Wonderful wheels! Photo courtesy of Jasper Hill Farm in Greensboro, Vermont.
May 2005
Updated March 2009
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Cheese Glossary
Types Of Cheese, Terms & Definitions Every Cheese Lover Should Know
Page 1: Overview & Terms Beginning With A
Overview
Demystify the terms tossed out by cheesemongers and master the language of cheese. A read through our cheese terms and definitions, below, will give you new confidence the next time you approach a cheese counter. And you’ll discover new types of cheeses! If you’d like to suggest additional cheese definitions, click on the link. When you’re finished with cheese, you can look at our other food glossaries.
This is Page 1 of a 12-page glossary. You can go immediately to the glossary. But before you start, we’d like to point out why some cheeses are spelled with a capital letter and others aren’t. It can appear to be capricious (or an error), but it isn’t.
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When a cheese is named after a geographical place that is capitalized, e.g. the valley of Aosta and the towns of Cabrales and Roquefort, we capitalize the cheese.
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Parmigiano means “of or from Parma,” and Reggiano means “of or from Reggio,” two cities in north central Italy; Parmigiano-Reggiano, a domaine-protected cheese that can only be made in these cities, is capitalized. We also capitalize Parmesan, an Americanization of the word Parmigiano (although “Parmesan” cheese does not indicate a D.O.C.-protected Parmigiano-Reggiano, and can be made anywhere in the world).
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If the cheese name comprises nouns or adjectives that are normally not capitalized, e.g. fromage blanc (white cheese), formaggio al tartufo (truffle cheese), chèvre (goat), ricotta (“recooked”) or cream cheese, we don’t capitalize it.
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We try to observe the accent marks appropriate to the language, but even here there are challenges. For example, most American chevre producers don’t observe the accent mark on the French word, chèvre. When we are writing about chèvre in general, we will observe the accent; when we are writing about Cypress Grove Chevre, we will spell the word as they spell it, without the accent. And of course, proprietary-name cheeses like Cypress Grove’s Humboldt Fog are capitalized.
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a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z
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ACID or ACIDIC
A term used to describe a cheese with a lightly sourish flavor.
AFFINAGE and AFFINEUR
The aging of cheese to its optimum maturity. Affinage is an expertise separate from cheesemaking. It is an analogous division of labor to the agriculturalist who grows the grapes and the winemaker who creates the wine. The affineur manages the cave* in which the cheeses are aged. Fine restaurants noted for their cheeses and which offer many different cheeses, like Picholine and Artisanal in New York City, have a full-time affineur to ensure the cheeses offered to diners are at peak development (“a point”) for their enjoyment.
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Daphne Zepos, Director of Affinage at Artisanal Cheese in New York City, where she tends to the aging and care of more than 300 cheeses. |
*In the industry the French pronunciation, cahve, is used. While some farmstead cheeses in Europe are aged in the same rock caves used 1,000 years ago to acquire the bacteria and other environmental elements that provide their distinctive qualities, today’s aging caves are state-of-the-art units that allow for different temperature zones and other settings that accommodate the needs of different types of cheese.
AMMONIATED
Certain cheeses past their prime and overripe, particularly soft cheeses such as Brie and Camembert, can smell and often taste of ammonia. They are still safe to eat.
ANNATTO or ACHIOTE
A natural food coloring derived from the ground seed pods (achiote) of the annatto tree, native to Central and South America. Cheese is naturally the color of the milk from which it is made. Some traditional cheeses once had a natural orange hue caused by the vitamin D that cows ingested from grazing on green plants. But commercial cheeses are made from milk from cows that aren’t permitted to graze. Even with fine cheese, winter milk comes from cows that are fed silage (forage plants that are stored in a silo); the cheeses that result from this milk are white. This variation persuaded some cheesemakers to color their cheeses so they would look uniformly nutritious. The earliest colorings were carrot juice and marigold petals. For the last century at least, cheesemakers who wish to use color have used annatto instead. |
Annatto seeds, also called
achiote. Available at
FrontierHerb.com.
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AOC (APPELLATION d’ORIGINE CONTRÔLÉE)
Controlled designation of origin, the AOC mark guarantees, among other things, that the cheese originates from a specific region of France and has been produced in a traditional way. There are 35 types of cheese carrying the AOC mark, which guarantees that: (1) The cheese was produced within a specific geographical area, from milk from specific herds of animals in the same area and partly matured there. (2) The cheese was made using strictly defined methods that have been handed-down over several centuries. (3)
The characteristics of the cheese that have been precisely defined—its size, type of rind, texture and minimum fat content—are adhered to strictly.
(4)
The producers submit themselves to review by a public control commission, which guarantees the authenticity and quality of the products. See also D.O. and D.O.P. |
Selles-sur-Cher was the first chèvre to be designated AOC, in 1975. Photo courtesy of Fromagerie-Jacquin.com. |
A POINT
Pronounced ah-PWAN in French, the term refers to a cheese which is at the peak (the “point”) of its development, at the perfect stage to be consumed. In English, say “at peak” instead of “at point.”
AROMA
A cheese’s scent, which can vary from faint and milky (fresh cheeses), to lightly aromatic, to pungent and overpowering. While most strong-smelling cheeses will also be strong-tasting, this is not a hard and fast rule: Limburger, Brick and Liederkranz have distinctive aromas, but are not overly strong-tasting cheeses unless well-aged.
ARTISAN CHEESE
Artisan cheese refers to cheese that is produced in small batches, with particular attention paid to the traditional cheesemaker’s art. As little mechanization as possible is used in the production of the cheese. Artisan cheeses may be made from any type of milk; flavorings and inclusions (nuts, fruits, herbs, flowers, etc.) may be added. See also farmstead cheese for the difference between artisan cheese and farmstead cheese.
ASH-COVERED
After they are molded into shape, some goat cheeses are dusted with a fine powder of charcoal ash, traditionally from oak but today often vegetable ash. These are known as ash-covered goat cheeses (or chèvres). Originally, the ash was used to protect the delicate cheeses during transport. While some people think it is now decorative in these days of modern transportation and refrigeration, the ash actually makes the cheese ripen more quickly. With the Valençay goat cheese at the right, the ash-covered variety is a bit creamier than the plain cheese of the exact same age; in general, the cheese gets creamier with age.
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Valençay, named after a town in France’s Loire Valley where it is made, is shaped like a pyramid with the top cut off (in fact, it is sometimes called Pyramide). This classic French chèvre is available plain or coated with wood ash. You can buy it from iGourmet. |
Continue To Page 2: Terms Beginning With B
Go To The Article Index Above
Thanks to iGourmet, Murray’s Cheese Shop and others who contributed their expertise to this glossary.
© Copyright 2005-2009 Lifestyle Direct, Inc. All rights reserved. Some material copyright Murray’s Cheese. Images are the copyright of their respective owners.
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