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
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.
🇮🇪 IrelandCoolea
A wax-rinded cow's milk cheese from County Cork with sweet, caramelly notes.Cow · Hard · Sweet and caramel
🇳🇴 NorwayFløtemysost
A mild brown cheese from Norway made with cow's milk and cream.Cow · Semi-hard · Sweet and caramel
🇨🇭 Switzerland and 2 moreGruyère
A hard, pressed Swiss cheese made from raw cow's milk, aged for several months.Cow · Hard · Sweet and caramel
🇩🇪 Germany and 5 moreQuarkTvorog
A fresh, acid-set cow's milk cheese with a smooth texture and mild taste.Cow · Fresh · Milky and fresh
🇫🇷 FranceComté
A hard, cooked-pressed cow's milk cheese from eastern France, aged up to three years.Cow · Semi-hard · Nutty
🇳🇱 NetherlandsMaasdam
A semi-hard Dutch cow's milk cheese with holes, aged for one to three months.Cow · Semi-hard · Nutty
🇳🇴 Norway and 1 moreBrunost
A sweet, caramelized whey cheese from Norway, often sliced thin for lunch.Mixed · Whey · Sweet and caramel
🇺🇸 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 5 moreBuffalo mozzarellamozzarella di bufala
A fresh, soft pasta filata cheese made from Italian Mediterranean buffalo milk.Buffalo · Fresh · Milky and fresh
🇳🇱 Netherlands and 1 moreLeerdammer
A Dutch semihard cow's-milk cheese with holes and a sweet nutty taste.Cow · Semi-hard · Sweet and caramel
🇫🇷 FrancePouligny-Saint-Pierre
A pyramidal goat cheese from central France with a mouldy rind and crumbly white paste.Goat · Bloomy rind · Salty
🇺🇸 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
🇷🇴 Romania and 4 moreUrdaurdă
A fresh whey cheese from Southeast Europe and Hungary, made by boiling leftover milk liquid.Mixed · Fresh · Milky and fresh
🇬🇧 United KingdomRed Leicester
A hard, crumbly cow's-milk cheese from England, aged for months and coloured with annatto.Cow · Hard · Sweet and caramel
🇬🇷 GreeceGravieraγραβιέρα
A hard Greek cheese made from sheep or cow milk, aged for months and marked with a crisscross rind.Sheep · Hard · Sweet and caramel
🇬🇷 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
🇬🇧 United KingdomDunlopcàise Dhùn Lùib
A mild Scottish cheese from Ayrshire made with unskimmed cow's milk.Cow · Semi-soft · Sweet and caramel
🇬🇷 Greece and 5 moreWhey cheese
A dairy product made from the liquid remaining after curds are separated during cheesemaking.Mixed · Whey · Sweet and caramel
🇬🇧 United KingdomWensleydale
A medium, crumbly British cheese originally from sheep's milk in North Yorkshire.Cow · Semi-soft · Sweet and caramel
🇪🇸 SpainZamoranoQueso zamorano
A hard, dark-rinded sheep's milk cheese from the province of Zamora in Spain.Sheep · Hard · Nutty
🇫🇷 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
🇫🇷 France and 2 moreFromage blanc
A mild, acid-set fresh cheese from northern France and southern Belgium.Cow · Fresh · Sweet and caramel
🇫🇷 FranceFaisselle
A fresh, very soft French cheese strained in a faisselle mold, made from cow, goat, or sheep milk.Cow · Fresh · Milky and fresh
🇮🇹 ItalyPiave
A hard Italian cow's milk cheese from the Veneto region with a sweet flavor and PDO status.Cow · Hard · Sweet and caramel
🇮🇹 ItalyMonte Veronese
A semi-hard cow's-milk cheese from Verona with fresh and aged varieties.Cow · Semi-hard · Sweet and caramel
🇪🇸 SpainArzúa-Ulloa cheese
A soft, creamy cow's-milk cheese from Galicia with a thin yellow rind and sweet grassy flavour.Bloomy rind · Sweet and caramel
🇮🇹 ItalyRobiola
A soft-ripened Italian cheese from Piedmont and Lombardy, made from cow, goat, or sheep milk.Cow · Bloomy rind · Sweet and caramel
🇮🇹 ItalySquacquerone
A soft, crumbly cow's-milk cheese from Romagna with a short maturation.Cow · Bloomy rind · Sweet and caramel
🇨🇳 ChinaRushan乳扇
A stretched cow's milk cheese from Yunnan dried into thin yellow sheets.Cow · Dried · Savoury and brothy
🇮🇹 ItalyDolcelatte
