I was shaving one of my favorite cheeses the other day and thinking how underappreciated it was. Ricotta salata is my go-to for grating over pasta alla Norma—or any pasta with eggplant, tomatoes, zucchini or sweet peppers. Sometimes I mix it fifty-fifty with pecorino romano; sometimes I don’t. Often I shave it with a cheese plane into salads. Yet cheesemongers tell me it doesn’t sell so they’re reluctant to stock it.

I wondered if others who work in the cheese world had an Underappreciated List—cheeses they adore that don’t get enough love from the general public. So I asked. I’m hoping their answers will steer you to some great discoveries.