Best Southeastern European Hard Cheese Types
This cheese has been produced on the island of Naxos in the Cyclades for at least a century. Graviera Naxou is made from pasteurised cow milk or a mixture of sheep milk and a maximum of 20% goat milk. It has a thin rind and a light yellow, compact interior filled with small holes.
Graviera Naxou is a hard table cheese with a refreshing taste and light aroma. It has a maximum moisture content of 38% and at least 40% fat content. The milk used for its production comes from breeds that are traditionally raised on the island, which feed on a diet of local plants and herbs that give their milk a unique flavor.
THE BEST Graviera Naxou Cheeses

Nikolas Pittaras Creamery
Graviera Naxou P.D.O. Pittara 12 month aged
Superior Taste Awards - 3 stars 2025, 2024


Nikolas Pittaras Creamery
Graviera Pittara Mpastouni
Mediterranean Taste Awards - Gold 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021
This cheese has a long history, and it is the best-known Greek graviera cheese. It is produced using traditional methods and ripened in facilities in Hania, Rethymnos, Iraklion, and Lasithio prefectures on the island of Crete. It is traditionally produced from sheep milk or from a mixture of sheep milk and a maximum of 20% goat milk.
These goats and sheep wander freely on the green pastures of the island, and their diet is based on local plants, which give their milk a special quality that is expressed in this exceptional cheese. It is a hard table cheese with a light yellow color and firm texture.
This is one of the most famous Greek cheeses. It has been made in Western Macedonia, Epirus, Aitoloakarnanina, Evrytania, and in western mainland Greece since the 1960s, which makes it one of the newest cheeses on the Greek market. It is a hard table cheese usually made from sheep's milk or a mixture of sheep's and goat's milk. Kefalograviera got its name after two cheeses because it's a cross between Kefalotyri, a salty, intensely flavored cheese, and the mellow Graviera cheese.
It is sold in wheels or wedges, and is easily identified by its firm texture and light brown rind. Statistics show that it is becoming one of the most widespread cheeses in Greece, with annual production of around 3,000 tons. Kefalograviera is a hard table cheese that is often used to prepare a popular Greek fried cheese dish called saganaki.
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THE BEST Kefalograviera Cheeses
This is a delicious hard table cheese produced exclusively from sheep milk or a mixture of sheep milk and no more than 30% goat milk. This cheese has been made for over a century in the mountainous Agrafon area of the Karditsa prefecture, and it contains the aroma and flavor of mountain herbs.
Graviera Agrafon cheese is ripened for around three months. During the maturing process, microflora develops on its surface which contributes to the ripening process and the characteristic scent of the cheese. It is a hard, round cheese, usually available in varying sizes from 2 to 3 kilos.
Kefalotyri is a traditional Greek-Cypriot cheese made from goat’s or sheep’s milk. It has a firm and flaky texture with irregular eyes and a strong, rich aroma, while the flavors can best be described as salty, strong, tangy, sharp, and spicy.
It is believed that kefalotyri is the predecessor of most hard Greek cheeses, since it dates back to the Byzantine era. There are two main varieties – young kefalotyri, aged for a minimum of 2-3 months, and aged kefalotyri, which is aged for at least one year and has a much stronger flavor.
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Metsovone is a hard or semi-hard smoked table cheese, produced from cow's milk or alternatively with a mixture of cow's milk with up to 20% sheep’s or goat’s milk. It has been made in the Metsovo mountain region for more than 50 years from locally reared animals' milk.
During the manufacturing, it is put in cylindrical molds that are placed in cold water to make the cheese more compact and afterwards placed in pickle. After the drying, the maturation lasts, at least, three months. Finally, it is smoked for a couple of days.
THE BEST Metsovone Cheeses
Modeled on the Swiss and French tradition of cheese production, livanjski sir was first produced in 1886, and it was initially made only with sheep’s milk. Later on, the production changed, and while many industrially produced types nowadays employ only cow’s milk, there are a few local, family-owned businesses which use a combination of sheep’s and cow’s milk.
This hard cheese usually ripens from sixty up to eighty days, and preferably more. Depending on the aging, the final product ranges from pale to dark yellow, while its texture remains hard, yet elastic, with evenly distributed, medium-sized eyes. Because of its strong flavors and pleasant, nutty aromas, the cheese is best enjoyed as an appetizer, usually paired with smoked meat and robust Herzegovinian wine.
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THE BEST Livanjski sir Cheeses
Ladotyri Mytilinis is a hard table cheese made from sheep's milk or sheep's and goat's milk, the amount of which should not exceed 30%. It is produced only on the island of Lesbos, in the Prefecture of Lesbos in the Northern Aegean Islands.
It is made in special cylindrical moulds that provide the cheese with a characteristic shape. This pale yellow cheese is very salty and slightly spicy and exudes a distinctive fragrant aroma of sheep milk. After the maturation, the common practice is to preserve Ladotyri Mytilinis in olive oil or cover it with paraffin wax.
This hard cheese is obtained exclusively from the milk of cows bred on the island of Syros in the Cyclades archipelago, where this famous cheese has been produced for more than half a century using the same traditional methods. The local cows are fed a diet of aromatic local plants and herbs, which contribute to the buttery scent of this cheese.
It is quite hard and compact with many irregular holes. It has a cylindrical shape and a color that varies from light to intense yellow. Its aroma is unique and it has a pleasantly spicy taste with an aftertaste reminiscent of dried fruit. It can be eaten plain as a table cheese, and it is also often used as an ingredient in soufflés or omelettes.
Njeguški sir is a Montenegrin full-fat hard cheese produced from sheep's milk. The curd is first placed in a cheesecloth, then in a cheese mold, and finally, it is pressed with a wooden plank which is topped with a stone. After one day, the cheese is salted and placed in a wooden box for two days, and it is then left to mature for at least four weeks until the cheese is ready for consumption.
The final product has a golden-yellow crust and a milky-sour, salty flavor.
Best Southeastern European Hard Cheese Producers
E. A. S. Naxos was founded in 1926 and is a key player in Naxos's agricultural sector, especially known for its dairy and cheese production. This cooperative is significant for its contributions to the local economy and for supporting the agricultural activities on the island.
E. A. S. Naxos has several primary products, with Graviera Naxou P. D. O. cheese being its most famous. This cheese is protected under the Protected Designation of Origin status, signifying its unique regional characteristics. The cooperative also produces other dairy products and operates a modern milk processing plant.
Best Southeastern European Hard Cheeses
AWARDS

World Cheese Awards - Gold
2024
Kefalotyri Naxos is a traditional Greek hard cheese originating from the island of Naxos. It is a yellow cheese with a thin, firm rind, characterized by a distinctive spicy and salty taste that remains pleasant and rich. Its aroma is intense, making it a special choice for lovers of high-quality cheeses.
It is made by mixing sheep's and goat's milk using a traditional method that includes the use of rennet. The cheese is carefully prepared to preserve its characteristics and meet quality standards.
TasteAtlas food rankings are based on the ratings of the TasteAtlas audience, with a series of mechanisms that recognize real users and that ignore bot, nationalist or local patriotic ratings, and give additional value to the ratings of users that the system recognizes as knowledgeable. For the “Top 18 Southeastern European Hard Cheeses” list until April 18, 2025, 2,356 ratings were recorded, of which 883 were recognized by the system as legitimate. TasteAtlas Rankings should not be seen as the final global conclusion about food. Their purpose is to promote excellent local foods, instill pride in traditional dishes, and arouse curiosity about dishes you haven’t tried.