Cheeses for snacks
Cheese curds, string cheese, crackers and cheese eaten between meals.
Cheese is a natural snack: portable, filling and good with almost anything. Quebec's squeaky cheese curds, string cheese in a lunch box, Dogra kalari fried in its own fat in Jammu, hard churpi chewed on Himalayan paths, kurt in Central Asian bazaars, cheese straws at tea time and paneer pakoras on a rainy Indian afternoon all fill the space between meals.
Squeaky and stringy
Fresh cheddar curds squeak against the teeth when they are only hours old, because their protein network is still springy. Wisconsin, Quebec and Ontario sell them by the bag, and they are fried in batter at fairs. String cheese, mozzarella pulled into sticks, peels into threads and is a staple of North American lunch boxes. The squeak fades within a day or two in the fridge, though a few seconds of gentle warming can bring some of it back.
Fried snacks
Many cheese snacks are fried. Indian paneer pakoras are dipped in spiced gram-flour batter, and in Jammu, kalari is fried until crisp outside and stretchy within, then eaten with salt or in a kalari kulcha. Venezuelan tequeños wrap sticks of white cheese in dough. Italian mozzarella in carrozza and arancini hide cheese inside bread or rice, and Turkish sigara böreği rolls white cheese and parsley in thin pastry like a cigarette.
Chewed and nibbled
Hard churpi is held in the mouth for an hour, softening slowly, and kurt and aaruul are eaten as a salty, sour snack across Central Asia and Mongolia. Cheese straws, made with grated cheddar or Parmesan, are a tea-time snack in Britain and a party staple in the American South. In the Netherlands, cubes of Gouda with mustard are served with a drink, and in Spain, a few slices of Manchego come with a glass of wine.
Worth knowing
- Cheese curds: Squeaky fresh curds of Quebec and Wisconsin
- String cheese: Mozzarella sticks that peel into threads
- Pakora: Paneer dipped in gram-flour batter and fried
- Kalari: Jammu cheese fried in its own fat
- Tequeño: Venezuelan cheese stick in dough
- Mozzarella in carrozza: Fried mozzarella sandwich of Naples
- Sigara böreği: Turkish cheese pastry rolled like a cigarette
- Chhurpi: Hard Himalayan cheese chewed slowly
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.
Snacks on EveryCheese
The cheeses written up so far, best known first.
🇮🇹 Italy and 2 moreGorgonzola
A creamy Italian blue cheese from Lombardy with two distinct styles.Cow · Bloomy rind · Salty
🇮🇹 ItalyCastelrosso
A rare semi-hard cow's milk cheese from Piedmont with a gray rind and mild lactic flavor.Cow · Semi-hard · Buttery and creamy
🇦🇱 AlbaniaMishavin
A soft, crumbly Albanian cheese aged in skins and wood from sheep or cow milk.Sheep · Buttery and creamy
🇺🇸 United StatesBergenost
A triple-cream Norwegian-style butter cheese from New York with green wax.Mixed · Semi-soft · Buttery and creamy
🇮🇹 ItalyPecorino
A family of Italian hard sheep's-milk cheeses with protected status.Sheep · Hard · Buttery and creamy
🇮🇹 ItalyBurrata
A fresh Italian cheese with a solid mozzarella pouch filled with cream and stracciatella.Cow · Fresh · Milky and fresh
🇺🇸 United States and 2 moreCottage cheese
A fresh, unaged curd cheese made from skimmed milk and dressed with cream.Cow · Fresh · Tangy and lactic
🇺🇸 United States and 3 moreCream cheese
A soft, unripened cow's-milk cheese made with added cream and eaten fresh.Cow · Fresh · Buttery and creamy
🇬🇧 United KingdomCaerphilly
A hard, crumbly cow's-milk cheese from South Wales with a mild lemony taste.Cow · Hard · Tangy and lactic
🇫🇷 FranceCoulommiers
A soft cow's-milk cheese with a bloomy rind from the Seine-et-Marne department of France.Cow · Bloomy rind · Nutty
🇺🇸 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
