Pressed, Cooked Cheeses

Also subject to pressing, cheeses in this group are further transformed by cooking. Emmental (known generically as Swiss) cheese, for instance, owes its distinctive holes to the gas bubbles that are formed when its bacteria are heated. Cooking also contributes to the evaporation of whey. This effect is most evident in hard cheeses like Romano and Parmesan, which are both cooked and very firmly pressed. Semi-hard cheeses in the pressed and cooked category include Gruyère, Fontina, and Asiago.