive on seeds, chiefly caraway.

Harze Belgium

Port-Salut type from the Trappist monastery at Harze.

Hasandach Turkey

Bland; sweet.

Hauskaese. Germany

Limburger type. Disk-shaped.

Haute Marne France

Soft; square.

Hay, or Fromage au Foin Seine, France

A skim-milker resembling "a poor grade of Livarot." Nothing to write home about, except that it is ripened on new-mown hay.

Hazebrook

There are two kinds:

I. Flemish; a Fromage Fort type with white wine, juniper, salt and pepper. Excessively strong for bland American tasters.

II. Franche-Comte, France; small dry goat's milker, pounded, potted and marinated in a mixture of thyme, tarragon, leeks, pepper and brandy.

Head

Four cheeses are called Head:

The French Death's Head. Swiss Monk's Head. Dutch Cat's Head. Moor's Head.

There's headcheese besides but that's made of a pig's head and is only a cheese by discourtesy.

Health see Holstein.

Herbesthal Germany

Named from a valley full of rich herbes for grazing.

Herkimer U.S.A.

Cheddar type; nearly white. See Chapter 4.

Herrgardsost, Farm House or Manor House West Gothland and Jamtland, Sweden

Hard Emmentaler type in two qualities: full cream and half cream. Weighs 25 to 40 pounds. It is the most popular cheese in all Sweden and the best is from West Gothland and Jutland.

Herrgardstyp see Hushallsost.

Herve Belgium

Soft; made in cubes and peppered with herbes such as tarragon, parsley and chives. It flourishes from November to May and comes in three qualities: extra cream, cream, and part skim milk.

Hickory Smoked U.S.A.

Good smoke is often wasted on bad cheese.

Hohenburg see Box No. II.

Hohenheim Germany

Soft; part skimmed milk; half-pound cylinders. (See Box No. I.)

Hoi Poi China

Soybean cheese, developed by vegetable rennet. Exported in jars.

Hoja see Queso de.

Hollander North Germany

Imitation Dutch Goudas and Edams, chiefly from Neukirchen in Holstein.

Holstein Dairy see Leather.

Holsteiner, or Old Holsteiner Germany

Eaten best when old, with butter, or in the North, with dripping.

Holstein Health, or Holsteiner Gesundheitkaese Germany

Sour-milk curd pressed hard and then cooked in a tin kettle with a little cream and salt. When mixed and melted it is poured into half-pound molds and cooled.

Holstein Skim Milk or Holstein Magerkaese Germany

Skim-milker colored with saffron. Its name, "thin cheese," tells all.

Hop, Hopfen Germany

Small, one inch by 2-1/2 inches, packed in hops to ripen. An ideal beer cheese, loaded with lupulin.

Hopi U.S.A.

Hard; goat; brittle; sharp; supposed to have been made first by the Hopi Indians out west where it's still at home.

Horner's England

An old cream cheese brand in Redditch where Worcestershire sauce originated.

Horse Cheese

Not made of mare's milk, but the nickname for Caciocavallo because of the horse's head used to trademark the first edition of it.

Hum Holland

Brand name of one of those mild little red Baby Goudas that make you say "Ho-hum."

Hushallsost, Household Cheese Sweden

Popular in three types: Herrgardstyp—Farmhouse Vaestgoetatyp—Westgotland Sveciatyp—Swedish

Hvid Gjetost Norway

A strong variety of Gjetost, little known and less liked outside of Scandinavia.

I

Icelandic

In Letters from Iceland, W.H. Auden says: "The ordinary cheese is like a strong Dutch and good. There is also a brown sweet cheese, like the Norwegian." Doubtless the latter is Gjetost.

Ihlefield Mecklenburg, Germany

A hand cheese.

Ilha, Queijo de Azores

Semihard "Cheese of the Isle," largely exported to mother Portugal, measuring about a foot across and four inches high. The one word, Ilha, Isle, covers the several Azorian Islands whose names, such as Pico, Peak, and Terceiro, Third, are sometimes added to their cheeses.

Imperial, Ancien see Ancien.

Imperial Club Canada

Potted Cheddar; snappy; perhaps named after the famous French Ancien Imperial.

Incanestrato Sicily, Italy

Very sharp; white; cooked; spiced; formed into large round "heads" from fifteen to twenty pounds. See Majocchino, a kind made with the three milks, goat, sheep and cow, and enriched with olive oil besides.

Irish Cheeses

Irish Cheddar and Irish Stilton are fairly ordinary imitations named after their native places of manufacture: Ardagh, Galtee, Whitehorn, Three Counties, etc.

Isigny France

Full name Fromage a la Creme d'Isigny. (See.) Cream cheese. The American cheese of this name never amounted to much. It was an attempt to imitate Camembert in the Gay Nineties, but it turned out to be closer to Limburger. (See Chapter 2.)

In France there is also Creme d'Isigny, thick fresh cream that's as famous as England's Devonshire and comes as close to being cheese as any cream can.

Island of Orleans Canada

This soft, full-flavored cheese was doubtless brought from France by early emigres, for it has been made since 1869 on the Orleans Island in the St. Lawrence River near Quebec. It is known by its French name, Le Fromage Raffine de l'Ile d'Orleans, and lives up to the name "refined."

J

Jack see Monterey.

Jochberg Tyrol, Germany

Cow and goat milk mixed in a fine Tyrolean product, as all mountain cheese are. Twenty inches in diameter and four inches high, it weighs in at forty-five pounds with the rind on.

Jonchee Santonge, France

A superior Caillebotte, flavored with rum, orange-flower water or, uniquely, black coffee.

Josephine Silesia, Germany

Soft and ladylike as its name suggests. Put up in small cylindrical packages.

Journiac see Chapter 3.

Julost Sweden.

Semihard; tangy.

Jura Bleu, or Septmoncel France

Hard: blue-veined; sharp; tangy.

K

Kaas, Oude Belgium

Flemish name for the French Boule de Lille.

Kackavalj Yugoslavia

Same as Italian Caciocavallo.

Kaiser-kaese Germany

This was an imperial cheese in the days of the kaisers and is still made under that once awesome name. Now it's just a jolly old mellow, yellow container of tang.

Kajmar, or Serbian Butter Serbia and Turkey

Cream cheese, soft and bland when young but ages to a tang between that of any goat's-milker and Roquefort.