🇮🇹 Italy and 1 moreBel Paese
A semi-soft cow's milk cheese from Italy with a mild buttery flavor and pale yellow color.Cow · Semi-soft · Buttery and creamy
🇪🇸 SpainIdiazabalIdiazabal gazta
A hard, pressed sheep's milk cheese from the Basque Country with a dark rind and optional smoke.Sheep · Hard · Nutty
🇫🇷 France and 1 moreVacherin Mont d'Or
A soft, seasonal cow's milk cheese wrapped in spruce bark from the Jura mountains.Cow · Bloomy rind · Earthy and cellar
🇫🇷 France and 1 moreCancoillotte
A runny French cheese made by melting metton, served hot or cold in the east.Cow · Processed · Milky and fresh
🇺🇸 United States and 1 moreMonterey Jack
A mild, semi-hard cow's-milk cheese from California with a creamy texture and slight sweetness.Cow · Semi-hard · Sweet and caramel
🇵🇹 PortugalSerra da EstrelaQueijo Serra da Estrela
A soft Portuguese sheep's milk cheese coagulated with thistle and aged for at least a month.Sheep · Bloomy rind · Buttery and creamy
🇫🇷 FranceGaperon
A dome-shaped Auvergne cheese with a white mold rind and garlic-pepper filling.Cow · Bloomy rind · Buttery and creamy
🇬🇧 United KingdomDunlopcàise Dhùn Lùib
A mild Scottish cheese from Ayrshire made with unskimmed cow's milk.Cow · Semi-soft · Sweet and caramel
🇪🇸 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
🇬🇧 United KingdomWensleydale
A medium, crumbly British cheese originally from sheep's milk in North Yorkshire.Cow · Semi-soft · Sweet and caramel
🇮🇹 Italy and 2 moreStracciatella
A fresh Italian shredded curd cheese mixed with cream, made from cow or buffalo milk.Cow · Fresh · Milky and fresh
🇫🇷 FrancePetit suisse
A fresh, creamy French cow's milk cheese from Normandy, often sold in small cups.Cow · Fresh · Milky and fresh
🇫🇷 FranceSaint-PaulinSaint Paulin
A semi-soft French cow's milk cheese with a washed orange rind and buttery flavour.Cow · Semi-soft · Buttery and creamy
🇫🇷 FranceAbbaye de Tamié
A soft cow's-milk cheese aged in the cellars of a Savoyard abbey by monks.Cow · Bloomy rind · Milky and fresh
🇪🇸 SpainGamonéuQueso de Gamonéu
A lightly smoked, mixed-milk cheese from the mountains of Asturias with a moulded rind.Mixed · Smoked · Savoury and brothy
🇫🇷 FranceChaumesPalhas
A soft, washed-rind cow's milk cheese from the Périgord with a tangerine-orange rind.Cow · Bloomy rind · Savoury and brothy
🇪🇸 SpainMajorero
A semi-hard goat milk cheese from Fuerteventura with a nutty, buttery taste.Goat · Semi-hard · Milky and fresh
🇬🇧 United KingdomCaboc
A Scottish cream cheese made from double cream and rolled in toasted oatmeal.Cow · Fresh · Buttery and creamy
🇵🇾 ParaguayParaguay cheesekesú Paraguái
A soft, creamy cow's-milk cheese from the eastern wetlands of Paraguay.Cow · Fresh · Salty
🇬🇪 GeorgiaTeniliტენილი ყველი
A stuffed string cheese from Georgia's Meskheti region, made from sheep's milk and aged in clay pots.Sheep · Stretched curd · Savoury and brothy
🇬🇷 GreeceLadotyri MytilinisΛαδοτύρι Μυτιλήνης
A hard Greek cheese from Lesbos preserved in olive oil since ancient times.Sheep · Hard · Savoury and brothy
🇫🇷 FranceSaint-Félicien
A creamy cow's milk cheese from France with a flower-patterned rindCow · Bloomy rind · Milky and fresh
🇪🇸 SpainGarrotxa
A semi-soft Catalan goat cheese with a powdery gray rind and earthy flavor.Goat · Semi-soft · Earthy and cellar
🇫🇷 FranceMottin charentais
A cylindrical French soft cheese made from pasteurized cow's milk with a creamy taste.Cow · Bloomy rind · Buttery and creamy
🇫🇷 FranceDélice de Bourgogne
A soft triple-cream cow's milk cheese from Burgundy with a bloomy rind.Cow · Bloomy rind · Tangy and lactic
🇬🇧 United KingdomCrowdiegruth
A soft, fresh Scottish cow's-milk cheese set by lactic acid without rennet.Cow · Fresh · Tangy and lactic
