Sharp and tangy-aged

The bite of long-aged cheddar, Provolone piccante and old Pecorino.

Sharp is the bite at the back of the mouth that comes with age: the tang of extra-mature cheddar, provolone piccante, old pecorino and aged Gouda. It is a mix of acidity, salt and the products of protein and fat breakdown, and it grows stronger the longer a cheese ripens. In North America, cheddar is even sold by sharpness, from mild through sharp to extra sharp.

What makes a cheese sharp

As cheese ripens, enzymes cut proteins into shorter pieces. Some of these peptides taste bitter or biting, and amino acids, fatty acids and sulphur compounds add their own edges. In cheddar, acidity, salt and these breakdown products together give the familiar tang. Provolone piccante is made with rennet paste from kids or lambs, whose fat-splitting enzymes release sharp, peppery fatty acids. Similar traditional rennets give Pecorino Romano and some other southern Italian cheeses their bite.

Cheddar by age

British cheddar is labelled mild, medium, mature, extra mature and vintage, ranging from a few months old to well over a year. American cheddars run from mild to sharp and extra sharp, and some makers in Wisconsin, Vermont and Canada age blocks for many years. The sharpest are often crumbly, with small white crystals. Clothbound farmhouse cheddars tend to be deep and savoury rather than simply sharp, since the cloth lets the cheese breathe and mellow.

Using sharp cheese

A little sharp cheese goes far. It seasons macaroni cheese, Welsh rarebit, cheese scones and gratins, and stands up to pickles and chutney in a ploughman's lunch. Mixed with a milder melting cheese, it adds depth without turning a sauce grainy. Apples, pears, oatcakes and fruit cake suit it on a board, and strong ale, dry cider and port are classic partners. Very old Gouda and pecorino are good with a drizzle of honey.

Worth knowing

Cheddar: From mild to vintage and extra sharp
Provolone: The piccante kind, made with kid or lamb rennet
Pecorino Romano: Salty and biting
Gouda: Sharp and sweet when very old
Asiago: Sharp when aged as stravecchio
Dry Jack: Aged Monterey Jack of California

Sources and further reading

About this page

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.