Kamembert Yugoslavia

Imitation Camembert.

Karaghi La-La Turkey

Nutty and tangy.

Kareish Egypt

A pickled cheese, similar to Domiati.

Karut India

Semihard; mellow; for grating and seasoning.

Karvi Norway

Soft; caraway-seeded; comes in smallish packages.

Kash Rumania

Soft, white, somewhat stringy cheese named cheese.

Kashcavallo, Caskcaval Greece

A good imitation of Italian Caciocavallo.

Kasher, or Caher, Penner Turkey

Hard; white; sharp.

Kash Kwan Bulgaria and the Balkans

An all-purpose goat's milk, Parmesan type, eaten sliced when young, grated when old. An attempt to imitate it in Chicago failed. It is sold in Near East quarters in New York, Washington and all big American cities.

Kaskaval Rumania

Identical with Italian Caciocavallo, widely imitated, and well, in Greece, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Transylvania and neighboring lands. As popular as Cheddar in England, Canada and U.S.A.

Kasseri Greece

Hard; ewe's milk, usually.

Katschkawalj Serbia

Just another version of the international Caciocavallo.

Katzenkopf, Cat's Head Holland

Another name for Edam. (See Chapter 3.)

Kaukauna Club U.S.A.

Widely advertised processed cheese food.

Kauna Lithuania

A hearty cheese that's in season all the year around.

Kefalotir, Kefalotyi Yugoslavia, Greece and Syria

Both of these hard, grating cheeses are made from either goat's or ewe's milk and named after their shape, resembling a Greek hat, or Kefalo.

Keg-ripened see Brand.

King Christian IX Denmark Sharp with caraway. Popular with everybody.

Kingdom Farm U.S.A, near Ithaca, N.Y. The Rutherfordites or Jehovah's Witnesses make Brick, Limburger and Muenster that are said to be most delectable by those mortals lucky enough to get into the Kingdom Farm. Unfortunately their cheese is not available elsewhere.

Kirgischerkaese see Krutt.

Kjarsgaard Denmark

Hard; skim; sharp; tangy.

Klatschkaese, Gossip Cheese Germany

A rich "ladies' cheese" corresponding to Damen; both designed to promote the flow of gossip in afternoon Kaffee-klatsches in the Konditories.

Kloster, Kloster Kaese Bavaria

Soft; ripe; finger-shaped, one by one by four inches. In Munich this was, and perhaps still is, carried by brew masters on their tasting tours "to bring out the excellence of a freshly broached tun." Named from being made by monks in early cloisters, down to this day.

Kochenkaese Luxembourg

Cooked white dessert cheese. Since it is salt-free it is recommended for diets.

Koch Kaese Germany

This translates "cooked cheese."

Kochtounkaese Belgium

Semisoft, cooked and smoked. Bland flavor.

Kolos-monostor Rumania

Sheep; rectangular four-pounder, 8-1/2 by five by three inches. One of those college-educated cheeses turned out by the students and professors at the Agricultural School of Transylvania.

Kolosvarer Rumania

A Trappist Port-Salut imitation made with water-buffalo milk, as are so many of the world's fine cheeses.

Komijnekaas, Komynekass North Holland

Spiked with caraway seeds and named after them.

Konigskaese Germany

A regal name for a German imitation of Bel Paese.

Kopanisti Greece

Blue-mold cheese with sharp, peppery flavor.

Koppen, Cup, or Bauden Germany

Semihard; goat; made in a cup-shaped mold that gives both its shape and name. Small, three to four ounces; sharp; pungent; somewhat smoky. Imitated in U.S.A. in half-pound packages.

Korestin Russia

Semisoft; mellow; cured in brine.

Kosher

This cheese appears in many countries under several names. Similar to Limburger, but eaten fresh. It is stamped genuine by Jewish authorities, for the use of religious persons. (See Gouda, Kosher.)

Krauterkaese Brazil

Soft-paste herb cheese put up in a tube by German Brazilians near the Argentine border. A rich, full-flavored adaptation of Swiss Krauterkaese even though it is processed.

Kreuterkaese, Herb Cheese Switzerland

Hard, grating cheese flavored with herbs; like Sapsago or Grunkaese.

Krutt, or Kirgischerkaese Asian Steppes

A cheese turned out en route by nomadic tribes in the Asiatic Steppes, from sour skim milk of goat, sheep, cow or camel. The salted and pressed curd is made into small balls and dried in the sun.

Kuehbacher Bavaria

Soft, ripe, and chiefly interesting because of its name, Cow Creek, where it is made.

Kuminost Norway

Semihard; caraway-seeded.

Kumminost Sweden

This is Bondost with caraway added.

Kummin Ost Wisconsin, U.S.A.

Imitation of the Scandinavian, with small production in Wisconsin where so many Swedes and Norwegians make their home and their ost.

Kuemmel, Leyden, or Leidsche Kaas Holland

Caraway-seeded and named.

Kuemmelkaese Germany and U.S.A.

Semihard; sharp with caraway. Milwaukee Kuemmelkaese has made a name for itself as a nibble most suitable with most drinks, from beer to imported kuemmel liqueur.

L

Labneh Syria

Sour-milk.

La Foncee, or Fromage de Pau France

Cream cheese.

Lager Kaese U.S.A.

Semidry and mellow. While lager means merely "to store," there is more than a subtle suggestion of lager beer here.

Laguiole, Fromage de, and Guiole Aveyron, France

An ancient Cantal type said to have flourished since the Roman occupation. Many consider Laguiole superior to Cantal. It is in full season from November to May.

Lamothe-Bougon, La Mothe St. Heray Poitou

Goat cheese made from May to November.

Lancashire, or Lancaster North England

White; crumbly; sharp; a good Welsh Rabbit cheese if you can get it. It is more like Cheshire than Cheddar. This most popular variety in the north of England is turned out best at Fylde, near the Irish Sea. It is a curiosity in manufacture, for often the curds used are of different ages, and this is accountable for a loose, friable texture. Deep orange in color.

Land-l-kas, or Guessing Austria

Skim-milker, similar to U.S. Brick. Square loaves, four to eight pounds.

Langlois Blue U.S.A.

A Colorado Blue with an excellent reputation, though it can hardly compete with Roquefort.

