Live, Thursday, 15 October 2026
Cheese today
What is on the calendar right now: the markets, fairs, feasts and fasts under way, the cheeses for the meal in front of you, and one cheese to get to know.
On today
about 11 to 19 Oct 2026, Hindu
Navratri fasting and paneer
During Navratri many Hindu families keep a partial fast, avoiding grains, onion, garlic and ordinary salt. The rules differ from home to home, but in many households milk products are welcome, because they are seen as pure. Fresh paneer, often made at home that morning, is cooked with rock salt, cumin, black pepper and green chilli, crumbled into kuttu flour parathas or served in a tomato-free curry. Some families keep paneer out of the vrat altogether, so the custom is a matter of household tradition. On the eighth or ninth day, girls are fed puri, chana and halwa in the kanya puja.
Right now
Cheese by meal
Opens at the meal nearest your clock.
Feta and olives, Turkish kahvalti, Dutch bread with Gouda, paneer bhurji and the cheese of the first meal. All breakfast cheeses
🇹🇷 TurkeyVan herbed cheeseVan otlu peyniri
A semi-hard sheep's-milk cheese from eastern Turkey, infused with wild herbs and brined.Sheep · Semi-soft · Salty
🇲🇹 MaltaĠbejna
A small Maltese sheep's-milk cheese shaped in reed hurdles and sold fresh, dried, or peppered.Sheep · Fresh · Milky and fresh
🇮🇱 Israel and 1 moreGvina levanaגבינה לבנה
A soft, unripened cow's-milk cheese spread on bread in Israel.Cow · Fresh · Tangy and lactic
🇾🇪 YemenYemeni cheeseجبنة تعز
A smoked semi-hard sheep or goat milk cheese from Taiz Governorate in Yemen.Sheep · Semi-soft · Savoury and brothy
🇺🇸 United States and 1 morePot cheese
A soft, crumbly, unaged cow's-milk cheese popular in North America and Austria.Cow · Fresh · Milky and fresh
🇨🇳 ChinaNguri
A small, salty buffalo-milk cheese from Fujian served with rice congee.Buffalo · Fresh · Salty
Sandwiches, salads, ploughman's plates and the midday meal. All lunch cheeses
🇮🇳 India and 4 morePaneer
A fresh, non-melting acid-set cheese made from cow or buffalo milk in South Asia.Cow · Fresh · Milky and fresh
🇮🇹 Italy and 1 moreMozzarella
A semi-soft Italian stretched-curd cheese made from cow or buffalo milk.Cow · Semi-soft · Milky and fresh
🇮🇹 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
🇫🇷 FranceCamembert
A soft-ripened cow's milk cheese from Normandy with a white mould rindCow · Bloomy rind · Earthy and cellar
🇬🇷 Greece and 5 moreFetaφέτα
A crumbly Greek brined cheese made from sheep and goat milk.Sheep · Brined · Tangy and lactic
🇨🇭 Switzerland and 5 moreEmmentalEmmentaler
A yellow, medium-hard Swiss cheese with natural holes, aged for several months.Cow · Semi-hard · Savoury and brothy
Gratins, pastas, curries and the evening meal. All dinner cheeses
🇮🇳 India and 4 morePaneer
A fresh, non-melting acid-set cheese made from cow or buffalo milk in South Asia.Cow · Fresh · Milky and fresh
🇮🇹 Italy and 1 moreMozzarella
A semi-soft Italian stretched-curd cheese made from cow or buffalo milk.Cow · Semi-soft · Milky and fresh
🇮🇹 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
🇫🇷 FranceCamembert
A soft-ripened cow's milk cheese from Normandy with a white mould rindCow · Bloomy rind · Earthy and cellar
🇬🇷 Greece and 5 moreFetaφέτα
A crumbly Greek brined cheese made from sheep and goat milk.Sheep · Brined · Tangy and lactic
🇺🇸 United StatesCold-pack cheese
A chilled blend of natural cheeses mixed with flavorings without cooking.Mixed · Bloomy rind · Savoury and brothy
Cheese curds, string cheese, crackers and cheese eaten between meals. All snacks cheeses
🇮🇳 India and 4 morePaneer
A fresh, non-melting acid-set cheese made from cow or buffalo milk in South Asia.Cow · Fresh · Milky and fresh
🇮🇹 Italy and 1 moreMozzarella
A semi-soft Italian stretched-curd cheese made from cow or buffalo milk.Cow · Semi-soft · Milky and fresh
🇮🇹 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
🇫🇷 FranceCamembert
A soft-ripened cow's milk cheese from Normandy with a white mould rindCow · Bloomy rind · Earthy and cellar
🇬🇷 Greece and 5 moreFetaφέτα
A crumbly Greek brined cheese made from sheep and goat milk.Sheep · Brined · Tangy and lactic
🇫🇷 FranceRoule cheese
A soft, herb and garlic flavoured cow's milk cheese rolled into a spiral shape.Cow · Bloomy rind · Herbal and grassy
