Salty
Brined and salted: feta, halloumi, Pecorino Romano, cotija and akkawi.
Salt is in almost every cheese: it draws out whey, controls bacteria and seasons the paste. In some cheeses it is the leading note. Brined cheeses such as feta, halloumi, akkawi and nabulsi, hard grating cheeses such as Pecorino Romano, crumbly Mexican cotija and Bengal's small Bandel cheese are made to be salty, and they season the dishes they go into.
How salt gets in
Cheesemakers salt in three main ways. Dry salting rubs salt onto the rind or mixes it into milled curd, as with cheddar. Brine salting floats wheels in salt water for hours or days, as with Gouda and Parmigiano Reggiano. Brine storage keeps cheeses such as feta in salt water for their whole life, so they end up saltier still. Salt also slows ripening and firms the paste, which is part of why salty cheeses keep well in hot climates.
The salty classics
Pecorino Romano is among the saltiest of Italian cheeses, and in Roman kitchens it seasons cacio e pepe and amatriciana with little extra salt. Cotija, named after a town in the Mexican state of Michoacán, is crumbled over beans, elotes and tacos. Halloumi, akkawi and nabulsi are soaked to draw out salt before they are fried or used in sweets. Egypt's domiati is salted in the milk itself, before it is set, and Bandel cheese is small, dry and distinctly salty.
Using salty cheese
Taste before you season a dish with a salty cheese in it. Soak brined cheese in cool water or milk for an hour to soften the salt, changing the water once if needed. Salty cheeses pair well with sweet and juicy foods: watermelon with feta or halloumi in Greece and Cyprus, figs and honey, ripe tomatoes, and fresh grapes. They suit crisp white wines, lagers and, in the Levant and Turkey, a glass of strong black tea.
Worth knowing
- Feta: Brined Greek cheese
- Halloumi: Salty grilling cheese of Cyprus
- Pecorino Romano: Salty sheep's milk grating cheese
- Cotija: Crumbly salty cheese of Michoacán
- Akkawi: Levantine brined cheese
- Nabulsi cheese: Brined, spiced cheese of Nablus
- Domiati: Egyptian cheese salted in the milk
- Bandel cheese: Small salty cheese of Bengal
Sources and further reading
Original text by the EveryCheese desk, written with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. Customs are described as tradition, not as advice. If we have something wrong, tell us.
Salty on EveryCheese
The cheeses written up so far, best known first.
🇲🇹 MaltaĠbejna
A small Maltese sheep's-milk cheese shaped in reed hurdles and sold fresh, dried, or peppered.Sheep · Fresh · Milky and fresh
🇬🇪 GeorgiaGuda cheeseგუდის ყველი
A salted sheep's-milk cheese ripened inside a leather wineskin in the Georgian mountains.Sheep · Semi-hard · Salty
🇫🇷 FranceRoquefortRòcafòrt
A raw sheep's milk blue cheese aged in the Combalou caves of southern France.Sheep · Semi-hard · Tangy and lactic
🇧🇬 Bulgaria and 5 moreKashkavalkaşkaval
A semi-hard yellow cheese from cow, sheep, or goat milk, popular across the Balkans and Turkey.Cow · Semi-hard · Milky and fresh
🇸🇰 Slovakia and 1 moreKorbáčikkorbáčik (Slovak), korbacz (Polish)
A braided string cheese from the Orava region of Slovakia and Poland.Cow · Stretched curd · Salty
🇫🇷 FranceTomme des PyrénéesToma de Pirenèus
A rustic pressed cheese from the French Pyrenees, made from cow, sheep or goat milk.Cow · Semi-hard · Salty
🇵🇱 PolandRedykołka
A smoked, salted sheep's milk cheese from Poland's Podhale region, shaped like animals or hearts.Sheep · Semi-hard · Salty
🇮🇱 IsraelTzfat Cheeseגבינה צפתית
A semi-hard salty cheese from Safed, originally made with sheep's milk and molded in baskets.Sheep · Semi-hard · Salty
🇳🇱 NetherlandsBoerenkaas
A Dutch semi-hard raw milk cheese with TSG protection, often spiced and farm-made.Cow · Semi-hard · Salty
🇪🇸 SpainMallorcaformatge mallorquí
A semi-hard cow, goat or sheep milk cheese from the Balearic Islands with an olive-oiled rind.Cow · Semi-hard · Milky and fresh
🇪🇬 EgyptEgyptian cheeseجبنة (gebna)
A broad category of cheeses central to Egyptian cuisine, ranging from fresh white types to aged blue varieties.Cow · Fresh · Salty
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Guda cheese: Jonathan Cardy, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Friesian Clove: Takeaway, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Redykołka: MOs810, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Tomme des Pyrénées: Julie333411, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Korbáčik: Mariuszjbie, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Ġbejna: Chattacha, CC BY 3.0, source
- Roquefort: Thesupermat, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Kashkaval: Nnikolce, Public domain, source
- Tzfat Cheese: Myself, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Mallorca: Tamorlan, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Egyptian cheese: Tour d'Afrique, CC BY 2.0, source