Dairy Category

This tangy hard Greek cheese is often grated over dishes. This can be made from sheep’s milk, goat’s milk or both.

Kefir is like a thin, drinkable yogurt. It was originally made in Turkey out of camel's milk. It comes plain or flavored.

This German cheese is easy to spread. It's great on crackers and rye bread.

Like kefir, kumiss is a beverage made from milk cultured with bacteria. Asian nomads originally made it with the milk of camels or mares, but commercial producers now use cow's milk.

This is a strong even stinky cow's milk cheese.

This is a mild French semi-soft cow's milk cheese.

This is a rich, tangy, and crumbly cow's milk cheese produced in Britain. It's a good melting cheese.

This is a mild semi-soft cow's milk cheese from the Lapland region of Finland. It's a good melter and works well in fondues

This Dutch cow's milk cheese is similar to Emmental or Jarlberg, only milder.

This is an English cow's milk cheese that's very similar to cheddar.

This Dutch cow's milk cheese is flavored with cumin and caraway seeds.

This cow's milk cheese was invented by German-American Emil Frey, who wanted to make a domestic version of Limburger cheese. Borden acquired the brand after Frey died, and later sold the brand to a New Zealand outfit. Use within a few days after purchasing. For best flavor, serve at room temperature. It's hard, and perhaps impossible, to find in the United States.

18 - 30% fat Unlike heavy cream, lower-fat substitutes like light cream, half-and-half, and evaporated milk tend to "break" or curdle when added to sauces. To prevent this from happening, heat the sauce over low or medium heat, or reduce the cream substitute before adding it to the sauce. Don't let the sauce boil. Cream sauces made with lower-fat cream substitutes also tend to have less body; to correct for that, consider adding 1 tablespoon flour or 2 teaspoons cornstarch to the sauce for every cup of evaporated milk substituted. Stir the thickener into a paste first to prevent lumps.

30 - 36% fat Unlike heavy cream or whipping cream, lower-fat substitutes like half-and-half and evaporated milk tend to "break" or curdle when added to sauces. To prevent this from happening, heat the sauce over low or medium heat, or reduce the cream substitute before adding it to the sauce. Don't let the sauce boil. Cream sauces made with lower-fat cream substitutes also tend to have less body; to correct for that, consider adding 1 tablespoon flour or 2 teaspoons cornstarch to the sauce for every cup of evaporated milk substituted. Stir the thickener into a paste first to prevent lumps.

This is a very stinky and salty German washed rind cow's milk cheese. It's too strong to serve with most wines, so it's often served with beer. Use within a few days after purchasing. For best flavor, serve at room temperature.

This excellent French cow's milk cheese is in the washed-rind or "stinky" family. Though pungent, it's not as overpowering as Limburger. The rind is edible, but it's not for faint-hearted.

Magnolia cheezee is made from cheddar cheese and is similar to Velvetta. It is popular in the Philappines.

This well-regarded Spanish cow's milk cheese is a terrific snacking cheese, but it's also incorporated into casseroles. Try it with sherry.

This is a German cow's milk aromatic cheese. Use within a few days after purchasing. For best flavor, serve at room temperature.

Aged Manchego sheep's milk cheese is yellow and a terrific grating cheese. Don't confuse it with unaged Manchego cheese, which is almost white, semi-firm, and typically used as a melting cheese

Don't confuse this with aged Manchego cheese, which is firm and yellow, and typically used for grating. Younger Manchego sheep's milk cheese is sweet and nutty. It melts nicely and is often used in quesadillas.

This Greek sheep's and goat's milk cheese is similar to feta, only creamier and less salty. This is made with sheep or goat’s milk.

This is a stinky washed-rind cow's milk cheese from France that smells worse than it tastes. You probably don't want to eat the pungent rind. Use within a few days after purchasing. For best flavor, serve at room temperature.

