A popular mild cheese, eaten as is for snacks, also in cooked foods, salads and sandwiches. Similar to Edam. (Mild, nutty, Yellow with wax coating, Firm)

A Dutch-style cheese also called Boere Kaas. Has a sharper, more complex flavor than most Goudas due to the use of raw milk and aging. Used for eating and cooking. (Sharp, Light yellow, Firm)

Generally describes any cheese aged sufficiently to become firm enough to grate, such as Dry Jack and Parmesan. Several Hispanic-style cheeses, such as Cotija Anejo and Enchilado, are dry, crumble easily and are used as a grating cheese in many Mexican dishes.

A category of California cheeses that includes the broadest range of varieties and styles, including many of the cheeses commonly called table cheese. These include cheeses that may seem fairly soft and creamy, such as Monterey Jack aged up to several weeks, to moderately firm cheeses, such as Gouda aged a month or more, to fairly hard cheeses such as sharp Cheddar that have been aged for many months. Cheeses in this category typically have a water content ranging from 35 to 45 percent.

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Also known as firm cheese. These have a dry, granular paste and are the hardest of all cheeses, solid and heavy. Hard cheeses typically are aged more than two years, during which the water and moisture evaporate to make the paste hard (to be classified as a hard cheese, the water content must be less than 40%).

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Mild cheese similar to Edam and Gouda. Used both for snacks and in cooked foods and salads. (Mild, slightly tangy, Pale yellow, Semi-firm)

The cheese drying room, where cheeses are laid out during their maturation period.

The California Milk Advisory Board

A broad family of cheeses produced in California that reflect the cheesemaking styles and traditions brought to California from Mexico, Central and South America, and Spain. California is the country's leading manufacturer of Hispanic-style cheeses, producing more than 25 varieties and styles. A characteristic of some types of Hispanic-style cheeses is that they soften but don't melt when used in cooking.

The openings in the body of Swiss-type cheeses such as Emmentaler and Gruyere. The holes are spherical, equally-spaced and about the size of cherry pits. They are caused by bacterial activity which generates prioponic acid, causing gas to expand within the curd and create the pockets, or holes.

Referring to the milk aroma, and sometimes flavor, of some cheeses.

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A colorless organic acid (C3H6O3) created by the fermentation of the milk sugar lactose by beneficial lactic acid bacteria in a starter culture used to turn milk into cheese. It gives cheese its acidity and helps preserve cheese.

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Bacteria which encourage the coagulation of milk by fermenting the lactose in the milk into lactic acid.

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An inability to easily digest lactose or milk sugar in cow's milk.

Many cheeses, particularly aged cheeses such as Cheddar and Swiss, contain little or no lactose, as well as sheep, goat, and buffalo milk cheeses. Cheese lovers who have difficulty digesting lactose should try these alternatives.

A sensitivity some people have to the lactose (milk sugar) in milk. However, most lactose-sensitive people can eat aged, hard cheeses because these cheeses lose all or most of the lactose during the cheesemaking process. Cheeses that are completely or nearly free of lactose include natural hard and semi-hard cheeses, such as Cheddar, Monterey Jack and Gouda, soft-ripened cheeses like Brie, and aged very hard cheeses including Parmesan and Dry Jack. People who are lactose-sensitive are advised to refrain from eating fresh cheeses such as Mozzarella (water-packed), Ricotta and Mascarpone due to their levels of lactose.

The California Milk Advisory Board

These cheeses are pressed and uncooked, as opposed to the pressed cheese group in which the curd is cooked, then pressed.

The California Milk Advisory Board