A play on the Bel Paese name and fame. Weight one pound and diminutive in every other way.

Bergkase _see_ Allgauer.

Bergquara _Sweden_

Semihard, fat, resembles Dutch Gouda. Tangy, pleasant taste. Gets sharper with age, as they all do. Molded in cylinders of fifteen to forty pounds. Popular in Sweden since the eighteenth century.

Berkeley _England_

Named after its home town in Gloucester, England.

Berliner Kuhkase _Berlin, Germany_

Cow cheese, pet-named turkey c.o.c.k cheese by Berlin students. Typical German hand cheese, soft; aromatic with caraway seeds, and that's about the only difference between it and Alt Kuhkase, without caraway.

Bernarde, Formagelle Bernarde _Italy_

Cow's whole milk, to which about 10% of goat's milk is added for flavor. Cured for two months.

Berques _France_

Made of skim milk.

Berry Rennet _see_ Withania.

Bessay, le _Bourbonnais, France_

Soft, mild, and creamy.

Bexhill _England_

Cream cheeses, small, flat, round. Excellent munching.

Bierkase _Germany_

There are several of these unique beer cheeses that are actually dissolved in a stein of beer and drunk down with it in the Bierstubes, notably Bayrischer, Dresdener, and Olmutzer. Semisoft; aromatic; sharp. Well imitated in _echt Deutsche_ American spots such as Milwaukee and Hoboken.

Bifrost _Norway_

Goat; white; mildly salt. Imitated in a process spread in 4-1/4-ounce package.

Binn _Wallis, Switzerland_

Exceptionally fine Swiss from the great cheese canton of Wallis.

Bitto _Northern Italy_

Hard Emmentaler type made in the Valtellina. It is really two cheeses in one. When eaten fresh, it is smooth, sapid, big-eyed Swiss. When eaten after two years of ripening, it is very hard and sharp and has small eyes.

Blanc a la creme _see_ Fromage Blanc.

Blanc _see_ Fromage Blanc I and II.

Bleu _France_

Brittle; blue-veined; smooth; biting.

Bleu d'Auvergne or Fromage Bleu _Auvergne, France_

Hard; sheep or mixed sheep, goat or cow; from Pontgibaud and Laqueuille ripening caves. Similar to better-known Cantal of the same province. Akin to Roquefort and Stilton, and to Bleu de Laqueuille.

Bleu de Ba.s.sillac _Limousin, France_

Blue mold of Roquefort type that's prime from November to May.

Bleu de Laqueuille _France_

Similar to Bleu d'Auvergne, but with a different savor. Named for its originator, Antoine Roussel-Laqueuille, who first made it a century ago, in 1854.

Bleu de Limousin, Fromage _Lower Limousin_

Practically the same as Bleu de Ba.s.sillac, from Lower Limousin.

Bleu de Salers _France_

A variety of Bleu d'Auvergne from the same province distinguished for its blues that are green. With the majority, this is at its best only in the winter months, from November to May.

Bleu, Fromage _see_ Bleu d'Auvergne.

Bleu-Olivet _see_ Olivet.

Blind

The name for cheeses lacking the usual holes of the type they belong to, such as blind Swiss.

Block Edam _U.S.A._

U.S. imitation of the cla.s.sical Dutch cheese named after the town of Edam.

Block, Smoked _Austria_

The name is self-explanatory and suggests a well-colored meerschaum.

Bloder, or Schlicker Milch _Switzerland_

Sour-milker.

Blue Cheddar _see_ Cheshire-Stilton.