The best cheese in the world in 2021 is Spanish 0:57
(CNN) -
It's a universally recognized truth that (almost) everyone loves cheese.
And it's almost as universally recognized a truth that Europe makes some of the best.
Here are ancient cheeses.
There are cheeses invented centuries ago by monks, cheeses that appear in classical literature, and cheeses with intentionally unsavory names to encourage people to try them.
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The big stinker: that's the literal translation of the name of this cheese, the Puzzone di Moena originally from Italy.
Check out some of our other favorite European cheeses in the gallery.
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The future is orange: Vieux-Boulogne cheese is the stinkiest in the world.
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Jarlsberg cheese, sweet and with a nutty flavor, is the most famous in Norway.
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The star of the show: Manchego cheese is so popular that it was even mentioned in "El Quijote".
Made from unpasteurized sheep's milk, it is cured between a couple of months and a couple of years, and the longer it is, the stronger and crispier.
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Salty: Roman pecorino is the perfect pair to finish a pasta.
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The Gray Line: The thin gray line on morbier cheese is actually ash that is added between two layers of milk.
It is smooth and creamy, with a bitter aftertaste.
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Smoked: Metsovone cheese, originally from Greece, is often produced smoked and works well on the grill.
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Gouda cheese is one of the best known in the Netherlands.
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Bitto cheese, in danger of extinction, is one of the most expensive cheeses.
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Cabrales, from Asturias, in the north of Spain, is the most expensive cheese in the world.
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Comté cheese is sweet, but nutty, with a nice touch of salt, and has a Gruyère-like flavor.
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This can make your stomach turn: callu de cabrettu is prepared in a kid's stomach filled with breast milk.
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Bryndza cheese, originally from Slovakia, is often served in a dish similar to gnocchi.
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Gruyer - Sweet and salty, it is a European favorite.
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Danish havarti cheese melts very well under the grill, and it is also a good cheese to eat sliced.
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Another cheese that grills very well: Halloumi, hailing from Cyprus, is salty, chewy and squeaky and grills to perfection.
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Grana padano is also an excellent ally of pasta, and at a lower price than Parmesan.
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Holiday Cheese: Blueberry Wensleydale Cheese is a must-see for UK festivities.
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Gubbeen cheese is the most prized in Ireland.
It has a nice wrinkled crust, a soft and semi-soft interior, and a mild flavor.
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Treat it with care: Serra de Estrela cheese is so rare that it is protected by the European Union.
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Although you can find cheddar in almost any supermarket, the best ones come from the Cheddar region in England where they are cured in the traditional way inside caves.
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There are stinky cheeses, ash-added cheeses, cheeses made with methods that can turn your stomach, and some of the most expensive cheeses on the planet.
Everyone has their own favorite cheese, of course, but here are 22 of ours:
Grana padano
Cheaper than Parmesan, Grana Padano is the workhorse of Italian pasta dishes.
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Everyone knows Parmesan, of course, but you may not be as familiar with this workhorse of Italian cheeses, the grana padano.
Like Parmesan, it comes from Emilia Romagna in northern Italy, and like Parmesan, its nutty flavor and hard flaky texture are perfect for sprinkling on salad or grating on pasta.
However, it is usually a bit cheaper than Parmesan;
in fact, what you think is Parmesan may actually be grana padano, which has a slightly milder flavor.
That doesn't mean it's not good: try it chunks to enjoy its grainy texture, and spread a little chutney or fruit jelly on top.
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Gruyer
Everyone loves sweet and salty Gruyère.
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Sweet or salt?
Gruyère gives you both, plus a distinctive nutty flavor that reduces sweetness.
Made in Switzerland, the town of Gruyères itself enjoys a protected status for its cheese, which is one of the most appreciated cheeses in Europe, works perfectly with chutney or jam, or incorporated into recipes (even the simplest, such as a croque monsieur).
Serra da Estrela
The Serra de Estrela is so rare that it is officially a protected cheese.
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This strong cheese, highly appreciated by the Portuguese, is classified as an endangered product by the Slow Food movement, and is protected by the European Union.
This means that it can only be produced in a small area of the mountainous Serra da Estrela region, and that producers must follow strict procedures.
