People & Place
Cheeses of Asia, Oceania and Africa
Explore the cheeses and curds of Asia, Oceania and Africa through guides to individual names, methods and food traditions. Begin with the questions that interest you most: what a cheese is, how it is made, or how people use it. For a broader starting point, see how cheese is made.
Kalari
In the hills around Udhampur, surplus household milk became small cheeses under women’s hands when selling it fresh was difficult.
Chhurpi
Hold a piece of hard chhurpi in your mouth and wait.
Rushan
Watch a small mass of curd meet a pair of large chopsticks.
Rubing
Morning milking, then evening milking.
Byaslag
Beneath weighted wooden boards, a square cloth holds curds while whey trickles away.
Domiati
Take a bite of fresh Domiati: soft, salty, gently flavoured.
Everything in this section
- WagashiA pale piece of Wagashi meets the pan.
- BandelBreak open a small, flattened disc of Bandel.
- Kalimpong CheeseA wheel of cheese beside a milk lollipop: perhaps not the pairing you had in mind.
- Aaruul and Kurut: Dried Fermented CurdsLook up at a ger roof in Mongolia and you might spot tomorrow's provisions taking the air: a cake of pressed curd, slice
- Kesong PutiSplit a warm pandesal roll and tuck soft white cheese inside.
- AyibFirst comes the butter.
- JbenA little liquid from yesterday’s cheese goes into the next batch.
- TakammartBefore dinner, you may need to grind the cheese.
- Kapiti KikorangiSlide your knife into Kāpiti Kikorangi and gold gives way to blue.
- Pyengana CheddarCool air slips through an underground tunnel beneath Pyengana Dairy’s farmgate café.
- DangkeWatch the whey slip through a hole in a coconut shell.
- Tokachi RacletteA slice melts over potatoes and vegetables.
- RoumySlide a slice into bread and let that savoury bite announce itself.