Cheese Cheese is a dairy product produced in wide ranges of flavors, textures, and forms by coagulation of the milk protein casein. It comprises proteins and fat from milk, usually the milk of cows, buffalo, goats, or sheep. During production, ...

s have played a significant role in

German cuisine The cuisine of Germany () is made up of many different local or regional cuisines, reflecting the country's federal history. Germany itself is part of the larger cultural region of Central Europe, sharing many culinary traditions with neighbo ...

, both historically and in contemporary times. Germany has by far the highest variety of cheeses worldwide with 9,500 cheeses coming from Germany. Cheeses are incorporated in the preparation of various dishes in German cuisine. Germany's cheese production comprises approximately one-third of the total for all European-produced cheeses.

German cheeses

A

* Allgäuer Bergkäse – Prepared in Allgäu from unpasteurized cow's milk, it is ripened for a minimum of four months and has a smooth texture.Herbst, Sharon T.; Herbst, Ron (2010)
''The Cheese Lover's Companion: The Ultimate A-to-Z Cheese Guide with More Than 1,000 Listings for Cheeses and Cheese-Related Terms''
HarperCollins. p. 60. * Altenburger Ziegenkäse – a soft cheese from cow's milk and goat's milk with caraway seeds in the cheese dough. The surface is covered with white Camembert mould. Because of its protected designation of origin, the cheese may only be produced in the districts of Altenburger Land, Burgenland and Leipzig and the independent city of Gera.

B

* Backstein – similar to Limburger, it is processed in a brick shape. * Bergader - similar to Italian Gorgonzola or French Roquefort. * Bonifaz – a soft, white mold cheese. *

Butterkäse Butterkäse ("butter cheese" in German) is a semi-soft, cow's milk cheese moderately popular in Germanic Europe, and occasionally seen in the rest of the cheese-eating world. Although primarily produced in Germany, some Butterkäse is produced ...

– translated as "butter cheese" in German, it is a semi-soft, cow's milk cheese that is moderately popular in Germanic Europe, and occasionally seen throughout the rest of the world.

C

* Cambozola – patented and industrially produced for the world market by large German company Champignon in the 1970s. The cheese was invented circa 1900 and is still produced by Champignon. In English-speaking countries, Cambozola is often marketed as Blue brie. It is a “hybrid” of Camembert and Gorgonzola cheeses, hence the name.

E

* Edelpilzkäse – Edelpilzkäse is a fine blue-veined cheese with a pale ivory paste. It is similar to Roquefort, but milder because it is made with cow's milk. Edelpilzkäse is made by mixing cow's milk with '' Penicillium'' spores. The mold grows within the cheese, giving the cheese the internal blue veining traveling vertically throughout and a tangy flavor. It is available in 45%, 50%, and 60% fat level.

H

Handkäse ''Handkäse'' (; literally: "hand cheese") is a German regional sour milk cheese (similar to Harzer) and is a culinary speciality of Frankfurt am Main, Offenbach am Main, Darmstadt, Langen, and other parts of southern Hesse. It gets its name ...

– a German

Protected designation origin The protected designation of origin (PDO) is a type of geographical indication of the European Union and the United Kingdom aimed at preserving the designations of origin of food-related products. The designation was created in 1992 and its main ...

(PDO) regional sour milk cheese (similar to

Harzer Harzer cheese is a German sour milk cheese made from low fat curd cheese, which originates in the Harz mountain region south of Braunschweig. Harzer is often small and round, in which case it is called ''Handkäse'' or '' Taler'', or cylindrica ...

) and is a culinary speciality of Frankfurt am Main,

Offenbach am Main Offenbach am Main () is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in Hesse, Germany, on the left bank of the river Main (river), Main. It borders Frankfurt and is part of the Frankfurt urban area and the larger Frankfurt Rhein-Main Regional Aut ...

Darmstadt Darmstadt () is a city in the States of Germany, state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Frankfurt Rhine Main Area, Rhine-Main-Area (Frankfurt Metropolitan Region). Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it th ...

, Langen and all other parts of southern Hesse. It gets its name from the traditional way of producing it: forming it with one's own hands. *

– a sour milk cheese made from low fat curd cheese, which contains only about one percent fat and originates in the Harz mountain region south of Braunschweig. * Hirtenkäse – or "herder's cheese", is a distinctive golden-colored, hard cow's milk cheese made in the Allgäu area of Southern Germany.Fond o'Foods website
Accessed March 17, 2009.Janet Fletcher, "Cheese Course: Hirtenkäse fans party when the cows come home," '' San Francisco Chronicle'', Februar
SF Gate website
Accessed March 17, 2009.
Accessed March 17, 2009.Barbara Adams, "Cheese and Wine Pairing Recipe: Hirtenkäse Cheese and Gewürztraminer Wine," found a

. Accessed March 17, 2009. * Hohenheim – a soft cheese, produced in a round form.German Cooking: Five Generations of Family Recipes - Eleanor A. Hinsch
p. 16. File:Handkaese 20060117.jpg,

File:Harzer Käse.jpg,

K

* Kochkäse – a runny sour milk cheese similar to French Cancoillotte. It is made from quark, butter, soda, salt and caraway seeds.

L

Limburger Limburger (in southern Dutch contexts Rommedoe, and in Belgium Herve cheese) is a cheese that originated in the Herve area of the historical Duchy of Limburg, which had its capital in Limbourg-sur-Vesdre, now in the French-speaking Belgian pr ...