Langres Haute-Marne, France

Semihard; fermented whole milk; farm-made; full-flavored, high-smelling Limburger type, similar to Maroilles. Ancient of days, said to have been made since the time of the Merovingian kings. Cylindrical, five by eight inches, they weigh one and a half to two pounds. Consumed mostly at home.

Lapland Lapland

Reindeer milk. Resembles hard Swiss. Of unusual shape, both round and flat, so a cross-section looks like a dumbbell with angular ends.

Laredo Mexico

Soft; creamy; mellow, made and named after the North Mexico city.

Larron France

A kind of Maroilles.

Latticini Italy

Trade name for a soft, water-buffalo product as creamy as Camembert.

Laumes, les Burgundy, France

Made from November to July.

Lauterbach Germany

Breakfast cheese

Leaf see Tschil.

Leather, Leder, or Holstein Dairy Germany

A skim-milker with five to ten percent buttermilk, all from the great milch cows up near Denmark in Schleswig-Holstein. A technical point in its making is that it's "broken up with a harp or a stirring stick and stirred with a Danish stirrer."

Lebanie Syria

Dessert cottage cheese often served with yogurt.

Lecco, Formaggini di Italy

Soft; cow or goat; round dessert variety; representative of a cheese family as big as the human family of most Italians.

Lees see Appenzeller, Festive, No. II.

LeGueyin Lorraine, France

Half-dried; small; salted; peppered and sharp. The salt and pepper make it unusual, though not as peppery as Italian Pepato.

Leicester England

Hard; shallow; flat millstone of Cheddar-like cheese weighing forty pounds. Dark orange and mild to red and strong, according to age. With Wiltshire and Warwickshire it belongs to the Derbyshire type.

An ancient saying is: "Leicester cheese and water cress were just made for each other."

Leidsche Kaas see Leyden.

Leonessa

A kind of Pecorino.

Leroy U.S.A.

Notable because it's a natural cheese in a mob of modern processed.

Lerroux France

Goat; in season from February to September and not eaten in fall or winter months.

Lescin Caucasus

Curious because the sheep's milk that makes it is milked directly into a sack of skin. It is made in the usual way, rennet added, curd broken up, whey drained off, curd put into forms and pressed lightly. But after that it is wrapped in leaves and ropes of grass. After curing two weeks in the leaves, they are discarded, the cheese salted and wrapped up in leaves again for another ripening period.

The use of a skin sack again points the association of cheese and wine in a region where wine is still drunk from skin bags with nozzles, as in many wild and mountainous parts.

Les Petits Bressans Bresse, France

Small goat cheeses named from food-famous Bresse, of the plump pullets, and often stimulated with brandy before being wrapped in fresh vine leaves, like Les Petits Banons.

Les Petits Fromages see Petits Fromages and Thiviers.

Le Vacherin

Name given to two entirely different varieties: I. Vacherin a la Main II. Vacherin Fondu. (See Vacherin.)

Levroux Berry, France

A goat cheese in season from May to December.

Leyden, Komijne Kaas, Caraway Cheese Holland

Semihard, tangy with caraway. Similar Delft. There are two kinds of Leyden that might be called Farm Fat and Factory Thin, for those made on the farms contain 30 to 35% fat, against 20% in the factory product.

Liederkranz see Chapter 4.

Limburger see Chapter 3.

Lincoln England

Cream cheese that keeps two to three weeks. This is in England, where there is much less refrigeration than in the U.S.A., and that's a big break for most natural cheeses.

Lindenhof Belgium

Semisoft; aromatic; sharp.

Lipta, Liptauer, Liptoiu Hungary

A classic mixture with condiments, especially the great peppers from which the world's best paprika is made. Liptauer is the regional name for Brinza, as well, and it's made in the same manner, of sheep milk and sometimes cow. Salty and spready, somewhat oily, as most sheep-milkers are. A fairly sharp taste with a suggestion of sour milk. It is sold in various containers and known as "pickled cheese." (See Chapter 3.)

Lipto Hungary

Soft; sheep; white; mild and milky taste. A close relative of both Liptauer and Brinza.

Little Nippy U.S.A.

Processed cheese with a cute name, wrapped up both plain and smoky, to "slice and serve for cheese trays, mash or whip for spreading," but no matter how you slice, mash and whip it, it's still processed.

Livarot Calvados, France

Soft paste, colored with annatto-brown or deep red (also, uncommonly, fresh and white). It has the advantage over Camembert, made in the same region, in that it may be manufactured during the summer months when skim milk is plentiful and cheap. It is formed in cylinders, six by two inches, and ripened several months in the even temperature of caves, to be eaten at its best only in January, February and March. By June and afterward it should be avoided. Similar to Mignot II. Early in the process of making, after ripening ten to twelve days, the cheeses are wrapped in fresh laiche leaves, both to give flavor and help hold in the ammonia and other essentials for making a strong, piquant Livarot.

Livlander Russia

A popular hand cheese. A most unusual variety because the cheese itself is red, not the rind.

Locatelli Italy

A brand of Pecorino differing slightly from Bomano Pecorino.

Lodigiano, or Lombardo Lodi, Italy

Sharp; fragrant; sometimes slightly bitter; yellow. Cylindrical; surface colored dark and oiled. Used for grating. Similar to Parmesan but not as fine in quality.

Longhorn Wisconsin, U.S.A.

This fine American Cheddar was named from its resemblance to the long horn of a popular milking breed of cattle, or just from the Longhorn breed of cow that furnished the makings.

Lorraine Lorraine, Germany

Hard; small; delicate; unique because it's seasoned with pistachio nuts besides salt and pepper. Eaten while quite young, in two-ounce portions that bring a very high price.

Lumburger Belgium

Semisoft and tangy dessert cheese. The opposite of Limburger because it has no odor.

Lunch Germany and U.S.A.

The same as Breakfast and Fruehstueck. A Limburger type of eye-opener.

Lueneberg West Austria

Swiss type; saffron-colored; made in a copper kettle; not as strong as Limburger, or as mild as Emmentaler, yet piquant and aromatic, with a character of its own.

Luxembourg U.S.A.

Tiny tin-foiled type of Liederkranz. A mild, bland, would-be Camembert.

M

Maconnais France

Soft; goat's milk; two inches square by one and a half inches thick.

Macqueline Oise, France

Soft Camembert type, made in the same region, but sold at a cheaper price.

Madridejos Spain

Named for Madrid where it is made.

Magdeburger-kuhkaese Germany

"Cow cheese" made in Magdeburg.

