Whether it’s southern Algeria’s smooth white kemariya, Chile’s sweet, salty, semi-hard chanco or pungent British stilton with its veins and pockets of green-blue mould, cheese arouses culinary passions all over the world. While its origins are hard to pinpoint, it’s believed to have first been made around 7,500 years ago, with cheesemaking initially flourishing in the Middle East and Europe before gradually spreading further afield.
It’s a versatile ingredient, although if you want to cook with it, you need to choose the right cheese for the job. For example, halloumi, with its high melting point and firm texture, is ideal for frying or grilling, something best exemplified by the Cypriot dish halloumi saganaki, in which the cheese is seasoned and fried until it has a crispy, golden crust. In Jammu and Kashmir, meanwhile, rounds of soft, stretchy kalari are traditionally sautéed in their own fat and eaten hot, as a street snack.
When heated, fresh, smooth cheeses create a more oozy mess than aged ones, so pick a young cheddar or gruyére for