– originally created in Belgium by Trappist monks, production began in Germany in the 19th century.

M

Milbenkäse Milbenkäse ("mite cheese"), called Mellnkase in the local dialect and often known as Spinnenkäse ("spider cheese"), is a German speciality cheese. It is made by flavouring balls of quark (a type of soft cheese) with caraway and salt, allowi ...

– a specialty cheese made from

quark A quark () is a type of elementary particle and a fundamental constituent of matter. Quarks combine to form composite particles called hadrons, the most stable of which are protons and neutrons, the components of atomic nuclei. All commonly o ...

and produced using the action of

cheese mites Cheese mites (for instance ''Tyrophagus casei'' or other species) are mites that are used to produce such cheeses as ', Cantal and Mimolette. The action of the living mites on the surface of these cheeses contributes to the flavor and gives them a ...

. Historically, the cheese was produced in the Saxony-Anhalt/ Thuringia border region of Zeitz and

Altenburg Altenburg () is a city in Thuringia, Germany, located south of Leipzig, west of Dresden and east of Erfurt. It is the capital of the Altenburger Land district and part of a polycentric old-industrial textile and metal production region betw ...

districts; today it is produced exclusively in the village of

Würchwitz Würchwitz is a village and former municipality in the Burgenlandkreis district, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Since 1 July 2009, it is part of the town Zeitz. It is the only place in the world that produces Milbenkäse (''mite cheese''), a German sp ...

, in the state of Saxony-Anhalt. Mites clinging to the cheese rind are consumed along with the cheese. File:Milbenkäse02.jpg, Aged

N

Nieheimer Nieheimer is a sour milk cheese made using cow's milk and named after Nieheim, a town in Höxter district in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is prepared from curds that are first formed into a cake form and aged for around five to eight days. ...

– a sour milk cheese made in and named after Nieheim, a town in Höxter district in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.

O

* Obatzda – a Bavarian cheese delicacy prepared by mixing two thirds aged soft cheese, usually Camembert (Romadur or similar cheeses may be used as well) and one third butter.

Q

Quark A quark () is a type of elementary particle and a fundamental constituent of matter. Quarks combine to form composite particles called hadrons, the most stable of which are protons and neutrons, the components of atomic nuclei. All commonly o ...

- a fresh, mild cheese, in Germany, quark is sold in small plastic tubs and usually comes in three different varieties, ''Magerquark'' (lean quark, virtually fat-free), "regular" quark (20% fat in dry mass) and ''Sahnequark'' (creamy quark, 40% fat in dry mass) with added cream. In addition to that, quark is sold lightly sweetened with a variety of fruits as a dessert (similar to yoghurt).

R

* Rauchkäse – a German variety of smoked cheese, known for being semi-soft with a smoky brown rind.Encyclopedia of Cheese, igourmet.com
/ref> The most famous variety is Bruder Basil, named for dairy entrepreneur Basil Weixler. * Romadur – This is a cow's milk cheese with pungent flavor.Cheese For Dummies – Culture Magazine
/ref> It is one of the most popular cheeses in Germany.

S

* Spundekäs – a spiced cream cheese, originally from the region of Northern Rhenish Hesse. Nowadays, it is often enjoyed in the areas of Rhenish Hesse and the

Rheingau The Rheingau (; ) is a region on the northern side of the Rhine between the German towns of Wiesbaden and Lorch near Frankfurt, reaching from the Western Taunus to the Rhine. It is situated in the German state of Hesse and is part of the Rheing ...

area. It is especially popular in wine houses in the region, served with soft pretzels, accompanying regional wine. It is classically made of cream cheese and

, and seasoned with salt, pepper and paprika. It is somewhat similar to Obatzda.

T

* Tilsit cheese – a light yellow semi-hard

smear-ripened Washed-rind or smear-ripened cheeses are cheeses which are periodically treated with brine or mold-bearing agents. This encourages the growth of certain bacteria on their surface which give them distinctive flavors. There are Hard cheese, hard and ...

cheese, created in the mid-19th century by Prussian-Swiss settlers, the Westphal family, from the Emmental valley.

W

Weißlacker Weisslacker (or ''Weißlacker'') (German for "whitewashed" due to the rind color), also known as bierkäse and beer cheese, is a type of cow's milk cheese that originated in Germany, but is now known worldwide. Also produced in the United States, ...

– (German for "whitewashed" due to the rind color) or Beer cheese is a type of cow's milk

cheese Cheese is a dairy product produced in wide ranges of flavors, textures, and forms by coagulation of the milk protein casein. It comprises proteins and fat from milk, usually the milk of cows, buffalo, goats, or sheep. During production, ...

that originated in Germany, but is now known worldwide. It is a pungent and salted surface-ripened cheese that starts out much like brick cheese.

Z

* Ziegel – prepared from cow's milk.German Cooking: Five Generations of Family Recipes - Eleanor A. Hinsch
p. 24. File:Obazter leicht.jpg, Light Obazter in a tub File:Obatzter-1.jpg, A plate of Obatzda, garnished with white and green onion File:Tilsit cheese.jpg, Tilsit

References

{{Regional cuisine of Germany

Cheeses Cheese is a dairy product produced in wide ranges of flavors, textures, and forms by coagulation of the milk protein casein. It comprises proteins and fat from milk, usually the milk of cows, buffalo, goats, or sheep. During production, ...

German cheeses

German cheeses

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See also

References