Hard

The firmest-textured cheeses are yielded by “cooking” or heating curds until they solidify, and then pressing and aging over a long period of time. While fresh or soft-ripened cheeses go from the dairy to the table in a matter of days or weeks, hard cheeses take at least months and sometimes more than a year to mature. This lengthy aging dries and hardens the texture, and sharpens the flavor. It also ensures that hard cheeses have a longer shelf life than other cheese types.