Hard Cheese

Firm and hard cheeses are made with cow, goat, and ewe’s milk, and vary greatly in appearance and production methods. Firm cheeses have a longer shelf life than softer cheeses, and have a lot of flavour due to a typically longer aging process.

Appenzeller

Uncooked, pressed Swiss cheese made with raw milk and washed in brine made of herbs and white wine to give it a unique flavour. It has been produced in the northeastern Appenzeller region of Switzerland for over seven hundred years.

Gruyere

Gruyere is named after the village of its origin in the canton of Fribourg, where it is still made in the mountains. The cheese has a pale yellow interior, which is sparsely scattered with pea-sized holes. It has a sweet, fruity flavour, significant aroma and a coarse reddish rind. Traditionally used in fondues, this cheese may also command attention as a stand-alone appetizer or on a fruit and cheese plate.

Emmentaler

Also known as Emmental and in North America as Swiss Cheese, this is a cheese made from cow’s milk in the Swiss mountains. The firm thick, oily, golden interior has evenly distributed olive-shaped holes and a soft fruity flavour.

Kaltbach Gruyere (Cave Aged)

Swiss hard cheese made from silo-free raw milk.  Strong and harmonious, yet not at all salty or sharp.  No preservatives. Although it is a hard cheese, this cave-aged Gruyere melts in your mouth straightaway and unfolds its characteristic rich, spicy flavour on the palate, caressing it with a lingering aftertaste that has no hint of sharpness or saltiness.

Parrano

Combines the flavour and aroma of aged Parmesan with the firm, smooth texture of a classic Dutch Gouda cheese. Its taste is slightly sweet with a nutty flavour.

Manchego D.O.P

Aged three months or longer, Manchego is the most well-known sheep’s milk cheese in Spain. Its taste is well developed but not too strong, buttery and slightly salted. The interior is firm and compact with small, irregular eyes. The colour is ivory to pale yellow. The longer it is aged, the stronger its flavour becomes, so if you prefer a mild cheese go with a younger one.

Queso Iberico

From Central Spain made from the mixture of cow's, sheep's ot goat's milk. That is why the flavour has elements of all three. Sometimes Queso Iberico is mistaken for Manchego. The affinage usually takes from one to six months. It is a table cheese but could be perfectly used for grating and grilling.

Cheddar with Guinness

Aged cheddar infused with Guinness has a distinctive marbled look and a deep, nutty taste that tastes best when accompanied with - you guessed it - Guinness. This cheese also tastes lovely in a French Onion soup.

Dubliner

A sweet mature cheese, this cheese has a sharp, nutty bite and a firm texture. Aged for twelve months, the recipe is secret and guarded by the company that makes it, Kerrygold.

Jarlsberg

Made from the rich milk of cows grazing in high summer pastures, Jarlsberg has a fermenting fruit tang flavour and a rich, lemony-yellow colour.

Also available: Jarlsberg Light and Jarlsberg Smoked

Tournevent Chevre Noir Aged Cheddar

Tournevent is the leading producer of goat cheese in Quebec, and its Tournevent Chevre Noir, a goat cheddar, has won many North American cheese awards. A firm cheese with a melting and delicately crystalline interior, featuring a caramelized buttery taste and a pleasant lingering saltiness.

Beemster Classic

Beemster Classic is matured for eighteen months to ensure a wonderfully complex taste and a deep, rich caramel colour.

Beemster Premium Goat

Goat’s milk is more easily digestible than cow’s milk, and it is higher in proteins than cow’s milk. Using their unmatched smooth and creamy goat’s milk, Beemster’s Premium Goat cheese is smooth and silky, yet tasteful and aromatic.

Castle Gouda

Mild, Medium and Spicy flavours of this old standby of cheeses are available at Denninger’s. Gouda is named after the town of its origin, where it is still made and traded. Gouda can be served young or aged, with caramel flavours developing in the cheese as it ripens.