Magerkaese see Holstein Skim Milk

Maggenga, Sorte Italy

A term for Parmesan types made between April and September.

Maguis Belgium

Also called Fromage Mou. Soft; white; sharp; spread.

Maigre France

A name for Brie made in summer and inferior to both the winter Gras and spring Migras.

Maile Crimea

Sheep; cooked; drained; salted; made into forms and put into a brine bath where it stays sometimes a year.

Maile Pener (Fat Cheese) Crimea

Sheep; crumbly; open texture and pleasing flavor when ripened.

Mainauer German

Semihard; full cream; round; red outside, yellow within. Weight three pounds.

Mainzer Hand German

Typical hand cheese, kneaded by hand thoroughly, which makes for quality, pressed into flat cakes by hand, dried for a week, packed in kegs or jars and ripened in the cellar six to eight weeks. As in making bread, the skill in kneading Mainzer makes a worthy craft.

Majocchino Sicily, Italy

An exceptional variety of the three usual milks mixed together: goat, sheep and cow, flavored with spices and olive oil. A kind of Incanestrato.

Malakoff France

A form of Neufchatel about a half inch by two inches, eaten fresh or ripe.

Manicamp French Flanders

In season from October to July.

Mano, Queso de Venezuela

A kind of Venezuelan hand cheese, as its Spanish name translates. (See Venezuelan.)

Manor House see Herrgardsost.

Manteca, Butter Italy

Cheese and butter combined in a small brick of butter with a covering of Mozzarella. This is for slicing—not for cooking—which is unusual for any Italian cheese.

Manur, or Manuri Yugoslavia

Sheep or cow's milk heated to boiling, then cooled "until the fingers can be held in it". A mixture of fresh whey and buttermilk is added with the rennet. "The curd is lifted from the whey in a cloth and allowed to drain, when it is kneaded like bread, lightly salted, and dried."

Maquee Belgium

Another name for Fromage Mou, Soft Cheese.

Marches Tuscany, Italy

Ewe's milk; hard.

Margarine England

An oily cheese made with oleomargarine.

Margherita Italy

Soft; cream; small.

Marienhofer Austria

Limburger type. About 4-1/2 inches square and 1-1/2 inches thick; weight about a pound. Wrapped in tin foil.

Maerkisch, or Maerkisch Hand Germany

Soft; smelly; hand type.

Maroilles, Marolles, Marole Flanders, France

Semisoft and semihard, half way between Pont l'Eveque and Limburger. Full flavor, high smell, reddish brown rind, yellow within. Five inches square and 2-1/4 inches thick; some larger.

Martha Washington Aged Cheese U.S.A.

Made by Kasper of Bear Creek, Wisconsin. (See under Wisconsin in Chapter 4.)

Mascarpone, or Macherone Italy

Soft; white; delicate fresh cream from Lombardy. Usually packed in muslin or gauze bags, a quarter to a half pound.

McIntosh Alaska

An early Klondike Cheddar named by its maker, Peter McIntosh, and described as being as yellow as that "Alaskan gold, which brought at times about ounce for ounce over mining-camp counters." The Cheddar Box by Dean Collins.

McLaren's U.S.A.

Pioneer club type of snappy Cheddar in a pot, originally made in Canada, now by Kraft in the U.S.A.

Meadowbloom U.S.A.

Made by the Iowa State College at Ames.

Mecklenburg Skim Germany

No more distinguished than most skim-milkers.

Meilbou France

Made in the Champagne district.

Mein Kaese U.S.A.

Sharp; aromatic; trade-marked package.

Melfa U.S.A.

Excellent for a processed cheese. White; flavorsome. Packed in half moons.

Melun France Brown-red rind, yellow inside; high-smelling. There is also a Brie de Melun.

Mentelto Italy Sharp; goat; from the Mentelto mountains

Merignac France Goat.

Merovingian Northeast France Semisoft; white; creamy; sharp; historic since the time of the Merovingian kings.

Mersem France Lightly cooked.

Mesitra Crimea Eaten when fresh and unsalted; also when ripened. Soft, ewe's milk.

Mesost Sweden Whey; sweetish.

Metton Franche-Comte, France Season October to June.

Meuse France Soft; piquant; aromatic.

Midget Salami Provolone U.S.A. This goes Baby Goudas and Edams one better by being a sort of sausage, too.

Mignot Calvados, France White, No. I: Soft; fresh; in small cubes or cylinders; in season only in summer, April to September.

Passe, No. II: Soft but ripened, and in the same forms, but only seasonal in winter, October to March. Similar to Pont l'Eveque and popular for more than a century. It goes specially well with Calvados cider, fresh, hard or distilled.

Migras

Name given to spring Brie—midway between fat winter Gras and thin summer Maigre.

Milano, Stracchino di Milano, Fresco, Quardo Italy

Similar to Bel Paese. Yellow, with thin rind. 1-1/2 to 2-3/4 inches thick, 3 to 6-1/2 pounds.

Milk Mud see Schlickermilch.

Millefiori Milan, Italy

A Thousand Flowers—as highly scented as its sentimental name. Yet no cheeses are so freshly fragrant as these flowery Alpine ones.

Milltown Bar U.S.A.

Robust texture and flavor reminiscent of free-lunch and old-time bars.

Milk cheeses

Milks that make cheese around the world:

Ass Buffalo Camel Chamois Elephant Goat Human (see Mother's milk) Llama Mare Reindeer Sea cow (Amazonian legend) Sheep Whale (legendary; see Whale Cheese) Yak Zebra Zebu

U.S. pure food laws prohibit cheeses made of unusual or strange animal's milk, such as camel, llama and zebra.

Milwaukee Kuemmelkaese and Hand Kaese U.S.A.

Aromatic with caraway, brought from Germany by early emigrants and successfully imitated.

Minas Brazil

Name for the Brazilian state of Minas Geraes, where it is made. Semihard; white; round two-pounder; often chalky. The two best brands are one called Primavera, Spring, and another put out by the Swiss professors who teach the art at the Agricultural University in the State Capital, Bello Horizonte.

Minnesota Blue U.S.A.

A good national product known from coast to coast. Besides Blue, Minnesota makes good all-American Brick and Cheddar, natural nationals to be proud of.

