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.
🇬🇧 United KingdomStichelton
A raw-milk blue cheese made in Nottinghamshire using traditional unpasteurised methods.Cow · Blue · Buttery and creamy
🇮🇳 IndiaBandel cheese
A small, smoked cow's-milk cheese from West Bengal with a crumbly texture and tangy taste.Cow · Fresh · Salty
🇱🇧 Lebanon and 4 moreBaladi cheeseجبنة بلدي
A soft, white Middle Eastern cheese made from mixed milks and sold in brine.Mixed · Fresh · Salty
🇩🇪 GermanyNieheimer Käse
A sour milk cheese from North Rhine-Westphalia ripened in hops and flavored with caraway.Cow · Hard · Tangy and lactic
🇨🇳 ChinaRubing乳饼
A firm, acid-set fresh goat cheese from Yunnan that holds its shape when cooked.Goat · Fresh · Salty
🇽🇰 Kosovo and 2 moreSharr cheeseDjathë i Sharrit / Шарски сир
A hard, salty cow and sheep milk cheese from the Šar Mountains of Kosovo.Cow · Hard · Salty
🇫🇮 Finland and 1 moreAura
A Finnish cow's-milk blue cheese aged for six or twelve weeks.Cow · Blue · Salty
🇬🇧 United KingdomCrowdiegruth
A soft, fresh Scottish cow's-milk cheese set by lactic acid without rennet.Cow · Fresh · Tangy and lactic
🇪🇸 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
🇵🇱 PolandRokpol
A pungent, salty Polish blue cheese made from cow's milk.Cow · Blue · Pungent and funky
🇺🇦 UkraineHutsul sheep bryndzyaгуцульська овеча бриндзя
A soft, crumbly sheep's-milk cheese from the Ukrainian Carpathians, ripened and salted by hand.Sheep · Bloomy rind · Salty
🇳🇱 NetherlandsParrano
A semi-firm Dutch cow's milk cheese aged five months with a nutty, salty-sweet profile.Cow · Semi-hard · Nutty
🇳🇱 Netherlands and 1 moreMaaslander
A mild Dutch cow's milk Gouda with reduced salt and distinctive striped rinds.Cow · Semi-hard · Salty
🇳🇴 NorwayKraftkar
A Norwegian blue cheese made from cow's milk and cream in Nordmøre.Cow · Blue · Salty
🇧🇬 BulgariaCherni VitЧерни Вит
A soft sheep's milk cheese from Bulgaria with a naturally green mold crust.Sheep · Salty
🇪🇸 SpainMurcian wine cheesequeso de Murcia al vino
A fatty goat cheese from Spain with a red-wine-stained rind and Protected Designation of Origin status.Goat · Semi-hard · Salty
🇧🇷 BrazilQueijo prato
A mild, semi-hard Brazilian cow's milk cheese with a yellow paste and low salt content.Cow · Semi-hard · Salty
🇮🇹 ItalyCaprino
An Italian goat's-milk cheese made in fresh or aged styles across several regions.Goat · Fresh · Tangy and lactic
🇮🇩 IndonesiaDangke
A fresh cottage cheese from South Sulawesi made with buffalo or cow milk and papaya leaves.Buffalo · Fresh · Tangy and lactic
🇮🇹 ItalyCanestrato
A hard Italian cheese from sheep and goat milk, aged in traditional baskets.Mixed · Hard · Salty
🇫🇷 FranceAbbaye de Timadeuc CheeseFourmaj Abati Tinadeuc
A soft, salty cow's-milk cheese made by Trappist monks in Brittany.Cow · Semi-soft · Salty
🇹🇷 Turkey and 1 moreCokelekçökelek
A fresh acid-set cheese from Turkey and Azerbaijan made from fermented buttermilk or yogurt.Mixed · Fresh · Tangy and lactic
🇨🇦 CanadaFriulano
A rindless Canadian cow's-milk cheese with a salty hazelnut flavour, aged to improve its character.Cow · Semi-hard · Salty
🇨🇦 CanadaDragon's Breath Blue
A soft, wax-coated blue cheese from Nova Scotia with a pungent aroma and briny liquid.Cow · Bloomy rind · Pungent and funky
🇮🇹 ItalyProvatura
A fresh pasta filata cheese from Lazio, shaped like an egg and made from cow or buffalo milk.Cow · Fresh · Milky and fresh
🇨🇿 Czech Republic and 1 moreGran Moravia
A hard, long-aged cow's-milk grana-style cheese from the Czech Republic.Cow · Hard · Nutty
🇨🇷 Costa Rica and 1 morePalmitoQueso palmito
A Costa Rican stretched-curd cheese shaped like a knotted ball of string cheese.Cow · Fresh · Salty
🇫🇷 FranceCazelle de Saint AffriqueCazelle de Sant Afric
A soft, pungent sheep's milk cheese from the Aveyron department of France.Sheep · Bloomy rind · Nutty
🇬🇧 United KingdomSuffolk Bang
A hard, heavily salted skimmed-milk cheese from Suffolk, England.Cow · Hard · Salty
🇪🇬 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.
- Provola: Enzian44, CC BY 3.0, source
- Sharr cheese: ThinkTank123, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Rokpol: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Murcian wine cheese: Shalbat, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Caprino: Number55, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Bandel cheese: Rangan Datta Wiki, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Baladi cheese: Jon Lebensold, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Rubing: Pratyeka, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Nieheimer Käse: Tsungam, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Stichelton: Jeremy Keith, CC BY 2.0, source
- Aura: Suvi Korhonen, CC BY 2.0, source
- Mallorca: Tamorlan, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Kraftkar: Bernt Rostad, CC BY 2.0, source
- Hutsul sheep bryndzya: Ukrinform TV, CC BY 3.0, source
- Friulano: VerifiedCactus, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Dangke: RianHS, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Cokelek: E4024, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Abbaye de Timadeuc Cheese: Salsero35, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Egyptian cheese: Tour d'Afrique, CC BY 2.0, source
- Palmito: LittleT889, CC BY-SA 4.0, source