Savoury and brothy
Deep, meaty umami: Parmigiano Reggiano, Grana, aged Gouda and Comte.
Savoury cheeses taste deep, brothy and meaty, the flavour the Japanese call umami. It comes mainly from glutamate, freed as proteins break down during long ripening, and it is strongest in Parmigiano Reggiano and Grana Padano, aged Comté and Gouda, and old cheddars. A spoonful of grated Parmigiano does for a dish what stock does: it rounds and deepens everything around it.
Glutamate and age
Milk proteins hold glutamic acid bound up in long chains. As a cheese ages, enzymes cut the chains and release free glutamate, which tastes of umami. Parmigiano Reggiano has one of the highest levels of free glutamate of any common food, and the level rises with age. Peptides and other amino acids add brothy, meaty notes, and some amino acids collect as the white crystals in old wheels. Salt, which brings out umami, plays its part too.
Cooking with savoury cheese
Savoury cheeses are seasoning cheeses. Parmigiano and Grana finish risotto, pasta and soup, and their rinds simmer in stock. Comté and Gruyère deepen onion soup and gratins. A vegetarian kitchen can lean on these cheeses for the depth that meat stock gives elsewhere, but cooks who avoid animal rennet should check how a cheese is made: Parmigiano Reggiano and Grana Padano are always made with calf rennet, while many similar hard cheeses use microbial rennet.
Beyond the grana
Savoury depth turns up in many places: in aged Mahón from Menorca, old Gouda, Switzerland's Sbrinz, the long-aged Bitto of the Valtellina, and the aged sheep's milk cheeses of the Pyrenees, such as Ossau-Iraty. Well-aged washed rinds have a meaty savour too. Pair these cheeses with good bread, a few drops of aged balsamic vinegar, dry sherry or a dark ale, which share their deep, rounded taste.
Worth knowing
- Parmigiano Reggiano: High in free glutamate
- Grana Padano: Grana of the Po valley
- Comté: Brothy when aged
- Gouda: Deep and savoury when old
- Sbrinz: Hard Swiss grating cheese
- Mahón: Menorcan cheese, savoury when aged
- Bitto: Alpine cheese of the Valtellina, aged for years
- Ossau-Iraty: Pyrenean sheep's milk cheese
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.
Savoury and brothy on EveryCheese
The cheeses written up so far, best known first.
🇮🇳 IndiaKalari
A semi-soft cow or buffalo milk cheese from Jammu and Kashmir, dried and sautéed until gooey.Cow · Semi-soft · Savoury and brothy
🇾🇪 YemenYemeni cheeseجبنة تعز
A smoked semi-hard sheep or goat milk cheese from Taiz Governorate in Yemen.Sheep · Semi-soft · Savoury and brothy
🇮🇪 IrelandSt Tola
Handmade goat's milk cheese from Inagh, County Clare, ranging from fresh logs to aged wheels.Goat · Fresh · Tangy and lactic
🇬🇧 United KingdomStinking Bishop
A washed-rind cow's-milk cheese from Gloucestershire, ripened in perry.Cow · Semi-soft · Savoury and brothy
🇬🇪 GeorgiaDambalkhachoდამბალხაჭო
A pungent, semi-soft Georgian cheese aged in clay pots with sour buttermilk curdsCow · Semi-soft · Pungent and funky
🇺🇸 United StatesMorcella
A Minnesota sheep-milk cheese coated with morel mushrooms and aged in autumn.Sheep · Semi-soft · Earthy and cellar
🇮🇹 Italy and 4 moreFontinafontine
A semi-soft cow's milk cheese from Italy's Aosta Valley, known for its nutty flavor and excellent melting quality.Cow · Semi-soft · Nutty
🇫🇷 FranceSaint-NectaireSench-Nectari
A semi-soft washed-rind cow's-milk cheese from the volcanic Auvergne region of France.Cow · Semi-soft · Nutty
🇫🇷 FranceBleu de Bresse
A creamy French blue cheese from the Bresse region, aged for a few weeks.Cow · Blue · Earthy and cellar
🇫🇷 FranceChabichou
A cylindrical French goat cheese with a natural rind, aged for two to three weeks.Goat · Semi-soft · Tangy and lactic
🇵🇹 PortugalCastelo BrancoQueijo de Castelo Branco
A soft Portuguese cheese from the Beira Baixa district, made with goat or sheep milk.Mixed · Semi-soft · Savoury and brothy
🇪🇸 SpainValdeónQueso de Valdeón
A Spanish blue cheese from León wrapped in sycamore or chestnut leavesCow · Semi-soft · Sharp and tangy-aged
🇫🇷 FranceAisy cendré
A washed-rind cow's-milk cheese rolled in wood ash and aged for two weeks.Cow · Washed rind · Smoky
🇮🇹 ItalyBastardo del Grappa
A semi-fat cow's milk cheese from the Veneto foothills with a soft crumbly texture.Cow · Semi-soft · Savoury and brothy
🇮🇹 ItalySottocenere al tartufo
A semi-soft cow's milk cheese from Venice with an ash rind and black truffle slices.Cow · Semi-soft · Savoury and brothy
🇨🇦 CanadaPikauba
A semi-firm washed-rind cow's milk cheese from Quebec with a buttery taste and orange rind.Cow · Semi-soft · Buttery and creamy
🇬🇧 United KingdomStinking Bishop
A washed-rind Gloucestershire cheese ripened in perry from the Stinking Bishop pear.Cow · Washed rind · Tangy and lactic
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Kalari: Zeeshanqazi786, CC0, source
- Bleu de Bresse: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Akkawi: Paul Joseph, CC BY 2.0, source
- Saint-Nectaire: Homer Ectus, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Castelo Branco: Adriao, Public domain, source
- Chabichou: Mark Baker, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Aisy cendré: Pierre-Yves Beaudouin, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Valdeón: Tamorlan, CC BY 3.0, source
- St Tola: HighKing, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Stinking Bishop: Gilgongo, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Dambalkhacho: ბექა ბაიაშვილი (Beqabai), CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Fontina: Dominik Hundhammer, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Bastardo del Grappa: Krenakarore, Public domain, source
- Pikauba: Lëa-Kim Châteauneuf, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Sottocenere al tartufo: F. D. Richards, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Stinking Bishop: Jon Sullivan, Public domain, source