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| Soft & Soft-Ripened Cheeses | A category of California cheeses that are typically soft, with a high moisture content (50 to 75 percent water), but have been allowed to mature to various degrees. Soft-ripened cheeses, such as Brie and Camembert, ripen inside of a fluffy white rind caused by adding bacteria, yeast or mold to the surface of the rind. Mild when young, these usually develop a fuller flavor with age and become softer and creamier. Soft cheeses are similar to soft-ripened but do not have the fluffy white mold rind. Teleme is a popular soft cheese created in California. Some soft cheeses are not ripened, such as Cottage cheese, Ricotta, Quark and Mascarpone. The California Milk Advisory Board
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| Soft-Ripened Cheese Or Semi-Soft Cheese | Cheeses in this category span a wide variety, all made with whole milk, and melt well when cooked. They include Blue Cheeses, Brick, Fontina, Havarti, Monterey Jack and Muenster. Bloomy-rind examples include Brie, Camembert.. Soft-ripened cheeses are uncooked, unpressed cheese, which, as a result, are creamy or even runny when fully ripe. They ripen from the outside in, and have been allowed to mature to various degrees. Some soft-ripened cheeses ripen (or age) inside of a fluffy white rind and become softer and creamier as they age. The rind is edible and is produced by spraying the surface of the cheese with Penicillium candidum. Other soft cheeses may have a reddish washed rind or no rind. All cheeses in this category have a high moisture content. Mild when young, they usually develop a fuller, more mature flavor as they age. The California Milk Advisory Board
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| Specialty Cheese | A Specialty Cheese is a natural cheese that commands a higher price than a commodity cheese because of its high quality, limited production and value-added production techniques or ingredients. Specialty cheeses can be unique varieties of cheese (i.e. Camembert, St. George, Teleme) or specialized versions of popular cheeses such as Cheddar, Jack or Mozzarella (i.e. raw milk Cheddar, Dry Jack, high-moisture Mozzarella). This category also includes artisan and farmstead cheeses. Specialty cheeses are typically sold as branded products in specialty food stores and in supermarket gourmet cases. The California Milk Advisory Board
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| Spiced & Flavored Cheeses | A category of California cheeses that includes natural cheeses to which the cheesemaker has added natural spices, herbs or vegetables during the cheesemaking process. A number of popular California cheeses are produced in spiced and flavored forms. Popular flavors include jalapeno, garlic, herb, pesto and black pepper. California produces more than 80 types of spiced and flavored cheeses. The California Milk Advisory Board
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| St. George | Portuguese-style table cheese with a rich, medium, sharp flavor. (Medium sharp, Light yellow, Firm)
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| Starter Culture | Also called a "friendly" culture, starter cultures are added to milk at the start of the cheesemaking process. The cultures change the lactose or milk sugar, the carbohydrate in milk, into lactic acid. This equalizes the pH so the milk protein will form curds when the rennet is added. The cultures used by the cheesemaker are a closely guarded secret as they contribute to the distinct qualities of each cheese. The California Milk Advisory Board
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| Stracchino | Stracchino is a type of Italian cow's-milk cheese, about 50% milkfat, found in the Italian region of Lombardy. The name derives from the Italian word stracca, which means "tired". The belief is that the milk from tired cows is richer in fats and more acidic; according to legend, these qualities were discovered in the milk of "tired" cows that were moved up and down the Alps to different pastures. Gorgonzola is in the stracchino family, but aged.
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| String | A popular snack, especially with children who enjoy the chewy, stringy texture. Also used in cooked foods. (Mild, White, Semi-firm, chewy)
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| Strong | A cheese with a penetrating aroma and flavor. The California Milk Advisory Board
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| Supple | A descriptive term describing a cheese's texture, e.g., firm but not hard; pliable and resilient. Fontina is an example.
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| Surface Ripened | A cheese that ripens from the exterior when a special bacteria, mold or yeast is applied to the surface. Bloomy-rind cheeses, like Brie and Camembert, and washed-rind cheeses, such as Pont L'Eveque and Taleggio, are surface-ripened. The California Milk Advisory Board
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| Surface Ripened Rinds | Surface Ripened Rinds fall into two categories. Washed Rind: created by washing the surface of the rind with whey, brine or a beverage such as beer to encourage moisture-loving bacteria, yeasts and molds to colonize on the surface. 'White' or "Bloomy Rind"; created by adding white mold strains to the curd or wiping the surface.
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| Swiss Cheese | Swiss cheese is the generic name used in the United States for several related varieties of cheese, originally made in Switzerland. Emmentaler is the cheese Americans think of as the generic Swiss cheese. While Americans believe that Swiss cheese has holes, properly known as eyes, not all kinds of Swiss cheese do.There are 450 known Swiss cheeses, classified into five categories: extra-hard, hard, semi-hard, semi-soft and soft. Cow's milk is used in 99% of the cheeses produced.
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| Syrian (Armenian String) | A Syrian-style string cheese, similar to regular string cheese. Also for snacks and in cooked foods. (Mild, White, Firm)
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| Table Cheese | As opposed to a cooking cheese, which gets incorporated into recipes (mozzarella and ricotta, for example), a table cheese is cheese meant to be eaten at the table as part of a cheese plate, on a sandwich or a burger, etc.
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