Top 100 Best High-End Cheeses and Online Suppliers
"Nothing says holidays, like a cheese log." - Ellen DeGeneres.
"What happens to the hole when the cheese is gone?" - Bertolt Brecht.
"Age is something that doesn't matter, unless you are a cheese." - Luis Buñuel.
"How can anyone govern a nation that has two hundred and forty-six different kinds of cheese?" - Charles de Gaulle.
CHEESE is a food derived from milk that is produced in a wide range of flavors, textures, and forms by coagulation of the milk protein casein. It comprises proteins and fat from milk, usually the milk of cows, buffalo, goats, or sheep. During production, the milk is usually acidified, and adding the enzyme rennet causes coagulation. The solids are separated and pressed into final form. Some cheeses have molds on the rind or throughout. Most cheeses melt at cooking temperature.
Hundreds of types of cheese from various countries are produced. Their styles, textures and flavors depend on the origin of the milk (including the animal's diet), whether they have been pasteurized, the butterfat content, the bacteria and mold, the processing, and aging. Herbs, spices, or wood smoke may be used as flavoring agents. The yellow to red color of many cheeses, such as Red Leicester, is produced by adding annatto. Other ingredients may be added to some cheeses, such as black peppers, garlic, chives or cranberries.
For a few cheeses, the milk is curdled by adding acids such as vinegar or lemon juice. Most cheeses are acidified to a lesser degree by bacteria, which turn milk sugars into lactic acid, then the addition of rennet completes the curdling. Vegetarian alternatives to rennet are available; most are produced by fermentation of the fungus Mucor miehei, but others have been extracted from various species of the Cynara thistle family.
Cheese is valued for its portability, long life, and high content of fat, protein, calcium, and phosphorus. Cheese is more compact and has a longer shelf life than milk, although how long a cheese will keep may depend on the type of cheese; labels on packets of cheese often claim that a cheese should be consumed within three to five days of opening. Generally speaking, hard cheeses last longer than soft cheeses, such as Brie or goat's milk cheese. Cheesemakers near a dairy region may benefit from fresher, lower-priced milk, and lower shipping costs. The long storage life of some cheese, especially if it is encased in a protective rind, allows selling when markets are favorable.
A specialist seller of cheese is sometimes known as a cheesemonger. Becoming an expert in this field requires some formal education and years of tasting and hands-on experience, much like becoming an expert in wine or cuisine. The cheesemonger is responsible for all aspects of the cheese inventory: selecting the cheese menu, purchasing, receiving, storage, and ripening.
Cheese News, Reviews & Resources
- 15 Health Benefits of Cheese, According to Science (+8 Delicious Recipes) - Jen Reviews.
- 15 of the World's Most Expensive Cheeses - Mental Floss.
- 20 best cheese recipes - "From Simon Hopkinson’s classic roquefort salad to Meera Sodha’s paneer butter masala, this versatile ingredient is given a starring role."
- 50 BEST CHEESE - TheFiftyBest.com.
- American cheese: Does it deserve its bad reputation? - "Everything you think you know about American cheese is wrong."
- American cheese is named best in the world - "For the first time ever, a US cheese is named best in the world."
- 'Blue-brain’ cheese: is this the mouldiest cheese in Britain? - The Guardian.
- British cheese now a 'status symbol' in the US & Japan - The Telegraph.
- Casu marzu: The world's 'most dangerous' cheese - CNN Travel.
- CHEESE - Wikipedia.
- CHEESE AT AMAZON.COM'S GROCERY & GOURMET FOOD
 - over 10,000 results as of March 21, 2018.
- CHEESE.COM - "World's Greatest Cheese Resource."
- Cheese Fondue Recipe - "Cheese fondue is a rich and decadent Swiss dish that is the perfect meal for a special occasion. Its savory and creamy flavor make it a satisfying meal."
- Cheese makes wine taste better, study shows - The Telegraph.
- CHEESE OF THE MONTH CLUB
- cheese, red wine & chocolate: Key to weight loss - Daily Mail.
- Cheese wheels, croquembouche towers & pork pie tiers - The Telegraph.
- Cheesed off: will stilton survive the pandemic? - "Sales are down by 30% since the coronavirus outbreak, and evidence shows it’s not just in the UK where cheeses are falling from favour."
- Crack and cheese: do pleasurable things really affect your brain like drugs? - The Guardian.
- Dean & DeLuca - gourmet cheese shop & online gourmet suppliers since 1977.
- Decoding cheese: What bacteria are right for delicious cheese? We went to a cheese cave to find out - "The delicious microbial truth of how cheese gets made."
- eating cheese could be the key to a longer life - Metro.
- Fine Food Specialist - since 2012. "Buy Fine Foods & Specialty Items." Here at Fine Food Specialist we are passionate about cheese and equally about where it is produced. With a wonderful selection ranging from blue cheese to pasteurised, to soft, hard and matured, our choice is mind-blowing. Our cheese category is vast, spanning British, French, Spanish and Italian cheeses; there is something to suit every palate. Most of our cheeses are available all year round but some of the traditional ones are seasonal like a rich and creamy Vacherin Mont d'Or, which is available from October until March. With such a staggering choice, there is undoubtedly a choice for every occasion.
