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EveryCheese

Cheeses of Kalimpong

A hill town above the Teesta where a Jesuit priest started a small dairy, and where the soft, tangy Kalimpong cheese is still made.

Kalimpong

Made, aged and sold here

Kalimpong cheeseChhurpi

Best time: October to December, after the rains, for clear views.

Kalimpong sits on a ridge above the Teesta valley, on the old trade road between Bengal and Tibet. Wool, yak tails and salt once came through its market. Its cheese came later, when a Jesuit parish priest, Father André Butty, started making a European-style cheese with milk from local farms. The town still makes it in small amounts, alongside the chhurpi of the hills.

View of Kalimpong, India
Photo: Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The cheese

Kalimpong cheese is a cow's milk cheese made in small wheels. Young, it is white, slightly acidic and a little crumbly in the middle, with a thin yellowish rind, and it has been compared to a farmhouse Caerphilly. Left to age, it grows stronger and its rind darkens. Production is small and it travels mostly to Kolkata, where it has kept a loyal following.

Hills, dairies and markets

Small dairy farms in the hills around Kalimpong supply milk for both the European-style cheese and the local chhurpi, the soft and hard cheeses of the Nepali-speaking hills. The town's haat, its periodic market, brings in farmers with vegetables, chhurpi, dried fish and spices. Mission schools, nurseries and old bungalows give the town a quieter feel than nearby Darjeeling.

A trail idea for Kalimpong

  1. Haat bazaar The town market, where chhurpi and hill produce are sold.
  2. Dr Graham's Homes The hillside campus founded in 1900, a landmark of the town.
  3. Deolo Hill A viewpoint over the Teesta valley and, on clear days, the snows.
  4. Cheese shops in town Ask for Kalimpong cheese where it is sold by the piece.
About this page

Written by the EveryCheese desk with AI assistance. Background: "Kalimpong" on Wikipedia. Opening hours, markets, caves and tours change; check locally before travelling. If something is wrong, tell us.

StyleFreshBrinedStretched curdBloomy rindLacticWashed rindSemi-softSemi-hardAlpineHardBlueSmokedWheyDriedProcessed
MilkCowGoatSheepBuffaloYakCamelMixedOther
FlavourMilky and freshButtery and creamyNuttySweet and caramelTangy and lacticSaltySharp and tangy-agedSavoury and brothyEarthy and cellarMushroomyPungent and funkySmokyHerbal and grassyPiquant and spicy
🇮🇳 IndiaKalimpong cheese A mild, crumbly cow's-milk cheese from a West Bengal hill station, started by a Jesuit priest.Cow · Semi-hard · Tangy and lactic

Photo credits on this page

The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

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