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Everyone knows that France used to be the best country for cheese until it was overtaken by the UK about 10 years ago.

So this puts the UK no.1 and France no.2, but which country comes in at 3?

I've guessing that Italy and Spain are well up the batting order, but Norway may be in with a shout, having recently won the award of the world's best cheese.

The new champion is a gouda style cheese called Fanaost, produced in very small quantities by a farmer near Bergen who only has 12 cows.

Norway also won in 2016 so I reckon the Norse are coming!

UK's No. 1? Bolox

I'd rank as follows:
1. France
2. Italy
3. DACH
4. UK

Terroir in cheese or wine is a bit too shi-shi a metric imo. Im sure it's a lovely cheese regardless. Are you talking about the best country for cheese or the country with the best cheese (singular). The former is far more interesting to me.

Heresy. The best cheese country is the Netherlands. And the best cheese is the original Gouda.
Also, French cheese is generally better than British cheese in my opinion (at least, based on the cheeses that I have tasted).

I'm talking about countries with a good variety of high quality cheeses.

Wisconsin, Hands down

How many cheeses are made in Wisconsin?

So a Norwegian farmer won with a Dutch style cheese. Both Gouda and Edam are Dutch towns with cheeses sold worldwide named after them. In fact, one or both cheeses is/are protected under the same cultural heritage thing as champagne, IIRC.
The French call the Netherlands "l'outre pays du fromage", and our own derogatory nickname for ourselves is "cheeseheads".

But sure, the UK and Norway are supreme cheese countries...

Edit: spelling

Kraft American cheese is the best. Period. Murica all the way!
























It was honestly, pretty damn hard to write that, as a cheese fan. My vote goes for anyone that makes a good Gouda, that stuff is the bees knees

I think there may be a major difference in taste about cheese between countries.

In France, a cheese is supposed to smell bad, taste strong and be nearly as liquid as cream. Other ones are said to be "cheese for people who do not like cheese".

I've been counting cheeses made in Oxfordshire, where I live and work.

We've got a number of commercially available cheeses:

Bix
Blue Monday
College White
Evenlode
Good Queen Maude
Isis
Little Wallop
Oxford Blue
Rollright
St Bartholemew

Plus about 10 more which are highly artisanal and can only be bought at farmers' markets.

Had to Google the Oxford Isis, which jogged my memory, and that is defo one I'll be trying in the new year!

I'm lucky enough to live close to here...

https://www.thecheeselarder.co.uk

According to their website they aim to stock at least 100 varieties of cheese produced in the West Country at any one time. While I'm not sure that's entirely accurate, it's pretty damn close (both in number and geography.)

But I think the Italians have to be third, too many iconic cheeses from that country to not be.

A good cheesemonger is a fine asset to a community. There are two fairly near where I work.

As for the supermarkets, Waitrose has upped their game this year, IMO.

Cheddar.

You’re welcome, rest of the world. You’re welcome.

Pft? The uk?
Na everyone knows that we wannabee dwarfs make the best cheese
(anyone disagreeing will be taken for a tour of our expansive bunker systems and promptly lost in them, and forgotten .)https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.suedostschweiz.ch/zeitung/brisanter-fund-einst-streng-geheimer-glarner-felsfestung%3famp

(translation 10 pz 68 and 2 centurion mk 3 found in classified swiss fortress after everyone forgot that we put it there)

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
Cheddar.

You’re welcome, rest of the world. You’re welcome.

Why? It's terrible.

Oooooh what a lie!

A good, mature Cheddar is the very best you can get.

I'm partial to a good bit of Red Leicester, myself.

Although I do also like Port Salut...

The problem with Cheddar is that unlike Stilton or Champagne, the name was never incorporated into the DOCG system.

This means anyone anywhere in the world can make any kind of cheese they like and call it Cheddar. These industrial cheddars are usually cheddar-like, in the sense of being semi-hard, cow's milk cheeses, because what would be the point of making a cheese similar to Roquefort and calling it Cheddar. But they are pretty slack compared to the real Cheddar.

If you want to try real Cheddar, there is a modern classification called West Country Farmhouse Cheddar. This variety is governed by the DOCG and by law has to be produced by the traditional method, in the traditional locations (Somerset, Devon, etc.)

So, if you want a high quality piece of Cheddar, buy Farmhouse Cheddar

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
Oooooh what a lie!

A good, mature Cheddar is the very best you can get.

False. Fresh, creamy Gouda off milk from the cows' first outing into the fields in the spring is the best. Not the strongest taste in the world, but sooooo creamy.

(On a somewhat serious note, to each their own cheese. Tastes differ, after all.)

Muenster is love, muenster is life. My benchmark for cheese is if I can eat a pound of it and not get sick of it.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
Oooooh what a lie!

A good, mature Cheddar is the very best you can get.

If you like an old cheddar , may I recommend an Uralte Gouda
It's fething crazy ...

Edited for atrocious drunk NYE spelling .. and I think it's still wrong

I dont know how anything available in Australia compares but the cheeses I eat here in SA are mainly the generic Coles 1kg blocks of tasty cheddar. The green packing has a 3 mature rating and these are usually tangy and slightly crumbly. I like these better than the other brands available.

Sometimes I pick up various Camembert/Brie or Blue Veins when theyre reduced. I usually have these on Jatz with either pickled roast capsicum, bread&butter gherkins or dill pickles.

Tangy and crumbly sounds more like what a Cheddar should be.

The industrial Cheddars got a bad rep in the UK from the cheap Dutch made blocks of "plastique" Cheddar.

Yeah, the holy grail of cheddar is a creamy texture with a piquant tang that'll make your gums tingle, but as the maturation process for that flavor makes the cheese crumbly, it's a constant process of give and take.

I've actually moved away from very mature cheddars a lot recently. It's still an excellent cheese, but as I tend to include it more in cooking, or in cheeseburgers etc, a mature cheddar tends to dominate everything it's added to, so I've been using Gouda or a more mild cheddarmore frequently.

 Avatar 720 wrote:
I'm partial to a good bit of Red Leicester, myself.

Someone who speaks sense! Far better than cheddar for all your cheese Toastie needs.


On a slightly related note, I don't get the hype around French food: it's all very fancy but tastes awful, same goes for their cheese. I personally rate Italy as the food capital of the world, not France.

By the extremely scientific method of picking a random website here's exhibit 1.

https://travelaway.me/top-10-destinations-for-cheese-lovers/

Whereby Spain has 3 different locations where other countries top at two.

This of course means Spain is the best country for cheese. Don't try to argue, it's science.

jouso wrote:
By the extremely scientific method of picking a random website here's exhibit 1.

https://travelaway.me/top-10-destinations-for-cheese-lovers/

Whereby Spain has 3 different locations where other countries top at two.

This of course means Spain is the best country for cheese. Don't try to argue, it's science.

I don't know if you can trust that list since it doesn't include Coopers Hill.

Italy, of course

French cheese is overrated, like all their cuisine.