Dishes Enhanced with Cheese

There are four basic types of cheese—the very hard, the firm, the semisoft and the soft. The very hard cheeses are commonly used for grating-one of these which you’ll find often in this cookbook is Parmesan.

In the firm cheese branch of the family the Cheddars are famous, with mild or sharp flavors, depending on their cure. Cheddar holds its flavor through heating—that’s one of the reasons it’s the favorite in cooking. Gouda and Swiss, the “cheese with eyes,” also belong in the firm group.

Some of the best known semisoft cheeses are those with a blue mold, like the Roquefort of France and blue cheese of Denmark and the United States. Gorgonzola of Italian ancestry and Stilton, as British as John Bull, are other examples.