Cheeses

One is told - on the Web -  that the essence of a cheese platter is bringing
together cheeses from various cheese families, and serving these with crackers,
breads, nuts, grapes. The quantities are meant to  vary whether it is a cheese
dessert course, or a just cheese offering.

Trouble for me was that I was unclear on what the cheese 'families' were. From
the French language Wikipedia, one finds the following:

Cheese is made from milk which has been acidified (with the aid of bacteria);
one then adds acetic acid or vinegar to curdle the milk, obtaining cheese curds and a
residual liquid called 'whey'. The origins of the milk - the animal, what it is fed - will
influence the product as will the additions of different substances and spices; in
particular whether mold is used to produce a crust.  In terms of preparation, it matters
whether the milk is raw, heated or pasteurized, more or less drained, and the time of
maturation.

The origins of cheese making is lost to history, but it was first and foremost a way of
preserving milk. Hotter climates needed to salt the product heavily, but Europeans
could afford more variety.


Hard cheeses (Les pâtes pressées) :
            Uncooked hard cheeses, where the curdled milk is pressed and refined
            e.g. Cantal, Gouda
            Semi-cooked hard cheeses
             e.g. Cheddar
            Cooked hard cheeses where the curdles are cooked at  50 °C then
            drained, salted and refined
            e.g. Emmental, Gruyère

Soft cheeses, to which one adds mold to develop - during maturation - a crust,
divided as to:
            Soft cheeses with a flowery crust
            e.g. Brie, Camembert
            Soft cheeses with a washed crust
            e.g. Munster, Pont-l'évêque
            Soft cheeses with a natural crust
            e.g. Crottin (goat cheese)

Fresh Cheeses :
           Fresh Cheeses, more or less drained
           e.g. fromage en grain, Cottage Cheese
           Kneaded cheeses, mixed and drawn out
           e.g. Mozzarella
           Melted Cheeses, made as an industrial product
           e.g. Cream Cheese
   
Cheeses with a 'parsley' crust or with internal mold
           e.g. Blue Cheese