Cheese ripening the cheese by fungi to occur. Mould-ripened cheeses ripen faster than hard cheeses, in weeks as opposed to the typical months or even years. This is because the fungi used are more biochemically active than the starter bacteria. Where the ripening occurs is largely dependent on the type of cheese: some cheeses are surface-ripened by moulds, such as Camembert and Brie; and some are ripened internally, such as Stilton. Surface ripening of some cheeses, such as Saint-Nectaire cheese, may also be influenced by yeasts which contribute flavour and coat texture. Others are allowed by the cheesemaker to develop bacterial surface
Sakura cheese Sakura cheese Sakura cheese ) is a soft cheese created in Hokkaidō, Japan. This cheese is a creamy white, and is flavored with mountain cherry leaves, and accented with pickled cherry blossom flowers; 'Sakura' means "cherry blossom" in Japanese, and is recognized as a symbol of Japan and Japanese culture. It is the first widely acclaimed Japanese cheese, as the vast majority of cheeses in general were a European/Mediterranean phenomenon. It has the rare distinction of winning a gold medal at the Mountain Cheese Olympics in Appenzell, Switzerland, which normally favors Swiss, Italian, or French cheeses almost exclusively for awards.