Made during the winter months from sheep's milk, it is a spreadable cheese that has a great flavor.
What is the healthiest cheese?
These are the best options, according to experts
Halloumi
If you've been to Greece, you've likely eaten grilled halloumi.
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If you've been to Greece, you've likely had the pleasure of eating halloumi - a salty, chewy, crisp cheese that grills to perfection.
Usually a mixture of sheep and goat milk, halloumi is native to Cyprus but is now a staple throughout Greece and the eastern Mediterranean.
Roast until golden and crispy on the outside for the best experience.
Cheddar
Watch out for cheap, tasteless cheddars.
Authentic ones taste great.
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You may think you know cheddar, but the cheap and tasteless you usually find in supermarkets doesn't ask for anything from the real thing.
The true cheddar, from the city of the same name, in the southwest of England, is a very complete cheese, which goes very well on its own, with chutney, in recipes or in a simple grilled sandwich.
The best cheese can have even tiny crystals - no wonder more than half of the cheeses sold in the UK are cheddar.
Manchego
The longer the manchego is cured, it becomes more tasty and crisp.
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It's not the king of Spanish cheeses for a reason: strong enough, without being unpleasant, hard but with a nice crunchy edge and can be perfectly paired with quince jam.
Even Cervantes named him in "Don Quixote", such is his popularity.
Made from unpasteurized sheep's milk, it is cured between a couple of months and a couple of years, and the longer it is, the stronger and crispier.
Morbier
The Morbier has an ash streak running through it.
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The gray vein running through the center makes morbier one of the prettiest cheeses on our list.
In fact, it is ash, spread over the first layer before adding the second (originally, it was made with morning and afternoon milk, although this is no longer the case).
The protected morbier is smooth and creamy, with a slightly bitter aftertaste that prevents it from going unnoticed.
Bitto
Bitto, in danger of extinction, is one of the most expensive cheeses.
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This 2,000-year-old cheese, made in the Bergamo Alps of northern Italy with cow's and goat's milk, has the category of "Presidio Slow Food", which means that it is an endangered product, which is usually made cost more than the price at which it is sold.
However, the latter is not necessarily true for bitto, as the good product, which can be aged for up to 10 years, can command some of the highest prices on the planet for cheese.
Havarti
Danish Havarti is an excellent cheese for grilling.
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Not only does halloumi grill well.
Havarti melts very well under the grill, and it also makes a good cheese to eat sliced.
With a mild and semi-strong flavor, it takes its name from Havartigården, Hanne Nielsen's farm, who toured Europe to learn the best cheese-making techniques, before returning to Denmark and working her magic with local milk.
Wensleydale
Wensleydale with fruits like blackberries and lingonberries is a party classic in the UK.
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Cheddar may be the most famous cheese in the UK, but few Britons would live without wensleydale.
Especially at Christmas when blueberry-stuffed wensleydale is a must-have on cheese platters.
Made by the monks of northern England since medieval times, its mild flavor and crumbly texture have made it one of the most popular cheeses in the country;
It is even the favorite cheese of the cartoon characters Wallace and Gromit.
In Yorkshire (where it originates from), wensleydale is usually eaten with the famous “fruit cake”.
Cabrales
Cabrales is the most expensive cheese in the world.
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There are blue cheeses, and then there is the cabrales, from Asturias, in the north of Spain, and matured in caves for up to five months.
Especially strong, thanks to its blue-green streaks and goat's milk mixed with cow's and sheep's milk, it is semi-hard, very salty and super delicious.
Spread it on a cracker, but take the time to savor it: In 2019, a 1.8 kilogram wheel of cabrales sold at auction for a whopping $ 22,890, making it the most expensive cheese in the world.
I comté
The sweet Comté cheese from France has a lot in common with the Gruyère.
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If you think it tastes like Gruyère, you are correct: it is made in the Franche-Comté region of France, on the border with Switzerland, and is also known as Gruyère de Comté.
Again, it is sweet, but nutty, with a nice touch of salt, while the consistency is just as tough.
However, devotees of both suggest that the comté is a bit creamier.
It is best if you try the two together to judge for yourself.
Roman pecorino
Salty Roman pecorino goes well with pasta.
