King of cheeses

Various cheeses have been called "king of cheeses".^[1] The title is informal, and there is no standard definition, but a few are more consistently called that than others, especially in their countries of origin:

• Parmigiano Reggiano in Italy^{[2][3]: 187}
• Brie de Meaux: at the Congress of Vienna (1814). In fact, it was declared Prince des fromages, et premier des desserts ('Prince of cheeses, and first among desserts'), which only later became "king of cheeses, cheese of kings".^{[4][3]: 87, 185 [5][6]}
• Roquefort in France: Frédéric Leblanc du Vernet, 1869^{[3][7]: 627 [8]}
• Époisses: Brillat-Savarin, early 19th century^[3]: 254
• Stilton in England (1912)^[9]
• Cheddar in England^[10]

Cheeses are idiosyncratically named "kings" of particular types of cheese by individual writers: Maroilles, the king of strong cheeses;^[11] Halloumi, the "king of cooking cheeses";^[12] Västerbotten, the king of Swedish cheeses;^[13][14] and Emmental, the king of Swiss cheeses.^[15]

Sometimes lower ranks of nobility are used for other cheeses, e.g., Camembert, the "prince" of cheeses.^[16]