Creamy mascarpone is a key ingredient in tiramisu, zabaglione, and cheesecakes. It's velvety soft, slightly acidic, and expensive. It's made from cow's milk. Although Italian in origin, the name is said to come from the Spanish mas que bueno, "better than good." It's usually sold in tubs. Use it soon after you purchase it since it's highly perishable.

This American cow's milk blue cheese is pungent and crumbly. Use it within a few days after purchasing. For best flavor, serve at room temperature.

Look for this in stores that sell cake decorating supplies. Substitutes: powdered egg whites. For information on how to make meringues safely using raw egg whites, visit the Other Safety Factors section of the American Egg Board web site.

Nonfat milk (0.5% fat). You can buy it fresh, or as powdered milk, canned evaporated milk, or UHT milk packed in aseptic containers. Fresh is best for drinking and delicate desserts, the other kinds pick up an unpleasant caramelized flavor when they're heated for packaging. Acidophilus milk tastes much the same as ordinary milk, but it includes the beneficial acidophilus bacteria that are destroyed during pasteurization.

Low-fat milk (2% fat). You can buy it fresh, or as powdered milk, canned evaporated milk, or UHT milk packed in aseptic containers. Fresh is best for drinking and delicate desserts, the other kinds pick up an unpleasant caramelized flavor when they're heated for packaging. Acidophilus milk tastes much the same as ordinary milk, but it includes the beneficial acidophilus bacteria that are destroyed during pasteurization.

Varieties: skim milk = nonfat milk (0.5% fat), low-fat milk (2% fat), and whole milk (3.5% fat). You can buy it fresh, or as powdered milk, canned evaporated milk, or UHT milk packed in aseptic containers. Fresh is best for drinking and delicate desserts, the other kinds pick up an unpleasant caramelized flavor when they're heated for packaging. Acidophilus milk tastes much the same as ordinary milk, but it includes the beneficial acidophilus bacteria that are destroyed during pasteurization.

Visit the Illinois Cooperative Extension Service's Sweetened Condensed Milk--Homemade page.

This is easier to find in Great Britain than in the United States.

This French cow's milk cheese is similar to Parmesan cheese, only it's a brilliant orange.

Don't confuse this salty grating cheese with fresh Mizithra, which is similar to feta. This cheese is dry, crumbly, and very salty. This can be made from sheep’s milk, goat’s milk or both.

Don't confuse this with aged Mizithra, which is a hard grating cheese. This can be made from sheep’s milk, goat’s milk or both.

This French cow's milk cheese is a mild blue cheese that's soft and creamy like a Brie. It's coated with ash.

This creamy and mild cow's milk cheese has a dark stripe running up the middle, a reference to earlier times when a layer of ash was added to the cheese to protect it from insects. Morbier has a rich, earthy flavor. It's a good melting cheese, but you might want to cook with a cheaper cheese like Lappi or Havarti.

Mozzarella is a soft, white Italian cheese. The most common type is low-moisture mozzarella, which is often sold in bricks or firm balls, or is shredded and sold in bags. Don't confuse it with fresh mozzarella = high-moisture mozzarella, which is a fresh cheese used for salads and appetizers, and is often sold in tubs of water. Low-moisture mozzarella is one of the few cheeses that doesn't turn rubbery or ooze oil if cooked too long or too hot, so it's a key ingredient in pizzas and casseroles. It's also stretchy--the long white strings that you often see draped over the sides of pizza boxes are usually mozzarella. It can also be frozen and thawed without too much damage to its texture. Buffalo milk has a much higher fat content than cow's milk, so buffalo milk mozzarella, or mozzarella di bufalo, is creamier and also more expensive than cow's-milk mozzarella = fior di latte.

When produced in Europe, Muenster is a mild-mannered member of the normally stinky washed-rind Cow's milk cheese family, though it becomes more pungent as it ages. It's delicious with dark breads and beer or Gewurztraminer wine. American muensters are much milder.