Wolfgang Puck Thinks This Is Generally The Best Type Of Cheese

Cheese is one of the most versatile — and most loved — ingredients in any kitchen. With more than 2,000 varieties to choose from (via International Dairy Foods Association), it seems that there's something for everyone, every recipe, and every occasion. There's hard cheese, soft cheese, grated cheese, aged cheese, even dairy-free cheese. But what kind of cheese is the best cheese? 

Everyone has their own opinions. Some prefer fresh mozzarella, perhaps, melted on a Margherita pizza. Others might like sharp cheddar oozing out of a grilled cheese sandwich. Still, others drool over Brie, whether it's spread over crackers or baked into gooey goodness with jam on top. According to a 2021 YouGov survey, the most popular cheese in America is cheddar, followed by American. Other notable favorites included mozzarella, Swiss, pepper jack, and Colby jack.

Even celebrity chefs have their preferred cheeses. In a recent TikTok video, Wolfgang Puck was quizzed on his favorite type of cheese. Here's what the restaurateur and cookbook author dubs the best cheese in the world. Hint: You probably can't guess his response.

To settle the great cheese debate, Wolfgang Puck took to TikTok. In a video clip, he responded to a fan, who had asked, "Chef, what is the best cheese in the world?" While he admitted it was a difficult choice — and that it depended on your personal tastes and preferences — he did say, "Generally, unpasteurized cheeses are best." Unpasteurized cheese is, as the name suggests, cheese made from unpasteurized milk. Food & Wine describes pasteurization as "the process of heating a liquid or a food to kill pathogenic bacteria to make the product safe to consume." 

According to The Spruce Eats, the reason you may not be familiar with unpasteurized cheese is that most of it is not allowed to be sold in the U.S. The FDA has ruled that the only unpasteurized (or raw) cheese that is legal in the U.S. is that which has been aged for at least 60 days at a temperature of 35 F or above. All that said, one person disagreed with Puck's stance, commenting on the video, "All cheese is the best cheese." The celebrity chef couldn't deny their point, responding, "Probably, yes." Seems that, like so many people, Puck doesn't discriminate when it comes to cheese (and we don't blame him).