Served on its own, sliced or cut at the table, with bread, fruit and something to drink. All cheese boards cheeses
🇫🇷 FranceCamembert
A soft-ripened cow's milk cheese from Normandy with a white mould rindCow · Bloomy rind · Earthy and cellar
🇬🇷 Greece and 5 moreFetaφέτα
A crumbly Greek brined cheese made from sheep and goat milk.Sheep · Brined · Tangy and lactic
🇺🇸 United StatesD'Isigny
A soft American cheese modeled on French Brie and Camembert styles.Cow · Bloomy rind · Milky and fresh
🇬🇪 GeorgiaGuda cheeseგუდის ყველი
A salted sheep's-milk cheese ripened inside a leather wineskin in the Georgian mountains.Sheep · Semi-hard · Salty
🇦🇹 Austria and 1 moreTyrolean grey cheeseTiroler Graukäse
A low-fat cow's milk acid-curd quark from the Tyrolean Alps with a moulded rind.Cow · Fresh · Tangy and lactic
🇫🇷 FranceRoule cheese
A soft, herb and garlic flavoured cow's milk cheese rolled into a spiral shape.Cow · Bloomy rind · Herbal and grassy
Thursday traditions
Gouda's cheese market day, Rome's gnocchi day under grated cheese, and the American Thanksgiving table.
Coming up in the next six weeks
In 2 days, about 17 to 20 Oct 2026Durga Puja and the Bengali sweet shopFour days of pandals in Bengal, when sandesh, rasgulla and other chhena sweets are bought by the box and offered as bhog.
In 24 days, about 8 Nov 2026Diwali, paneer and chhena sweetsThe festival of lamps, when kalakand, ras malai and a festive paneer curry join the boxes of sweets that pass between homes.
In 27 days, 11 Nov 2026Cheese Day in JapanJapan's Cheese Day, chosen in 1992 to recall so, a milk product the imperial court ordered made around the year 700.
In 28 days, 12 Nov 2026World Cheese AwardsThe annual world cheese competition, judged in a single day; in 2026 it is held in Córdoba in southern Spain.
In 34 days, about 18 Nov 2026Jagaddhatri Puja in ChandannagarChandannagar's great puja of lights, in the town where the syrup-filled jolbhora sandesh was first made.
In 42 days, 26 Nov 2026National Milk Day in IndiaIndia's milk day, on the birthday of Verghese Kurien, whose cooperatives made fresh milk and paneer part of daily life.
In 42 days, 26 Nov 2026Thanksgiving and baked macaroni cheeseThe American harvest feast, where a baked dish of macaroni and Cheddar sits beside the turkey on many Southern tables.Cheese news
- Upper Midwest Dairy Production Rises as Global Expansion Pressures Commodity PricesMorning Ag Clips, Trade
- HC seeks replies on plea against non-dairy products sold as paneerMagzter, India
- This New Jersey Creamery Is Absolutely GoatedMontclair Local News, Makers
- The Murray’s Cheese Advent Calendar Is A Two Week Charcuterie PartySporked, Heritage
- Delhi High Court seeks FSSAI stand on PIL against non-dairy, analogous 'paneer'The Hindu, India
- Simply Better: six generations of cheesemaking at Gubbeen Farmhouse Cheese 13 October 2026 FreeIrish Farmers Journal, Awards
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Tyrolean grey cheese: Jürgele, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Guda cheese: Jonathan Cardy, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Paneer: Sonja Pauen - Stanhopea, CC BY 2.0 de, source
- Akkawi: Paul Joseph, CC BY 2.0, source
- Emmental: Coyau, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Parmesan: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Feta: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Ġbejna: Chattacha, CC BY 3.0, source
- Van herbed cheese: Tanyel, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Mozzarella: Popo le Chien, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Camembert: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Chhena: Biswarup Ganguly, CC BY 3.0, source
- Wagasi: Noahalorwu, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Diwali Paneer And Chhena: Kalli navya, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Durga Puja Sandesh: Subhrajyoti07, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Jagaddhatri Puja Sandesh: শরদিন্দু ভট্টাচার্য্য, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Japan Cheese Day: en:Nightshadow28, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Thanksgiving Mac And Cheese: Jennie Augusta Brownscombe, Public domain, source
- World Cheese Awards: Donald Trung Quoc Don (Chữ Hán: 徵國單) - Wikimedia Commons - © CC BY-SA, CC BY-SA 4.0, source