Tasty reads

Practical Guide For choosing cheese

January 14, 2025

Just as no devotee of the nectar of Bacchus could ever respond to a waiter’s request with “you do it, one wine is as good as the other,” a true cheese aficionado must know what he is looking for and how to find it!

As we said, this is your moment, in front of you is a myriad of different cheeses, let’s see how to look for the one that’s right for you and recognize the differences between one and another.

Cheese is something as old as mankind, basically a very simple product that is made by putting together milk, salt and rennet.

Et voila, with three simple ingredients we have created this wonderful food, the cross and delight of gastronomy, the enemy of diets and the trusted companion of cold cuts and wine in the fight against quinoa and avocado apericenas.

In this article we explain in more detail how cheese is made, but now let’s look at how different variables in processing give very different results, starting with the basic ingredient.

Milk

First, we can divide cheeses according to the origin of the milk used: the main ones are cow, sheep or goat.

Milking
Milk is the real star of a good cheese.

Cow‘s milk is certainly the most common and also the one that lends itself to very different seasoning and processing, but it is also the richest in lactose, and therefore the least digestible.

Goat ‘s milk, on the other hand, is much more digestible and rich in protein and vitamins such as B12 and calcium. Beware, however, that it is also much fattier, so goat’s milk cheeses have a higher caloric intake.

Sheep‘s milk is the richest in protein and vitamins, but it is also the highest in fat. It makes very tasty cheeses suitable for aging.

It’s up to you to figure out how to recover from your diet those extra 300 calories you ate with that wonderful slice of pecorino cheese.

Raw or pasteurized milk

Another major difference between cheeses is how the milk is or is not treated during processing.

The term “raw milk” means that the milk does not undergo heat treatment, is processed at milking temperature and slightly heated to bring it to coagulation temperature.

In general, the most natural products follow this methodology, which preserves all the properties of milk.

Mind you, however, this does not mean that a cheese made from pasteurized milk is necessarily a shapeless, tasteless mass like the one we find in a fast food sandwich.

Pasteurization

Pasteurization is simply the process by which milk is heated to 72 degrees for 15 seconds. This sanitizes and stabilizes it for processing.

It is a compromise that in no way detracts from the naturalness of the product and still makes for great cheeses.

What about the paste?

Let’s move on to another aspect of classifying a cheese. You may have heard of hard cheese, cooked cheese, etc. What does this mean? Depending on the temperature at which the curd is processed we will have:

  • An uncooked cheese (within 42 degrees), such as Gorgonzola D.O.P.
  • semi-cooked paste (within 46 degrees), such as Monte Veronese whole milk D.O.P.
  • with cooked dough (above 46 degrees), such as Toma piemontese D.O.P.

On the other hand, if we evaluate the water content in the finished product, we can distinguish 3 types of pasta:

  • Soft dough with a water content of more than 45 percent, such as Murazzano D.O.P.
  • Semi-hard dough if between 35 and 45 percent, such as Bra tenero D.O.P.
  • Hard dough with less than 35% water, such as Caso di Elva P.A.T.

Seasoning

Another major distinction among cheeses is how long they are aged.

Castelmagno cheese
Castelmagno is an aged cheese from Piedmont.

It is a factor that greatly affects taste and organoleptic properties, for simplicity’s sake we can say that more aged cheeses are tastier, and also have a lower amount of lactose.

  • Fresh cheese: ripening occurs between 1 and 15 days after processing, as Robiola di Roccaverano D.O.P.
  • Short-aged cheese: between 15 and 60 days, such as Raschera D.O.P.
  • Medium-aged cheese: between 60 and 180 days, such as Testun D.O.P.
  • Long-ripened cheese: over 180 days as can be Bra duro D.O.P.

Fats? What fats?

We can safely skip the classification according to the amount of fat-it is better for everyone.

These are numbers you may not want to know before attending an event like Cheese, suffice it to say that there is no such thing as low-fat cheese. Simply some are lower in fat than others.

The cheesemaker’s tools

When buying a product in the cheese shop, especially when it is a local product, it is very important to understand its nature so as not to spoil the product: but how to do it?

Experts use three main tools to analyze cheese without opening the wheel, taking only small amounts or even using noninvasive methods.

Cheese Shape

Through tapping, the cheesemaker with an instrument called “pin“-a steel screw needle-penetrates the cheese to analyze the aroma it releases.

This process makes it possible to assess the degree of ripeness and identify any defects in the cheese.

With the “core cutter“, a steel tool that, as it rotates, takes a cylindrical sample from the cheese wheel, it is analyzed visually and tactilely to check the appearance of the cheese paste and elasticity or to detect additional aromas.

Finally, by beating (especially for hard cheeses such as Grana) carried out using a hammer, defects in the internal structure, such as holes or tears, are identified and the texture of the cheese is assessed.

Conservation tips

Once purchased, it is essential to store it properly to preserve its flavor and quality.

Here are some tips below:

  • Wrap the cheese in food grade paper or airtight containers
  • Store fresh cheeses in the refrigerator, but leave aged cheeses at room temperature before serving
  • Avoid freezing, which could alternate the taste and texture.

Your turn

Now that you’ve read this mini-guide to recognizing cheeses, all you have to do is begin the search for your favorite, the grail of cheeses, the one that will make you say: it’s him!

When you taste the cheese, chew it slowly.

Of course, to find it you will have to taste some, perhaps many, probably too many.

In this article we give you some tips on tasting.

It is a simple and ancient food, but as we know behind simplicity lies much complexity.