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This is another one of the great Italian cheeses for everything.
Like parmesan and grana padano, it is often grated to sprinkle over pasta, but while the other two are nutty, pecorino tastes like salt.
It can be made in different areas: Sardinia makes a great Roman pecorino, as does Lazio, where it originates from, but it is always made with sheep's milk (pecora) and it is always hard, flaky and brimming with salt.
Rome's famous pasta dishes, gricia and amatriciana, use pecorino.
Bryndza
Bryndza cheese is often served with a gnocchi-like paste.
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Bryndza, a crisp and strong white cheese, is best known for being originally from Slovakia, but it is consumed throughout the Carpathian region, and its name derives from the Romanian word for cheese.
Its slightly tart flavor and spreadable character make it an excellent topping for dishes, such as bryndzové halušky, a popular Slovak pasta dish similar to gnocchi.
Gouda
Gouda is the most famous cheese in the Netherlands.
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The Netherlands is known for its cheeses: the weekly Alkmaar cheese market, which recreates traditional weighing and transport, is one of the country's must-sees.
There you will find the counters full of gouda, perhaps the most famous cheese.
Bright orange in color, it has been made since medieval times (the first written reference to it is from 1184).
This cheese is aged from a few months to a few years, and while younger cheeses are softer and almost sweet in taste, the wheels get harder and more nutty the longer they age.
Callu de cabrettu
The callu de cabrettu will not be to everyone's taste.
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You may have heard of casu marzu, the most dangerous cheese in the world, but it is unlikely that you will buy it, as its sale is prohibited.
Instead, try this goat cheese, also made in Sardinia, known for its sheep and shepherds.
If you're squeamish, look the other way: cheese is made from the stomach of a young kid, still full of mother's milk.
The stomach is tied, hung and aged naturally, until it becomes a strong, almost creamy cheese.
A cheese for fans.
Metsovone
Metsovone is a typical Greek cheese.
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You already know feta, of course;
now is the time to try a lesser known Greek cheese.
Metsovone comes from the remote region in the north of the country, or more accurately, from a mountain town called Metsovo.
Made with cow's milk, alone or mixed with a little sheep or goat, it is semi-hard and is naturally smoked.
Like the other Greek staple, halloumi, it lends itself especially well to the grill.
Vieux-Boulogne
This soft-looking cheese is the most fragrant in the world.
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It is said that this is the stinkiest cheese in the world, which is not a small thing, especially since it comes from France, where intense is in fashion.
Made in the northern coastal Pas-de-Calaise region since the 1980s, it's not pasteurized or pressed, making it squishy and smelly under that bright orange rind.
Don't forget to serve it with a piece of baguette.
Jarlsberg
Jarlsberg is a product of Norway.
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You might think that the sweet cheese with large holes is only from Switzerland, but the sweet, nutty Jarlsberg is originally from Norway, although the Swiss Emmenthal was introduced to the area in the 19th century, before the Jarlsberg emerged. .
It is also produced under license in Ireland and the United States, specifically in Ohio.
The "best cheese in the world" 2021 is Spanish
Gubbeen
This cheese is also produced smoked, as in this photo.
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Ireland's most prized cheese has a nice wrinkled rind, a soft and semi-soft interior, and a mild, if slightly nutty flavor.
Do you want something stronger?
There is also a smoked version.
An interesting fact: the bark is washed daily during the healing process.
Puzzone di Moena
This cheese is called "big stinker."
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The name means "The Big Stinky Moena", and that should give you an idea of what this one tastes like, hailing from Trentino in northern Italy.
It is a traditional cheese of the Ladino people, a distinct ethnic group living in the Dolomites, which was originally popular with agricultural workers, who liked it to spice up their limited diet.
It was originally called Fassa Nostrano, but its name was changed in 1974, after a radio broadcast.
Now, it is popular with people who want to eat it just because of the name.
Lüneberg
The warm orange glow that this Austrian cheese gives off comes from saffron mixed with milk, extracted from cows that graze in the mountain valleys around Voralberg, in the west of the country.
In this area there is a strong Swiss influence.
The result?
It tastes more like a more perfumed and saffron emmental.
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