Carey Polis has identified 10 cheeses that even a bonafide cheese hater (if those exist!) would have trouble turning down. She's dubbed these ten the "gateway" cheeses. Get your foot in the cheese door with these, and you'll be more likely to try the next cheese that comes your way. Polis' story begins with the king of American gateway cheeses, Humboldt Fog from Cypress Grove Chevre:

During the early stages of my dairy journey, I was spreading the Humboldt Fog gospel as far as I could, until my friend correctly pointed out that Humboldt Fog seemed like a gateway cheese -- it makes you want try others like it. It is the marijuana of cheese. It opens up a world beyond flabby orange slices and powdered stuff from a can masquerading as a legitimate Italian cheese. Humboldt Fog also prompted my discovery of several more gateway cheeses -- cheeses that are so good that you can't wait to recommend them to someone else, in hopes that they also experience a dairy epiphany and get addicted as well.

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