- FORTNUM & MASON - Piccadilly since 1707. "Cheese is for many the food of the gods, its infinite varieties a source of infinite pleasure. We pride ourselves on tracking down the very best British cheeses, handmade by artisan cheesemakers all over the country. But we love our continental cousins too, and offer their finest cheese alongside our own."
- French Camembert producers cheesed off as Canadian rival scoops prize for world’s best - The Telegraph.
- From cheese-rolling to grime: The curious pastimes of the English - "In an old English tradition, believed by some to have pagan origins, the people of Brockworth, Gloucestershire, chase a wheel of cheese down a steep hill on the last Monday of every May. The cheese is taken home by whoever tumbles to the bottom first."
- Fromages.com - "The best of French cheese."
- Going to the Source for a Sacred Italian Cheese - The New York Times.
- Have you been storing your cheese all wrong? - The Telegraph.
- High-fat cheese: the secret to a healthy life? - The Telegraph.
- how vegan cheese finally caught up with modern appetites - "Like other facets of the mushrooming plant-based foods industry, sales of vegan cheese have skyrocketed in recent years."
- H. Moser & Cie creates million-dollar watch made of Swiss cheese - "The Swiss Mad Watch."
- IGOURMET.COM - "We have spent the past century assembling an unmatched selection of over 850 imported and domestic specialty cheeses from over 36 countries."
- International Cheese Awards - cheese show and competition held each year at Dorfold Park near Nantwich, England. It represents the most important cheese events in the UK and one of the most important events on the global level. Held since 1897, the show continues to grow year-on-year, and attracts over 3,700 competitive entries from around the world in 260 categories.
- LIST OF CHEESES - Wikipedia.
- Nigella Lawson: ‘I can be ecstatically happy with just bread & cheese’ - "In an exchange of emails for Observer Food Monthly’s 20th anniversary, the broadcaster and writer explains how Twitter helped her through lockdown and what she eats on a night off."
- On the Normandy Cheese Trail - The New York Times.
- Paxton & Whitfield - since 1791. "Britain's leading cheesemonger for over 200 years, sourcing and maturing exceptional cheeses." Cheese Knives & Cheese Knife Sets. 93 Jermyn Street, London, U.K.
- PETROSSIAN - "Exquisite Food and Gifts Since 1920." Cheese of the month selection.
- Rogue River Blue from the USA takes top prize at World Cheese Awards 2019 - "An organic blue cheese produced by US cheesemaker, Rogue Creamery was named World Champion Cheese 2019 in Bergamo, Italy on Friday 18 October. Rogue River Blue now becomes the World Cheese Awards’ first ever American champion, rising to the top among a record-breaking 3,804 entries from 42 different countries."
- That Stinky Cheese Is a Result of Evolutionary Overdrive - The New York Times.
- The end to a French cheese tradition? - BBC Travel.
- The Fifty Best Cheese - TheFiftyBest.com.
- This mountainous region produces some of Asia's best cheese - "Once the mist clears over the hilly mountaintops, green is all you can see in Dalat, a mountainous region in the Central Highlands of southern Vietnam. The country's top agricultural producer, it's a popular vacation destination for both Vietnamese and international tourists. But Dalat is also earning fame for a rather unexpected reason -- it's the source of some of the best cheeses produced in Asia, including creamy mozzarella, burrata and camembert."
- This picture of cheese helped send a man to prison for 13 years - "We can explain,"
- Vitamin K found in some cheeses could help fight Covid-19, study suggests - "Scientists in Netherlands explore possible link between deficiency and Covid-19 deaths."
- What’s the best way to store cheese? - "A plastic box with a lid will keep wrapped cheese for as long as you need to eat it - but there’s also a neat trick using sugar lumps"
- When Choosing Cheese, Low-Fat May Not Matter - The New York Times.
- Why Seventies cheese is back on the menu - The Telegraph.
- Why the ultimate breakfast of champions might just be wine & cheese - "The trend for pairing booze & breakfast seems unusual - and likely to get you sacked. But in certain settings, with certain foods, it starts to make sense."
- World Championship Cheese Contest - since 1957. "The largest technical cheese contest in the world. Held biennially."
- World Championship Cheese Contest 2018 - Results.
- World Cheese Awards - since 1988. "The Guild of Fine Food."
- world's best cheese comes from a dairy in Cornwall, but you can't eat it until 2019 - The Telegraph.
Top 100 Best Cheeses & Online Suppliers
Belgium
 - Chimay - "Since 1876, the Trappist monks of Scourmont have recovered the secrets for making this semi-soft cheese using the good milk of their farm, and ripened in the vaulted cellars of the Abbey. Today, the Chimay cheese is exclusively made from regional milk, and the Trappist monks have modernized their production operation."
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