Mintzitra in Macedonia; and Mitzithra in Greece

Sheep; soft; succulent; and as pleasantly greasy as other sheep cheeses from Greece. It's a by-product of the fabulous Feta.

Modena, Monte U.S.A.

Made in U.S.A. during World War II. Parmesan-type.

Mohawk Limburger Spread U.S.A.

A brand that comes in one-pound jars.

Moliterno Italy

Similar to Caciocavallo. (See.)

Monceau Champagne, France

Semihard, similar to Maroilles.

Moncenisio Italy

Similar to Gorgonzola.

Mondseer, Mondseer Schachtelkaese, Mondseer Schlosskaese Austria

This little family with a lot of long names is closely related to the Muenster tribe, with very distant connections with the mildest branch of the Limburgers.

The Schachtelkaese is named from the wooden boxes in which it is shipped, while the Schlosskaese shows its class by being called Castle Cheese, probably because it is richer than the others, being made of whole milk.

Money made of cheese China

In the Chase National Bank collection of moneys of the world there is a specimen of "Cheese money" about which the curator, Farran Zerbee, writes: "A specimen of the so-called 'cheese money' of Northern China, 1850-70, now in the Chase Bank collection, came to me personally some thirty years ago from a woman missionary, who had been located in the field where she said a cake form of condensed milk, and referred to as 'cheese,' was a medium of exchange among the natives. It, like other commodities, particularly compressed tea, was prized as a trading medium in China, in that it had value as nutriment and was sufficiently appreciated by the population as to be exchangeable for other articles of service."

Monk's Head see Tete de Moine.

Monostorer Transylvania, Rumania

Ewe's milk.

Monsieur France

Soft; salted; rich in flavor.

Monsieur Fromage see Fromage de Monsieur Fromage.

Montana Catalonia

A mountain cheese.

Montasio Austria and Italy

Usually skimmed goat and cow milk mixed. When finished, the rind is often rubbed with olive oil or blackened with soot. It is eaten both fresh, white and sweet, and aged, when it is yellow, granular and sharp, with a characteristic flavor. Mostly used when three to twelve months old, but kept much longer and grated for seasoning. Widely imitated in America.

Montauban de Bretagne, Fromage de Brittany, France

A celebrated cheese of Brittany.

Montavoner Austria

Sour and sometimes sweet milk, made tasty with dried herbs of the Achittea family.

Mont Blanc France

An Alpine cheese.

Mont Cenis Southeastern France Usually made of all three available milks, cow, goat and sheep; it is semihard and blue-veined like the other Roquefort imitations, Gex and Septmoncel. Primitive methods are still used in the making and sometimes the ripening is done by penicillium introduced in moldy bread. Large rounds, eighteen by six to eight inches, weighing twenty-five pounds.

Mont-des-Cats French Flanders

Trappist monk-made Port-Salut.

Montdidier France

A fresh cream.

Mont d'or, le, or Mont Dore Lyonnais, France

Soft; whole milk; originally goat, now cow; made throughout the Rhone Valley. Fat, golden-yellow and "relished by financiers" according to Victor Meusy. Between Brie and Pont l'Eveque but more delicate than either, though not effeminate. Alpin and Riola are similar. The best is still turned out at Mont d'Or, with runners-up in St. Cyr and St. Didier.

Montavoner Austria

A sour-milker made fragrant with herbs added to the curd.

Monterey Mexico

Hard; sharp; perhaps inspired by Montery Jack that's made in California and along the Mexican border.

Monterey Jack see Chapter 4.

Monthery Seine-et-Oise, France

Whole or partly skimmed milk; soft in quality and large in size, weighing up to 5-1/2 pounds. Notable only for its patriotic tri-color in ripening, with whitish mold that turns blue and has red spots.

Montpellier France

Sheep.

Moravian Czechoslovakia

Semihard and sharp.

Morbier Bresse, France

In season from November to July.

Mostoffait France

A little-known product of Champagne.

Mother's milk

In his book about French varieties, Les Fromages, Maurice des Ombiaux sums up the many exotic milks made into cheese and recounts the story of Paul Bert, who served a cheese "white as snow" that was so delicately appetizing it was partaken of in "religious silence." All the guests guessed, but none was right. So the host announced it was made of "lait de femme" and an astounded turophile exclaimed, "Then all of us are cannibals."

Mountain Bavaria

Soft; yellow; sharp.

Mountain, Azuldoch see Azuldoch.

Mount Hope U.S.A.

Yellow; mellow; mild and porous California Cheddar.

Mouse or Mouse Trap U.S.A.

Common name for young, green, cracked, leathery or rubbery low-grade store cheese fit only to bait traps. When it's aged and sharp, however, the same cheese can be bait for caseophiles.

Mozzarella Italy

Soft; water-buffalo milk; moistly fresh and unripened; bland, white cooking cheese put up in balls or big bowl-like cups weighing about a half pound and protected with wax paper. The genuine is made at Cardito, Aversa, Salernitano and in the Mazzoni di Capua. Like Ricotta, this is such a popular cheese all over America that it is imitated widely, and often badly, with a bitter taste.

Mozzarella-Affumicata, also called Scamozza Italy

Semisoft; smooth; white; bland; un-salted. Put up in pear shapes of about one pound, with tan rind, from smoking.

Eaten chiefly sliced, but prized, both fresh and smoked, in true Italian one-dish meals such as Lasagne and Pizza.

Mozzarinelli Italy

A pet name for a diminutive edition of Mozzarella.

Mrsav see Sir Posny.

Muenster Germany

German originally, now made from Colmar, Strassburg and Copenhagen to Milwaukee in all sorts of imitations, both good and bad. Semihard; whole milk; yellow inside, brick-red outside; flavor from mild to strong, depending on age and amount of caraway or anise seed added. Best in winter season, from November to April.

Muenster is a world-wide classic that doubles for both German and French. Gerome is a standard French type of it, with a little longer season, beginning in April, and a somewhat different flavor from anise seed. Often, instead of putting the seeds inside, a dish of caraway is served with the cheese for those who like to flavor to taste.

In Alsace, Muenster is made plain and also under the name of Muenster au Cumin because of the caraway.

American imitations are much milder and marketed much younger. They are supposed to blend the taste of Brick and Limburger; maybe they do.

Mustard U.S.A.

A processed domestic, Gruyere type.

Myjithra

Imitated with goat's milk in Southern Colorado.

