5 Surprising Facts You Should Know About Cheese, According to an Expert

Just because you’re a cheese connoisseur at home — like myself — doesn’t mean you're an expert. When it comes to the wide world of dairy products, with all its different ages, rinds, textures, aromas, and tastes, a true professional can uncover tips and insights that you might never have learned on your own.

World-renowned cheese expert Cathy Strange appeared on a recent episode of the podcast Radio Cherry Bombe, with host and Cherry Bombe founder Kerry Diamond, to divulge some of her best fun facts and industry knowledge. Although she is currently the ambassador of culture for Whole Foods Market, Strange was previously the global cheese buyer for the supermarket chain for more than two decades and served as its vice president of specialty and global cheese. She has also judged a number of internationally prestigious cheese competitions, including the World Championship Cheese Contest and World Cheese Awards. As Diamond puts it in their interview, Strange is indeed the cheese queen.

Related: More Cheese, Please! These Are the 6 Best Cheese Subscription Boxes

As someone who can only hope to attain a fraction of the cheese knowledge Strange holds, I paid close attention, not only coming away with some tips for buying and serving cheese, but also a few fun facts that will make great party fodder.

Cheese is one of the most stolen items in the world

Step aside, diamonds and gold, what criminals are really on the hunt for, according to Strange, is cheese. While more recent data is difficult to surface, a 2011 study from the United Kingdom’s Center for Retail Research found cheese was the most frequently stolen item in the world. A lot of this theft is small-scale shoplifting, but major cheese heists have also been on the rise in recent years.

Strange points out that in October of this year, nearly $400,000 dollars’ worth of award-winning cheddar was stolen from famed London proprietor Neal’s Yard Dairy. In 2022, 161 wheels of cheese valued at a total of $23,000 were taken from a Dutch Dairy Farm, and that’s just one of several big cheese heists that have plagued the industry since 2016. This might seem surprising — stealing alcohol is a more obvious choice — but cheese is a luxury product, especially when it comes to artisan varieties, and can be resold at high prices on the black market.

Related: Scammers Stole More than 20 Tons of Cheddar Worth Nearly $400,000 From This Famed Shop in London

Mozzarella is the most popular cheese in the United States

When Kerry Diamond asks Strange, “Is mozzarella still the number one cheese?” the Whole Foods expert confirms that it is, but she also emphasizes why. In 2023, mozzarella was the most popular type of cheese in the United States, with 12.45 pounds consumed per capita — and cheddar coming in at a close second, with 11.83 pounds per capita.

As Strange explains, “But think of why? Pizza.” Americans might not be regularly eating slabs of mozzarella in a Caprese salad, but according to the USDA, on any given day about 11% of the population in the United States will eat pizza. With over 334 million people in the country, that’s a lot of pizzas. Flavor and price also contribute to mozzarella’s popularity — it has a mild, fresh taste, which makes it easy for a lot of people to enjoy, and it’s a more affordable cheese because it doesn’t need to be aged.

Related: 32 Luscious Mozzarella and Burrata Cheese Recipes

American cheese is inspiring the industry

European cheeses have long dominated the world rankings for best cheeses — the continent took home 13 out of the 14 top spots at the recent World Cheese Awards — but Strange says that “[American] cheese makers are inspiration to the world right now. They are an inspiration, and everyone now is catching back up with us,” and “It's a very respected environment for American cheese producers.”

One of the cheese queen’s favorite producers in the United States is Jasper Hill Farm, which happened to place fifth in the 2024 World Cheese Awards' Top 14 Cheeses, with its fudgy, nutty, and peppery Bayley Hazen Blue. It would also be remiss not to mention the cheese that was declared the best cheddar in the world this year, which didn’t come from the cheese’s place of origin in the United Kingdom, but instead hails from Oregon — this West Coast winner was Tillamook Creamery’s Maker’s Reserve 2014 Extra Sharp White Cheddar.

Related: Why Every Cheese Fan Needs to Pilgrimage to Cheddar, England

Cheese is seasonal

When Cathy Strange notes that there’s always cheese in her refrigerator, but “It would just be a different cheese, different time of year because cheese is very seasonal,” I was confused at first. Did she mean that some cheeses are better suited for the holidays? But a deeper dive reveals that cheese does actually have seasonal differences in flavor and production.

The way an animal’s milk tastes is largely dependent on its diet — milk has terroir like wine. As a cow or goat’s diet changes throughout the year, so does the flavor of its milk. If a dairy is producing a fresh cheese — like mozzarella or ricotta — constantly, then different batches of cheese may have slightly different flavors from the milk’s seasonal terroir. For example, a fresh cheese made with summer milk will have grassy notes, as animals are grazing on green pastures.

Some cheeses are only made during certain seasons, because they require a particular flavor profile of milk. Le Gruyère d'Alpage AOP is exclusively produced in the summer months, when cows can dine on the alpine flora of higher altitudes in the mountains. Because Gruyère is a fairly aged cheese, which helps it last longer, you can still likely find it year-round. But for seasonal cheeses with shorter shelf lives — like the gooey, fresh Alpine cheese Vacherin Mont d’Or, which is only made in the winter — this means there are a limited number of months that they’re available.

For a better cheese board, leverage the power of fun shapes

If you’re searching for cheese board advice, Cathy Strange should be the first source you turn to. And one of her tips for improving the snack spread you put out at any holiday party is incredibly easy to do. Strange says that when creating a cheese platter, “I cut all the cheeses into very unique, spacey kinds of shapes so that it just engages people. So they're talking more about wanting to try it because it looks unique.” This is an idea you can incorporate with any kind of firm cheese, and an easy way to make a regular cheddar seem more exciting — just grab a pairing knife or some cookie cutters, and create stars, triangles, hearts, or whatever cheese shape you desire.

The Whole Foods ambassador notes that she especially loves to do this with Gruyère, and one of her go-to techniques is to “use a pastry knife to cut up my Gruyère so [it looks] like French fries. And then I bring an aioli that I'm adding fresh tomato paste in it, so it looks like ketchup, but it's really an aioli to dip the fries in.” I can guarantee you I would have rave reviews for any party that includes a plate of cheese “fries” and aioli for dunking.

Read the original article on Food & Wine