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EveryCheese

Cheeses for lunch

Sandwiches, salads, ploughman's plates and the midday meal.

Lunch is where cheese meets bread most often. The British ploughman's lunch of cheddar, pickle and bread, the French baguette with Comté or ham and butter, the Italian panino with mozzarella, the Greek salad with its slab of feta, the Indian paneer roll and the American grilled cheese all build a midday meal on cheese. It is food that travels well in a box or a pocket.

Bread and cheese

The simplest lunch in many countries is bread and cheese, and many have given it a name. The ploughman's lunch, made popular in English pubs in the 1950s and 1960s, sets cheddar or Stilton beside crusty bread, butter, pickle, apple and raw onion. In France, a casse-croûte might be a baguette with Comté or Camembert, and in Spain a bocadillo de queso. In Georgia, a slice of khachapuri and a plate of fresh cheese with herbs makes a working lunch.

Salads

Greek horiatiki salad sets a slab of feta on tomato, cucumber, onion and olives. Bulgaria's shopska salad is buried under grated sirene. Italy's insalata caprese layers mozzarella with tomato and basil in the colours of the national flag. In the Levant, halloumi is grilled and laid over leaves and herbs, and in Mexico, salads of nopales, the tender pads of the prickly pear cactus, are finished with crumbled queso fresco.

Hot lunches

Grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup are an American lunch pairing. Welsh rarebit, cheese melted with mustard and ale and poured over toast, is a British pub lunch. Indian kathi rolls and Mumbai frankies wrap spiced paneer in paratha for busy streets and office canteens. Mexican quesadillas fold cheese into a tortilla, and in Italy, a slice of pizza or a toasted panino with mozzarella fills the lunch hour.

Worth knowing

  • Ploughman's lunch: Cheddar, bread, pickle and apple
  • Greek salad: Horiatiki with a slab of feta
  • Shopska salad: Bulgarian salad under grated sirene
  • Caprese salad: Mozzarella, tomato and basil
  • Grilled cheese: Melted cheese between toasted bread
  • Welsh rarebit: Cheese sauce with mustard and ale on toast
  • Quesadilla: Tortilla folded over cheese
  • Kathi roll: Paratha wrapped round spiced paneer

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.

Lunch on EveryCheese

The cheeses written up so far, best known first.

StyleFreshBrinedStretched curdBloomy rindLacticWashed rindSemi-softSemi-hardAlpineHardBlueSmokedWheyDriedProcessed
MilkCowGoatSheepBuffaloYakCamelMixedOther
FlavourMilky and freshButtery and creamyNuttySweet and caramelTangy and lacticSaltySharp and tangy-agedSavoury and brothyEarthy and cellarMushroomyPungent and funkySmokyHerbal and grassyPiquant and spicy
🇮🇹 Italy and 3 moreParmesanParmigiano Reggiano A hard, granular cow's-milk cheese aged at least a year in northern Italy.Cow · Hard · Sharp and tangy-aged 🇬🇷 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 🇮🇪 IrelandSt Tola Handmade goat's milk cheese from Inagh, County Clare, ranging from fresh logs to aged wheels.Goat · Fresh · Tangy and lactic 🇲🇽 MexicoPanela cheeseQueso panela A fresh, white Mexican cow's-milk cheese that holds its shape when fried.Cow · Fresh · Milky and fresh 🇨🇾 Cyprus and 3 moreHalloumiχαλούμι A squeaky, brined cheese from Cyprus that holds its shape when fried.Mixed · Brined · Salty 🇲🇹 MaltaĠbejna A small Maltese sheep's-milk cheese shaped in reed hurdles and sold fresh, dried, or peppered.Sheep · Fresh · Milky and fresh 🇨🇭 Switzerland and 2 moreGruyère A hard, pressed Swiss cheese made from raw cow's milk, aged for several months.Cow · Hard · Sweet and caramel 🇸🇰 Slovakia and 5 moreBryndza A tangy, crumbly sheep's milk cheese from Central and Eastern Europe.Sheep · Fresh · Tangy and lactic 🇧🇪 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 🇨🇭 Switzerland and 1 moreProcessed cheese A meltable cheese blend made with emulsifying salts for stability and long shelf life.Mixed · Processed · Salty 🇺🇸 United StatesAmerican cheese A mild, meltable processed cheese made from cheddar or Colby with sodium citrate.Cow · Processed · Salty 🇸🇾 Syria and 5 moreAkkawiجبنة عكاوي A white brined cow's milk cheese from the Levant named after Acre.Cow · Brined · Salty 🇫🇷 France and 1 moreCancoillotte A runny French cheese made by melting metton, served hot or cold in the east.Cow · Processed · Milky and fresh 🇧🇬 Bulgaria and 5 moreSireneбяло саламурено сирене A crumbly, brined white cheese from Bulgaria made with sheep or goat milk.Mixed · Brined · Salty 🇧🇷 BrazilMinas cheesequeijo minas A semi-soft cow's milk cheese from Brazil with fresh and aged varieties.Cow · Semi-soft · Salty 🇬🇷 Greece and 1 moreMizithraμυζήθρα A fresh Greek whey cheese made from sheep or goat milk, eaten soft or dried for grating.Sheep · Fresh · Sweet and caramel 🇭🇷 CroatiaPag cheesePaški sir A hard sheep's-milk cheese from Croatia's Pag island, aged up to eighteen months.Sheep · Hard · Salty 🇹🇷 TurkeyBeyaz peynir A salty Turkish brine cheese made from sheep, cow, or goat milk.Mixed · Brined · Salty 🇩🇪 Germany and 2 moreWeisslackerWeißlacker A pungent German cow's-milk cheese aged seven months with a whitewashed rind.Cow · Semi-soft · Pungent and funky 🇪🇸 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 🇪🇸 SpainIboresQueso Ibores A firm, salty goat cheese from Extremadura with a natural or paprika-rubbed rind.Goat · Semi-hard · Salty 🇳🇴 NorwayPultost A soft Norwegian sour milk cheese flavored with caraway seeds and preserved with salt.Cow · Bloomy rind · Tangy and lactic 🇬🇷 GreeceAnthotyrosΑνθότυρος A traditional Greek whey cheese made from sheep or goat milk, available in fresh and dry forms.Sheep · Fresh · Sweet and caramel 🇲🇽 MexicoCotija A salty, aged cow's milk cheese from Michoacán that crumbles but does not melt.Cow · Semi-hard · Salty 🇪🇸 SpainTupíformatge de tupí A soft, creamy Catalan cheese fermented in a ceramic jar with strong liquor.Mixed · Tangy and lactic 🇩🇪 GermanySpundekäs A spiced cream cheese spread from Northern Rhenish Hesse in Germany.Cow · Fresh · Salty 🇮🇱 IsraelTzfat Cheeseגבינה צפתית A semi-hard salty cheese from Safed, originally made with sheep's milk and molded in baskets.Sheep · Semi-hard · Salty 🇮🇳 IndiaBandel cheese A small, smoked cow's-milk cheese from West Bengal with a crumbly texture and tangy taste.Cow · Fresh · Salty 🇨🇳 ChinaRubing乳饼 A firm, acid-set fresh goat cheese from Yunnan that holds its shape when cooked.Goat · Fresh · Salty 🇪🇸 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 🇽🇰 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 🇪🇸 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 🇮🇹 ItalyProvatura A fresh pasta filata cheese from Lazio, shaped like an egg and made from cow or buffalo milk.Cow · Fresh · Milky and fresh

Photo credits on this page

The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

The weekly digest

Every Monday: seven cheeses you may not know, the cheese days of the week ahead, and one dish explained step by step.