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.
🇬🇷 Greece and 5 moreFetaφέτα
A crumbly Greek brined cheese made from sheep and goat milk.Sheep · Brined · Tangy and lactic
🇮🇪 IrelandSt Tola
Handmade goat's milk cheese from Inagh, County Clare, ranging from fresh logs to aged wheels.Goat · Fresh · Tangy and lactic
🇹🇷 TurkeyVan herbed cheeseVan otlu peyniri
A semi-hard sheep's-milk cheese from eastern Turkey, infused with wild herbs and brined.Sheep · Semi-soft · Salty
🇫🇷 France and 2 moreBlue cheese
A family of cheeses defined by blue-green mold veins created through deliberate inoculation and piercing.Cow · Semi-soft · Sharp and tangy-aged
🇧🇪 Belgium and 2 moreLimburger
A washed-rind cow's-milk cheese from Belgium known for its strong aroma and soft texture.Cow · Semi-soft · Salty
🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreHavartiflødehavarti
A semi-soft Danish cow's-milk cheese with a buttery taste and small irregular eyes.Cow · Semi-soft · Buttery and creamy
🇧🇬 Bulgaria and 5 moreSireneбяло саламурено сирене
A crumbly, brined white cheese from Bulgaria made with sheep or goat milk.Mixed · Brined · Salty
🇪🇸 SpainTorta del CasarTorta del Casal
A creamy sheep's milk cheese from Extremadura, coagulated with cardoon and aged for at least two months.Sheep · Semi-soft · Salty
🇵🇸 Palestine and 1 moreNabulsi cheeseجبنة نابلسية
A white brined semi-hard cheese from Nablus, flavored with mahleb and mastic.Sheep · Brined · Salty
🇧🇷 BrazilMinas cheesequeijo minas
A semi-soft cow's milk cheese from Brazil with fresh and aged varieties.Cow · Semi-soft · Salty
🇪🇸 SpainMahónformatge de Maó / queso de Mahón
A cow's-milk cheese from Menorca that ranges from soft and mild to hard and sharp.Cow · Semi-soft · Buttery and creamy
🇩🇪 Germany and 2 moreWeisslackerWeißlacker
A pungent German cow's-milk cheese aged seven months with a whitewashed rind.Cow · Semi-soft · Pungent and funky
🇫🇷 FranceAbbaye de Timadeuc CheeseFourmaj Abati Tinadeuc
A soft, salty cow's-milk cheese made by Trappist monks in Brittany.Cow · Semi-soft · Salty
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Havarti: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Minas cheese: The original uploader was Hellkt at German Wikipedia . ( Original text, Public domain, source
- Mahón: Slastic, Public domain, source
- Sirene: Иван, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Feta: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Nabulsi cheese: رائد عزمي حموده, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- St Tola: HighKing, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Van herbed cheese: Tanyel, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Torta del Casar: MollySVH, CC BY 2.0, source
- Blue cheese: No machine-readable author provided. Brookie assumed (based on copyrig, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Limburger: Jon Sullivan, Public domain, source
- Weisslacker: Langinger, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Abbaye de Timadeuc Cheese: Salsero35, CC BY-SA 3.0, source