Mysost, Mytost Scandinavia

Made in all Scandinavian countries and imitated in the U.S.A. A whey cheese, buttery, mild and sweetish with a caramel color all through, instead of the heavy chocolate or dark tobacco shade of Gjetost. Frimost is a local name for it. The American imitations are cylindrical and wrapped in tin foil.

N

Nagelkassa (Fresh), Fresh Clove Cheese, called Nageles in Holland Austria

Skim milk; curd mixed with caraway and cloves called nails, nagel, in Germany and Austria. The large flat rounds resemble English Derby.

Nantais, or Fromage du Cure, Cheese of the Curate Brittany, France

A special variety dedicated to some curate of Nantes.

Nessel England

Soft; whole milk; round and very thin.

Neufchatel, or Petit Suisse Normandy, France

Soft; whole milk; small loaf. See Ancien Imperial, Bondon, and Chapter 9.

New Forest England

Cream cheese from the New Forest district.

Nieheimer Westphalia, Germany

Sour milk; with salt and caraway seed added, sometimes beer or milk. Covered lightly with straw and packed in kegs with hops to ripen. Both beer and hops in one cheese is unique.

Niolo Corsica

In season from October to May.

Noekkelost or Noegelost Norway

Similar to spiced Leyden or Edam with caraway, and shaped like a Gouda.

Nordlands-Ost "Kalas" U.S.A.

Trade name for an American imitation of a Scandinavian variety, perhaps suggested by Swedish Nordost.

Nordost Sweden

Semisoft; white; baked; salty and smoky.

North Wilts Wiltshire, England

Cheddar type; smooth; hard rind; rich but delicate in flavor. Small size, ten to twelve pounds; named for its locale.

Nostrale Northwest Italy

An ancient-of-days variety of which there are two kinds: I. Formaggio Duro: hard, as its name says, made in the spring when the cows are in the valley. II. Formaggio Tenero: soft and richer, summer-made with milk from lush mountain-grazing.

Notruschki (cheese bread) Russia

Made with Tworog cheese and widely popular.

Nova Scotia Smoked U.S.A.

The name must mean that the cheese was smoked in the Nova Scotia manner, for it is smoked mostly in New York City, like sturgeon, to give the luxurious flavor.

Nuworld U.S.A.

This semisoft newcomer arrived about 1954 and is advertised as a brand-new variety. It is made in the Midwest and packed in small, heavily waxed portions to preserve all of its fine, full aroma and flavor.

A cheese all America can be proud of, whether it is an entirely new species or not.

O

Oaxaca see Asadero.

Oka, or La Trappe Canada

Medium soft; aromatic; the Port-Salut made by Trappist monks in Canada after the secret method of the order that originated in France. See Trappe.

Old English Club U.S.A.

Not old, not English, and representing no club we know of.

Old Heidelberg U.S.A.

Soft, piquant rival of Liederkranz.

Oleron Isle, Fromage d'Ile France

A celebrated sheep cheese from this island of Oleron.

Olive Cream U.S.A.

Ground olives mixed to taste with cream cheese. Olives rival pimientos for such mildly piquant blends that just suit the bland American taste. A more exciting olive cream may be made with Greek Calatma olives and Feta sheep cheese.

Olivet Orleans, France

Soft sheep cheese sold in three forms: I. Fresh; summer, white; cream cheese. II. Olivet-Bleu—mold inoculated; half-ripened. III. Olivet-Cendre, ripened in the ashes. Season, October to June.

Olmuetzer Quargel, also Olmuetzer Bierkaese Austria

Soft; skim milk-soured; salty. The smallest of hand cheeses, only 1/2 of an inch thick by 1-1/2 inches in diameter. Packed in kegs to ripen into beer cheese and keep the liquid contents of other kegs company. A dozen of these little ones are packed together in a box ready to drop into wine or beer drinks at home or at the bar.

Oloron, or Fromage de la Vallee d'ossour Bearn, France

In season from October to May.

Onion with garlic links U.S.A

Processed and put up like frankfurters, in links.

Oporto Portugal

Hard; sharp; tangy. From the home town of port wine.

Orkney Scotland

A country cheese of the Orkney Islands where it is buried in the oat bin to ripen, and kept there between meals as well. Oatmeal and Scotch country cheese are natural affinities. Southey, Johnson and Boswell have all remarked the fine savor of such cheese with oatcakes.

Orleans France

Named after the Orleans district Soft; creamy; tangy.

Ossetin, Tuschninsk, or Kasach Caucasus

Comes in two forms: I. Soft and mild sheep or cow cheese ripened in brine for two months. II. Hard, after ripening a year and more in brine. The type made of sheep milk is the better.

Ostiepek, Oschtjepek, Oschtjpeka Czechoslovakia

Sheep in the Carpathian Mountains supply the herb-rich milk for this type, similar to Italian Caciocavallo.

Oswego U.S.A.

New York State Cheddar of distinction.

Oude Kaas Belgium

Popular in France as Boule de Lille.

Oust, Fromage de Roussillon, France

Of the Camembert family.

Ovar Hungarian

Semisoft to semihard, reddish-brown rind, reddish-yellow inside. Mild but pleasantly piquant It has been called Hungarian Tilsit.

Oveji Sir Yugoslavian Alpine

Hard, mountain-sheep cheese of quality Cellar-ripened three months. Weight six to ten pounds.

Oxfordshire England

An obsolescent type, now only of literary interest because of Jonathan Swift's little story around it, in the eighteenth century: "An odd land of fellow, who when the cheese came upon the table, pretended to faint; so somebody said, Pray take away the cheese.'

"'No,' said I, 'pray take away the fool. Said I well?'

"To this Colonel Arwit rejoins: 'Faith, my lord, you served the coxcomb right enough; and therefore I wish we had a bit of your lordship's Oxfordshire cheese.'"

P

Pabstett U.S.A

The Pabst beer people got this out during Prohibition, and although beer and cheese are brothers under their ferment, and Prohibition has long since been done away with, the relation of the processed paste to a natural cheese is still as distant as near beer from regular beer.

Packet cheese England

This corresponds to our process cheese and is named from the package or packet it comes in.

Paglia Switzerland

Italian-influenced Canton of Ticino. Soft. A copy of Gorgonzola. A Blue with a pleasant, aromatic flavor, and of further interest because in Switzerland, the motherland of cheese, it is an imitation of a foreign type.

