12 cheeses

West Midlands, England

Britain’s best sheep’s-milk cheese, moulded in kitchen colanders.

Mainland Greece & Lesbos, Greece

Sheep’s milk in brine — and since 2002, only from Greece.

Crete & Naxos, Greece

Greece’s take on Gruyère, made mostly from sheep’s milk.

Basque Country / Navarre, Spain

Basque shepherds’ cheese, smoked because the huts had no chimneys.

The Balkans, Bulgaria

The Balkan cousin of caciocavallo, carried east and kept.

La Mancha, Spain

Manchega sheep, La Mancha scrub, and a rind patterned by esparto grass.

Basque Country / Béarn, France

Basque shepherd’s cheese: sheep’s milk, sweet, and endlessly easy to eat.

Lazio / Sardinia, Italy

Roman legion rations. Salty enough that a little is the whole point.

Serra da Estrela, Portugal

Portugal’s oldest cheese, also set with thistle, also eaten with a spoon.

Aveyron, France

Sheep’s milk, natural caves, and a salt level that stops the conversation.

Extremadura, Spain

Set with wild thistle instead of rennet, and eaten with a spoon through the lid.

Vermont, United States

Made only in summer, aged in a cave dug into a Vermont hillside.