Balderson Heritage Cheddar, 5Yr

Years of careful aging and nurturing produce a fully matured sharpness and flavour with a dry but rich, crumbly texture. Really the perfect match of texture and flavour in a cheese. While Balderson’s cheddars would shine in a recipe where cheddar was the star, they are best reserved for the cheese board where they tend to disappear faster than you can say “cheese”.

Parmiggiano Reggiano

Imitators of this cheese are called “Parmesan” - this is the original. A hard, granular cheese, cooked but not pressed, the name of this cheese is protected under appellation laws similar to those governing wine. In its gourmet incarnation, this cheese is suitable for table as well as more traditional uses such as grating and alfredo sauce.

Drumloch

Drumloch is an award-winning cheddar cheese made using the milk of Scottish Guernsey cows. It has a beautiful creamy texture, a wonderful clean odour, and a light golden colour.

English Hard Territorial Cheeses

These firm cheeses are in a category of their own. Perhaps the most famous example of an English Territorial cheese is Cheddar, but the category includes many others: Stilton, Cheshire, Caerphilly, Lancashire, Gloucester, Double Gloucester, and others.  Each is named after the region or territory where it is made. What distinguishes these cheeses is their acidic flavour profile and crumbly, chalky texture.  This is a result of the production technique commonly known as “cheddaring.” Denniger’s carries the following hard territorial cheeses:

Cheshire

A dense and crumbly cheese that is one of the oldest in England’s history, and one of the most popular. It is aged to sufficient hardness to survive travel to market, and that aging has continued into modern times to help it retain its distinctive taste and texture. Its taste is comparable to a mild Cheddar, unless aged significantly or infused with moulds to resemble a Blue.

Cheddar with Caramelized Onions

This delightful cheese marries the sublime taste of caramelized onions with an aged cheddar.

Cheddar with Ale and Mustard

The Ale in question is Old Speckled Hen, a British favourite. The mustard is Pilgrim’s Choice.

Coastal Cheddar

Billed as a “rugged mature” cheddar by the company, this cheddar has captured the hearts of cheddar lovers around the world who want to know where to buy it - Denninger’s, naturally. Aged for 15 months to impart a delicate, sweet flavour.

Lancashire

This cheese comes in three varieties; creamy, tasty, and crumbly. Creamy Lancashire is the original and is aged for twelve weeks, sporting a milder taste, and the ability to not get stringy when melted. Tasty is aged longer, from 12 to 24 weeks. Crumbly is aged less than creamy, for only 6-8 weeks, to achieve the crumbly texture.

Red Leicester

This cheese features a reddish-orange rind with a powdery mould. It was made with any mild leftover from Stilton production, and was originally coloured with carrot or beet juice. It is like a cheddar, but crumblier, and often used in Welsh rarebit.

Single Gloucester

Single Gloucester cheese is made from milk from Gloucestershire breed cows farmed within the English county of Gloucestershire. It is a semi-hard cheese that is made from unpasteurized milk. It is lower in fat and more crumbly than its Double counterpart.

Double Gloucester

Double Gloucester cheese is Gloucester cheese that has been aged longer and has a sharper, more piquant taste than Single as a result.

Wensleydale

Wensleydale cheese has a place very close to Stilton as one of the finest English cheeses. Originally made by French monks who were imports from the Roquefort region. As can be expected, blue moulds were used in the production of the cheese, which is made from a blend of cow’s and sheep’s milk. The popular child’s program Wallace & Grommit was responsible for a 23% increase in the sale of Wensleydale cheese, whose sales had been suffering for some years. The flavour has been likened to an acidic wild honey.

Caerphilly

This hard, light-coloured cheese has a light taste and a finishing sour tang. It was a staple in the diet of the coal miners of the area. Traditional Caerphilly is dry in the middle and creamy around the edges.

Applewood Smoked Cheddar

This cheddar is not smoked, but treated with a smoke flavouring that brings out the taste of the cheddar. The rind is coated with paprika, which gives it an orange appearance.