A mild, sweet Italian blue cheese made from cow's milk with a soft texture.Cow · Bloomy rind · Sweet and caramel
🇮🇪 Ireland and 1 moreDubliner
A hard, granular Irish cow's-milk cheese aged for at least a year.Cow · Hard · Sweet and caramel
🇬🇧 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
🇳🇱 NetherlandsParrano
A semi-firm Dutch cow's milk cheese aged five months with a nutty, salty-sweet profile.Cow · Semi-hard · Nutty
🇮🇹 ItalyRicotta di fuscella
A fresh cow's milk ricotta from Campania, shaped in a truncated cone basket.Cow · Fresh · Sweet and caramel
🇮🇹 ItalyProvola
A semi-hard stretched curd cheese from southern Italy, often smoked or aged.Cow · Semi-hard · Sweet and caramel
🇬🇧 United KingdomBeenleigh Blue
A thin-rinded, foil-wrapped English sheep's-milk blue with a sweet, crumbly texture.Sheep · Blue · Sweet and caramel
🇮🇹 ItalyHyblean ricottaRicotta iblea
A whey cheese from Sicily made with Modicana cow's milk and used in local pastries.Cow · Fresh · Sweet and caramel
🇩🇪 GermanyHirtenkäse
A German hard cheese aged for eight months, known for its golden color and savory flavor.Cow · Hard · Nutty
🇦🇹 AustriaMondseer
A semi-hard Austrian cow's milk cheese with a washed rind and mild sharp taste.Cow · Semi-hard · Sweet and caramel
🇬🇧 United KingdomOxford Blue
A soft, creamy English blue cheese with spicy and chocolate notes, made in Oxfordshire.Cow · Bloomy rind · Tangy and lactic
🇵🇱 PolandHomogenized cheeseserek homogenizowany
A smooth Polish fresh cheese made from acid-set curd and cream.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.
- Provola: Enzian44, CC BY 3.0, source
- Dunlop: Rosser1954 Roger Griffith, Public domain, source
- Havarti: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Piave: J.P.Lon, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Buffalo mozzarella: Luigi Versaggi, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Monterey Jack: Frank Schulenburg, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Mizithra: grongar, CC BY 2.0, source
- Zamorano: Jon Sullivan, Public domain, source
- Pouligny-Saint-Pierre: Coyau, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Leerdammer: M.Minderhoud, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Monte Veronese: La Casara Caseificio Dal 1920, CC BY 2.0, source
- Red Leicester: Jon Sullivan, Public domain, source
- Faisselle: Véronique PAGNIER, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Gruyère: Rolf Krahl ( Rotkraut ), CC BY 4.0, source
- Fromage blanc: Pancrat, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Whey cheese: Illustratedjc, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Comté: Myrabella, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Brunost: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Urda: Mngck, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Arzúa-Ulloa cheese: :Ficheiro:Festa do queixo de Arzúa 2.jpg feito por Adrián Estévez ( Es, GFDL, source
- Coolea: Gary Soup, CC BY 2.0, source
- Quark: SKopp, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Graviera: Catlemur, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Maasdam: Arz, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Saint-Paulin: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Wensleydale: Jon Sullivan, Public domain, source
- Dolcelatte: Richard Rutter, CC BY 2.0, source
- Derby: Compro, Public domain, source
- Robiola: Andrea Marchisio, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Rushan: Zhangmoon618, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Squacquerone: WILO-MA, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Dubliner: B137, CC0, source
- Hyblean ricotta: Micniosi, Public domain, source
- Hirtenkäse: Heinrich von Zügel, Public domain, source
- Oxford Blue: Amanda Slater, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Homogenized cheese: Kaworu1992, CC BY-SA 4.0, source