Pago Dalmatia, Yugoslavia

A sheep-milk specialty made on the island of Pago in Dalmatia, in weights from 1/2 to eight pounds.

Paladru Savoy, France

In season from November to May.

Palpuszta Hungary

Fairly strong Limburger type.

Pannarone Italy

Gorgonzola type with white curd but without blue veining.

Parenica Hungary

Sheep. Caciocavallo type.

Parmesan, Parmigiano Italy

The grand mogul of all graters. Called "The hardest cheese in the world." It enlivens every course from onion soup to cheese straws with the demitasse, and puts spirit into the sparse Lenten menu as Pasta al Pesto, powdered Parmesan, garlic, olive oil and basil, pounded in a mortar with a pestle.

Passauer Rahmkaese, Creme de Passau German

Noted Bavarian cream cheese, known in France as Creme de Passau.

Pasta Cotta Italy

The ball or grana of curd used in making Parmesan.

Pasta Filata Italy

A "drawn" curd, the opposite of the little balls or grains into which Grana is chopped.(See Formaggi di Pasta Filata.)

Pasteurized Process Cheese Food U.S.A.

This is the ultimate desecration of natural fermented cheese. Had Pasteur but known what eventual harm his discovery would do to a world of cheese, he might have stayed his hand.

Pastorella Italy

Soft, rich table cheese.

Patagras Cuba

Similar to Gouda.

Pecorino Italy

Italian cheese made from ewe's milk. Salted in brine. Granular.

Pelardon de Rioms Languedoc, France

A goat cheese in season from May to November.

Peneteleu Rumania

One of the international Caciocavallo family.

Penicillium Glaucum and Penicillium Album

Tiny mushroom spores of Penicillium Glaucum sprinkled in the curd destined to become Roquefort, sprout and grow into "blue" veins that impart the characteristic flavor. In twelve to fifteen days a second spore develops on the surface, snow-white Penicillium Album.

Pennich Turkey

Mellow sheep cheese packed in the skin of sheep or lamb.

Pennsylvania Hand Cheese U.S.A.

This German original has been made by the Pennsylvania Dutch ever since they arrived from the old country. Also Pennsylvania pot, or cooked.

Penroque Pennsylvania, U.S.A

Cow milk imitation Roquefort, inoculated with Penicillium Roqueforti and ripened in "caverns where nature has duplicated the ideal condition of the cheese-curing caverns of France." So any failure of Penroque to rival real Roquefort is more likely to be the fault of mother cow than mother nature.

Pepato Italy

Hard; stinging, with whole black peppers that make the lips burn. Fine for fire-eaters.

An American imitation is made in Northern Michigan.

Persille de Savoie Savoie, France

In season from May to January, flavored with parsley in a manner similar to that of sage in Vermont Cheddar.

Petafina, La Dauphine, France

Goat or cow milk mixed together, with yeast of dried cheese added, plus salt and pepper, olive oil, brandy and absinthe.

Petit Carre France

Fresh, unripened Ancien Imperial.

Petit Gruyere Denmark

Imitation Gruyere, pasteurized, processed and made almost unrecognizable and inedible. Six tin-foil wedges to a box; also packaged with a couple of crackers for bars, one wedge for fifteen cents, where free lunch is forbidden. This is a fair sample of one of several foreign imitations that are actually worse than we can do at home.

Petit Moule Ile-de-France, France

A pet name for Coulommiers.

Petit Suisse France

Fresh, unsalted cream cheese. The same as Neufchatel and similar to Coulommiers. It comes in two sizes: Gros—a largest cylinder Demi—a small one

Keats called this "the creamy curd," and another writer has praised its "La Fontaine-like simplicity." Whether made in Normandy, Switzerland, or Petropolis, Brazil, by early Swiss settlers, it is ideal with honey.

Petit Vacher France

"Little Cowboy," an appropriate name for a small cow's-milk cheese.

Petits Bourgognes Lower Burgundy, France

Soft; sheep; white, small, tangy. Other notable Petits also beginning with B are Banons and Bressans.

Petits Fromages de Chasteaux, les France

Small, sheep cream cheeses from Lower Limousin.

Petits Fromages de Chevre France

Little cheeses from little goats grazing on the little mountains of Provence.

Petits Pots de Caille de Poitiers Poitou, France

Clotted milk in small pots.

Pfister Cham, Switzerland

Emmentaler type, although differing in its method of making with fresh skim milk. It is named for Pfister Huber who was the first to manufacture it, in Chain.

Philadelphia Cream U.S.A.

An excellent cream cheese that has been standard for seventy years. Made in New York State in spite of its name.

Picnic U.S.A.

Handy-size picnic packing of mild American Cheddar. Swiss has long been called picnic cheese in America, its home away from home.

Picodon de Dieule Fit Dauphine, France

In season from May to December.

Pie, Fromage a la France

Another name for Fromage Blanc or Farm; soft, creamy cottage-cheese type.

Pie Cheese U.S.A

An apt American name for any round store cheese that can be cut in wedges like a pie. Perfect with apple or mince or any other pie. And by the way, in these days when natural cheese is getting harder to find, any piece of American Cheddar cut in pie wedges before being wrapped in cellophane is apt to be the real thing—if it has the rind on. The wedge shape is used, however, without any rind, to make processed pastes pass for "natural" even without that identifying word, and with misleading labels such as old, sharp Cheddar and "aged nine months." That's long enough to make a baby, but not a "natural" out of a processed "Cheddar."

Pimiento U.S.A.

Because pimiento is the blandest of peppers, it just suits our bland national taste, especially when mixed with Neufchatel, cream, club or cottage. The best is homemade, of course, with honest, snappy old Cheddar mashed and mixed to taste, with the mild Spanish pepper that equals the Spanish olive as a partner in such spreads.

Pimp see Mainzer Hand Cheese.

Pineapple see Chapter 4.

Piora Tessin, Switzerland

Whole milk, either cow's or a mixture of goat's and cow's.

Pippen U.S.A.

Borden brand of Cheddar. Also Pippen Roll

Pithiviers au Foin France

Orleans variety ripened on hay from October to May.

Poitiers France

Goat's milker named from its Poitou district.

Pommel France

All year. Double cream; unsalted.

Ponta Delgada Azores

Semifirm; delicate; piquant

Pontgibaud France

Similar to Roquefort Ripened at a very low temperature.

