Cheese Database

How to read a cheese label

A protected name is a place and a method. A style name is only a style.

Protected names

Parmigiano-Reggiano, Roquefort, and Brie de Meaux are protected names. The name is tied to a place and a method. A cheese labeled only parmesan or brie can be a related style from somewhere else. The rules and the taste are not the same.

Raw and pasteurized

Raw-milk cheese is made from milk that was not pasteurized. Pasteurized cheese is made from milk that was heated to reduce bacteria. Neither word means the cheese is better. It tells you the milk treatment.

The rest of the label

Milk, country, and age tell you more than a slogan on the package. Farmhouse and artisan are not fixed legal terms in every country. Trust the milk, the place, and a name you can look up.