Cheeses for snacks

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

• Cheese curd on Wikipedia
• Tequeño, Wikipedia
• Kalari cheese, Wikipedia