Top 10 Best Cheeses in the World

This hard, granular Italian cheese may only be produced in a strictly defined area around Parma, Reggio Emilia and Modena. A wheel weighs about 40 kilos on average and ripens for at least twelve to more than 36 months according to strict quality standards.

This famous white-mold cheese was developed in 1791 by farmer Marie Harel in the Normandy village of Camembert. It is traditionally packed in thin poplar wood boxes to protect its soft texture during transport.

Gouda cheese is named after the city where it was historically traded and is one of the best-selling cheeses in the world. Aged Gouda ripens for at least ten to twelve months, forming crunchy salt and tyrosine crystals in the cheese.

This fresh, elastic cheese is traditionally made from the milk of the Italian water buffalo in the Campania region. It has held a European Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) since 1996.

Originally from the English village of Cheddar in Somerset, this is one of the most produced and consumed cheeses in the world. Its preparation includes the so-called cheddaring process, in which the curd is repeatedly stacked to drive out moisture.

This hard Swiss cheese has been produced since the twelfth century in the canton of Fribourg without any preservatives. Together with Emmental, it forms the traditional base for Swiss cheese fondue.

This creamy white-mold cheese made from raw cow's milk was crowned the king of cheeses by European diplomats at the Congress of Vienna in 1815. It has an edible soft rind created by the mold Penicillium camemberti.

This hard Spanish cheese is made from the whole milk of Manchega sheep on the high plains of La Mancha. Its rind has a characteristic zigzag pattern that originally came from braided esparto grass.

Feta is a protected traditional cheese made from sheep's milk or a combination with up to 30 percent goat's milk, ripened in brine. Under European law, only brined cheese from certain parts of Greece may be called feta.

This blue cheese made from raw sheep's milk ripens exclusively in the natural limestone caves of Combalou in the south of France. In 1925 it was the very first French cheese to receive an official designation of origin (AOC).