5 of the Sources that Inspire Weird Cheese Names

Editor’s note: We can learn a lot about the culture of cheese by how cheeses are named. Contributor Carlos Yescas highlights several ways in which we end up with some of the weirdest cheese names.

1. Religion

What’s in a cheese name? Stinking Bishop, Sainte Nitouche, Tête de Moine.

Cheese names that reference Catholic monasteries and religious figures are evocative of the early connection between cheesemaking and Christendom. Cheeses like Sainte Maure de Touraine or Caciocavallo delle Monache Irpino (caciocavallo of the nuns from Irpinia) are both indicative of place and the importance that religion played in people’s lives.

However, not all religious connections are deferential, some are outright odd. Take for example Stinking Bishop, the cheese popularized by Wallace and Gromit. A washed-rind cheese with a reputation for a smell so pungent that it could revive people. Surely it never referred to an actual Bishop, not that some of those men under medieval clothing aren’t strongly smelling

2. Everything Sounds Better in French!

The bald heads of monks are inspiration for the Swiss Tête de Moine, while women’s virginity is the cause of mockery by the Canadian goat’s milk cheese Sainte Nitouche. But the oddities of naming cheese don’t stop there, as there are many cheeses that use scatological references. The short-lived “Toilet Paper: oh-so-soft” created by Lazy Lady Farm during the early days of the pandemic was said to be named after the much sought after item of the time. Perhaps the fact that the cheese was named in English made it less appealing to consumers stateside. But name something in French and even an unappealing horse dropping becomes a delicacy to eat on top of salads. I should say that I do like my Crottin a bit crustier and firmer than most.

3. The Human Body

File:Queso tetilla entre otros.jpg" by Ardo Beltz is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0

Women’s bodies are also a common source of inspiration. From the French “Sein de Nounou” to the Spanish “Tetilla” simple mounts of curd are recognized as wet nurses’ breasts or small bosom, respectively. While others have recognized those mounts as a “Blue Brain” or a “Cannonball” or even a devil's suppository in the affectionate nickname of Boulette d'Avesnes.

Many in the Americas have borrowed European names and transformed them. Unfortunately not all remain. Mexico’s tetilla from Nayarit has disappeared completely. I hope that “Womanchego” made by Cato Corner Farm in Connecticut stays around for long time.

4. Portmanteau

Plays on words sometimes deliver strange names, like Fetish, a feta-style cheese made in England by White Lake Cheese and also a cheese made by Urstrom Kaese in Germany. Sometimes it creates wonderfully funny names that give new terroir to a well known cheese style. From Patagonzola, a Gorgonzola style made in Patagonia, Argentina by Mauricio Tony Couly for Queseria Ventimiglia; to Oregonzola, a similar cheese made in the US by Rogue Creamery; to Galmesano, a grana style cheese in the style of Parmigiano Reggiano made in Galicia, Spain.

Mixing words is not only for non-Europeans naming new cheeses. Sometimes cheesemakers (or marketing executives) just want to create something that is catchy, like Cabricharme, Chevrotin, or Carboncino.

5. Shapes

The form of the cheese can also give inspiration to a cheese name. From the traditional Coeur de Neufchâtel with its heart shape, to the Lágrimas de San Lorenzo in the form of a teardrop, to the flying saucer shape of Ovni (UFO in Spanish) made by Gabriela Flores for Quesos del Rebaño in Queretaro, Mexico. While the iconic British flying saucer cheese from Devon wasn’t named for its shape, its name is amusing nonetheless, Ticklemore.

I want to thank @thecheeseexpolorer, @milkstreetcheese, @louvreofcheese, @pilarrau, @carina.caseificio, @thecheesepoet, and @disco daerie for their name contributions to this story. If you think of any other funny, odd, weird cheese names you can send them to me via Instagram @CarlosYescas