🇫🇷 FranceExplorateur
A soft-ripened triple cream cow's milk cheese from France with a squat cylindrical shape.Cow · Bloomy rind · Buttery and creamy
🇬🇧 United KingdomDerby
A mild, semi-firm cow's milk cheese from Derbyshire with a buttery taste and smooth texture.Cow · Semi-soft · Buttery and creamy
🇬🇧 United KingdomSuffolk Gold
A semi-hard cow's milk cheese from Suffolk with a buttery taste.Cow · Semi-hard · Buttery and creamy
🇦🇷 ArgentinaCremoso
A mild, semi-soft Argentine cow's milk cheese with no rind.Cow · Semi-soft · Buttery and creamy
🇨🇦 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
🇨🇦 CanadaLe Riopelle de l'Isle
A soft triple-cream cow's milk cheese from Isle-aux-Grues in Quebec.Cow · Bloomy rind · Buttery and creamy
🇺🇸 United StatesProvel cheese
A white processed cheese blend of cheddar, Swiss and provolone with liquid smoke, made in St. Louis.Cow · Processed · Buttery and creamy
🇫🇷 FranceCouronne lochoise
A soft, ash-coated goat cheese from the Loire Valley shaped like a ring.Goat · Bloomy rind · Buttery and creamy
🇺🇸 United StatesMonterey Jack
A mild, semi-hard cow's milk cheese from California with a creamy texture and slight sweetness.Cow · Semi-hard · Sweet and caramel
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Dunlop: Rosser1954 Roger Griffith, Public domain, source
- Havarti: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Gamonéu: Jrfdiaz, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Coulommiers: Myrabella, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Caerphilly: Jon Sullivan, Public domain, source
- Mahón: Slastic, Public domain, source
- Tenili: Georgian Recipes at Georgia About, CC BY 3.0, source
- Monterey Jack: Daniel Olsen ( talk ), CC BY 1.0, source
- Bel Paese: Jon Sullivan, Public domain, source
- Monterey Jack: Frank Schulenburg, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Petit suisse: Chtfn, CC BY 2.5, source
- Vacherin Mont d'Or: Zubro, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Pecorino: Ji-Elle, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Chaumes: Robin dubois, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Serra da Estrela: Adriao, Public domain, source
- Cancoillotte: Popo le Chien, CC0, source
- Majorero: Mumumío ( www.mumumío.com ), CC BY 2.0, source
- Mishavin: Tizilohja25, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Bergenost: Jon Sullivan, CC0, source
- Stracciatella: Florixc (original version) ; Off-shell (reprocessed version), CC0, source
- Idiazabal: Xavigivax, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Cottage cheese: F ASTILY (T ALK ), CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Gaperon: Pymouss, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Gorgonzola: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Cream cheese: Famartin, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Burrata: Popo le Chien, CC0, source
- Saint-Paulin: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Wensleydale: Jon Sullivan, Public domain, source
- Abbaye de Tamié: Tangopaso, Public domain, source
- Saint-Félicien: Coyau, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Ladotyri Mytilinis: C messier, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Garrotxa: Government of Catalonia, Attribution, source
- Derby: Compro, Public domain, source
- Mottin charentais: Cobber17, CC BY 3.0, source
- Délice de Bourgogne: Beprost, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Pikauba: Lëa-Kim Châteauneuf, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Le Riopelle de l'Isle: Lëa-Kim Châteauneuf, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Provel cheese: J. Vivano & Sons, Inc., Public domain, source
- Couronne lochoise: Thomon, CC BY-SA 4.0, source