Pont l'Eveque

Characterized as a classic French fromage "with Huge-like Romanticism." (See Chapter 3.) An imported brand is called "The Inquisitive Cow."

Poona U.S.A.

Semisoft; mellow; New York Stater of distinctive flavor. Sold in two-pound packs, to be kept four or five hours at room temperature before serving.

Port-Salut, Port du Salut see Chapter 3.

Port, Blue Links U.S.A.

"Blue" flavored with red port and put up in pseudo-sausage links.

Pot cheese U.S.A.

Cottage cheese with a dry curd, not creamed. An old English favorite for fruited cheese cakes with perfumed plums, lemons, almonds and macaroons. In Ireland it was used in connection with the sheep-shearing ceremonies, although itself a common cow curd. Pennsylvania pot cheese is cooked.

Potato Germany and U.S.A.

Made in Thuringia from sour cow milk with sheep or goat sometimes added. "The potatoes are boiled and grated or mashed. One part of the potato is thoroughly mixed or kneaded with two or three parts of die curd. In the better cheese three parts of potatoes are mixed with two of curd. During the mixing, salt and sometimes caraway seed are added. The cheese is allowed to stand for from two to four days while a fermentation takes place. After this the curd is sometimes covered with beer or cream and is finally placed in tubs and allowed to ripen for fourteen days. A variety of this cheese is made in the U.S. It is probable, however, that it is not allowed to ripen for quite so long a period as the potato cheese of Europe. In all other essentials it appears to be the same." From U.S. Department of Agriculture Bulletin No. 608.

Potato Pepper Italy

Italian Potato cheese is enlivened with black pepper, like Pepato, only not so stony hard.

Pots de Creme St. Gervais St. Gervais-sur-mer, France

The celebrated cream that rivals English Devonshire and is eaten both as a sweet and as a fresh cheese.

Pouligny-St. Pierre Touraine, France

A celebrated cylindrical cheese made in Indre. Season from May to December.

Poustagnax, le France

A fresh cow-milk cheese of Gascony.

Prato Brazil

Semihard, very yellow imitation of the Argentine imitation of Holland Dutch. Standard Brazilian dessert with guava or quince paste. Named not from "dish" but the River Plate district of the Argentine from whence it was borrowed long ago.

Prattigau Switzerland

Aromatic and sharp, Limburger type, from skim milk. Named for its home valley.

Prestost or Saaland Flarr Sweden

Similar to Gouda, but unique—the curd being mixed with whiskey, packed in a basket, salted and cellared, wrapped in a cloth changed daily; and on the third day finally washed with whiskey.

Primavera, Spring Minas Geraes, Brazil

Semihard white brand of Minas cheese high quality, with a spring-like fragrance.

Primost Norway

Soft; whey; unripened; light brown; mild flavor.

Primula Norway

A blend of French Brie and Petit Gruyere, mild table cheese imitate in Norway, sold in small packages. Danish Appetitost is similar, but with caraway added.

Processed U.S.A.

From here around the world. Natural cheese melted and modified by emulsification with a harmless agent and thus changed into a plastic mass.

Promessi Italy

Small soft-cream cheese.

Provatura Italy

A water-buffalo variety. This type of milk makes a good beginning for a fine cheese, no matter how it is made.

Providence France

Port-Salut from the Trappist monastery at Briquebec.

Provole, Provolone, Provolocine, Provoloncinni, Provoletti, and Provolino Italy

All are types, shapes and sizes of Italy's most widely known and appreciated cheese. It is almost as widely but badly imitated in the U.S.A., where the final "e" and "i" are interchangeable.

Cured in string nets that stay on permanently to hang decoratively in the home kitchen or dining room. Like straw Chianti bottles, Provolones weigh from bocconi (mouthful), about one pound, to two to four pounds. There are three-to five-pound Provoletti, and upward with huge Salamis and Giants. Small ones come ball, pear, apple, and all sorts of decorative shapes, big ones become monumental sculptures that are works of art to compare with butter and soap modeling.

P'teux, le, or Fromage Cuit Lorraine, France

Cooked cheese worked with white wine instead of milk, and potted.

Puant Macere Flanders

"The most candidly named cheese in existence." In season from November to June.

Pultost or Knaost Norway

Sour milk with some buttermilk, farm made in mountains.

Pusztador Hungary

Semihard, Limburger-Romadur type. Full flavor, high scent.

Pyrenees, Fromage des France

A fine mountain variety.

Q

Quartiolo Italy

Term used to distinguish Parmesan-type cheese made between September and November.

Quacheq Macedonia, Greece

Sheep, eaten both fresh and ripened.

Quargel see Olmuetzer.

Quartirolo Italy

Soft, cow's milk.

Queijos—Cheeses of the Azores, Brazil and Portugal see under their local or regional names: Alemtejo, Azeitao, Cardiga, Ilha, Prato and Serra da Estrella.

Queso Anejo Mexico

White, dry, skim milk.

Queso de Bola Mexico

Whole milk, similar to Edam.

Queso de Cavallo Venezuela

Pear-shaped cheese.

Quesos Cheeses: Blanco, Cartera and Palma Metida see Venezuela.

Queso de Cincho Venezuela

Hard, round orange balls weighing four pounds and wrapped in palm leaves.

Queso de Crema Costa Rica

Similar to soft Brick.

Queso de Hoja, Leaf Cheese Puerto Rico

Named from its appearance when cut, like leaves piled on top of each other.

Queso de Mano Venezuela

Aromatic, sharp, in four-ounce packages.

Queso del Fais, Queso de la Tierra Puerto Rico

White; pressed; semisoft Consumed locally,

Queso de Prensa Puerto Rico

The name means pressed cheese. It is eaten either fresh or after ripening two or three months.

Queso de Puna Puerto Rico

Like U.S. cottage or Dutch cheese, eaten fresh.

Queso de Tapara Venezuela

Made in Carora, near Barqisimeto, called tapara from the shape and tough skin of that local gourd. "It is very good fresh, but by the time it arrives in Carora it is often bad and dry." D.K.K. in Bueno Provecho.

Queso Fresco El Salvador

Cottage-cheese type.

Queville see Chapter 3.

Queyras see Champoleon.

R

Rabacal Coimbra, Portugal

Semisoft; sheep or goat; thick, round, four to five inches in diameter. Pleasantly oily, if made from sheep milk.