You can ‘scrape’ up a decent meal by melting this deeply satiating, pungent cheese – served with boiled fingerling potatoes, cornichons, and if you’re feeling crazy, some charcuterie. A glass of dry Riesling should push it over the edge…

Raw cow and sheep's milk from the French Pyrénées are blended to produce this beautiful cheese. Washed in brine to enhance its fruity flavors, the paste is deviously custard-like and rich.

It may look like Taleggio, but this pudgy square threatens to put its European cousin to shame. Made from the milk of pastured Jersey cows expect seasonally varied meaty flavor and a texture to die for.

A hold-over from the Prussian Empire, Tilsiter is a pungent, versatile table cheese now produced across northern Europe. This funky, raw milk production is still best eaten the Prussian way – often, and with the darkest beer and bread around.