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
🇮🇹 Italy and 2 moreGorgonzola
A creamy Italian blue cheese from Lombardy with two distinct styles.Cow · Bloomy rind · Salty
🇪🇬 EgyptMishمش (meš)
A fermented Egyptian salty cheese aged in buttermilk brine until sharp and pungent.Mixed · Bloomy rind · Salty
🇫🇷 FranceFrench NeufchâtelNeufchâtel
A soft, grainy Normandy cow's-milk cheese with a bloomy rind, aged for two months.Cow · Bloomy rind · Salty
🇫🇷 FranceChaource
A soft-ripened cow's-milk cheese from north-eastern France with a white mould rind.Cow · Bloomy rind · Salty
🇫🇷 FrancePouligny-Saint-Pierre
A pyramidal goat cheese from central France with a mouldy rind and crumbly white paste.Goat · Bloomy rind · Salty
🇪🇸 SpainTetillaQueixo Tetilla
A soft, conical cow's-milk cheese from Galicia with a distinctive nipple-like peak.Cow · Bloomy rind · Buttery and creamy
🇫🇷 FrancePicodon
A small, spicy goat cheese from southern France with a rind that turns golden as it ages.Goat · Bloomy rind · Tangy and lactic
🇫🇷 FranceSelles-sur-Cher
A small cylindrical goat cheese with a grey-blue mould rind from Centre-Val de Loire.Goat · Bloomy rind · Salty
🇩🇪 GermanyMilbenkäse
A German quark cheese ripened with living cheese mites in rye flour.Cow · Bloomy rind · Sharp and tangy-aged
🇫🇷 FranceSaint AgurSant Agur
A soft, double-cream French blue cheese with olive-green veins and a mild spicy taste.Cow · Bloomy rind · Tangy and lactic
🇪🇬 Egypt and 1 moreDomiatiجبنه دمياطى
A soft, salty Egyptian white cheese salted before coagulation.Buffalo · Bloomy rind · Salty
🇬🇷 Greece and 1 moreKopanistiΚοπανιστή
A soft, spicy Greek cheese from the Cyclades, made by kneading ripening curds.Mixed · Bloomy rind · Salty
🇳🇴 NorwayPultost
A soft Norwegian sour milk cheese flavored with caraway seeds and preserved with salt.Cow · Bloomy rind · Tangy and lactic
🇫🇷 FranceVieux-Boulogne
A soft, beer-washed cow's milk cheese from northern France known for its intense aroma.Cow · Bloomy rind · Salty
🇺🇦 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
🇫🇷 FranceCazelle de Saint AffriqueCazelle de Sant Afric
A soft, pungent sheep's milk cheese from the Aveyron department of France.Sheep · Bloomy rind · Nutty
🇨🇦 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
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- French Neufchâtel: Coyau, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Tetilla: Tamorlan, CC BY 3.0, source
- Saint Agur: Micah Anderson, Public domain, source
- Pouligny-Saint-Pierre: Coyau, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Feta: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Kopanisti: C messier, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Pultost: Jan-Tore Egge, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Domiati: MartinKassemJ120, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Mish: Reem Al-Kashif, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Milbenkäse: Benutzer:Dundak at de.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Picodon: Thesupermat, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Chaource: Coyau, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Selles-sur-Cher: Myrabella, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Gorgonzola: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Hutsul sheep bryndzya: Ukrinform TV, CC BY 3.0, source