The History of Cheese
It’s hard to imagine a world without cheese. Beloved by millions and eaten daily from breakfast to dinner, this versatile ingredient works in countless dishes, both savory and sweet. There was, however, a time when cheese didn’t exist. Although no one knows exactly when or how cheese came about, it couldn’t have existed without milk. Men first domesticated animals around 8,000 to 10,000 years ago, and instead of just using them for their meat, started to consume their milk as part of their diets.
There are several theories about how man discovered cheese, from observing that milk thickened when it was left out in hot weather, in a warm cave or near a fire to discovering that rennet, the enzymes in the stomach linings of young animals, separated the curds into whey when its was stored in containers made from these linings. Specifically, one tale says that during the long, hot journey of a nomad in the Middle East, he discovered that the milk he had stored in his saddlebag made from a young animals’ stomach had turned into curds and whey. When the nomad saw what had happened to his milk, he decided to try it and liked what he tasted.
Whatever the true story, the first cheese was probably a fresh, not fermented product, and was simply salted curds drained of whey. Following this discovery, man found ways to quicken the process by putting the curled milk in containers with holes to drain the whey and purposely adding rennet to separate the curds and whey, methods that are still used today.
Despite cheese’s unclear beginnings, archaeological and other historical data gives a clue of how humans began eating and making cheese. Dating as far back as 6000 B.C., archeologists have found evidence in Mesopotamia that man was making goat’s and cow’s milk cheese. Evidence from later on in the region shows depictions of the cheese making process. In Switzerland, milk-curdling vessels from 5000 B.C. have been unearthed. Evidence has also been found in Ancient Egyptian tombs, dating back between 4000 and 3200 B.C., depicting the existence of cheese and its production.
In literature the existence of cheese dates back to the time of Ancient Greece, where the food was mention in Greek mythology and several times in Homer’s “Odyssey,” such as when Odysseus and his men discover an abundance of cheese in the cave of the Cyclops Polyphemus. Cheese is also referenced in the writings of the Greek philosophers Aristotle and Pythagoras as well as the Greek playwright Euripides and the Ancient Roman playwright Plautus. The Old Testament also refers to cheese several times, including its production.
Although cheese was first thought to have been created in the Middle East, travelers eventually brought the art of cheese making to Europe. There, the Roman Empire began producing numerous varieties of the food and through trading spread cheese and cheese making throughout its large empire.
As with other aspects of their culture, cheese’s progress slowed down with the fall of Roman Empire, and during the Middle Ages its development took place behind monastery walls. The monks in these European monasteries created several varieties of cheese that we still enjoy today, such as Grana Padano. Around the 1300s the Dutch began to ship their cheese abroad, protecting it by wrapping cheeses, such as Edam, in wax, a practice that is still done today. In England, during Elizabethan times, cheese was considered unhealthy, but elsewhere in Europe it still remained an important ingredient.
By the 19th century, cheese was no longer only farm produced and began to be made in factories, and in the early 1900s, the Swiss developed the first processed cheese. Cheese was believed to have been brought to America on the Mayflower in 1620, and, like in Europe, it was made only by local farmers until the first U.S. cheese factory was built in Rome, New York in 1851. Soon in America, cheese went from a specialty food to a mass product, with factory cheese dominating the industry. By the 1980s, however, the American artisanal cheese movement began to take off, and today these smaller cheese makers are looking to the methods of traditional European producers.
The European methods that they admire are in part due to the strict laws that regulate cheese in countries such as Italy, England, France, Spain and Switzerland. Like with wine, this designation of protected origin standardizes every part of the cheese making process from the grass the animals graze to the final product in order to ensure a quality and consistent cheese.
It’s hard to imagine a world without cheese. Beloved by millions and eaten daily from breakfast to dinner, this versatile ingredient works in countless dishes, both savory and sweet. There was, however, a time when cheese didn’t exist. Although no one knows exactly when or how cheese came about, it couldn’t have existed without milk. Men first domesticated animals around 8,000 to 10,000 years ago, and instead of just using them for their meat, started to consume their milk as part of their diets.
There are several theories about how man discovered cheese, from observing that milk thickened when it was left out in hot weather, in a warm cave or near a fire to discovering that rennet, the enzymes in the stomach linings of young animals, separated the curds into whey when its was stored in containers made from these linings. Specifically, one tale says that during the long, hot journey of a nomad in the Middle East, he discovered that the milk he had stored in his saddlebag made from a young animals’ stomach had turned into curds and whey. When the nomad saw what had happened to his milk, he decided to try it and liked what he tasted.
Whatever the true story, the first cheese was probably a fresh, not fermented product, and was simply salted curds drained of whey. Following this discovery, man found ways to quicken the process by putting the curled milk in containers with holes to drain the whey and purposely adding rennet to separate the curds and whey, methods that are still used today.
Despite cheese’s unclear beginnings, archaeological and other historical data gives a clue of how humans began eating and making cheese. Dating as far back as 6000 B.C., archeologists have found evidence in Mesopotamia that man was making goat’s and cow’s milk cheese. Evidence from later on in the region shows depictions of the cheese making process. In Switzerland, milk-curdling vessels from 5000 B.C. have been unearthed. Evidence has also been found in Ancient Egyptian tombs, dating back between 4000 and 3200 B.C., depicting the existence of cheese and its production.
In literature the existence of cheese dates back to the time of Ancient Greece, where the food was mention in Greek mythology and several times in Homer’s “Odyssey,” such as when Odysseus and his men discover an abundance of cheese in the cave of the Cyclops Polyphemus. Cheese is also referenced in the writings of the Greek philosophers Aristotle and Pythagoras as well as the Greek playwright Euripides and the Ancient Roman playwright Plautus. The Old Testament also refers to cheese several times, including its production.
Although cheese was first thought to have been created in the Middle East, travelers eventually brought the art of cheese making to Europe. There, the Roman Empire began producing numerous varieties of the food and through trading spread cheese and cheese making throughout its large empire.
As with other aspects of their culture, cheese’s progress slowed down with the fall of Roman Empire, and during the Middle Ages its development took place behind monastery walls. The monks in these European monasteries created several varieties of cheese that we still enjoy today, such as Grana Padano. Around the 1300s the Dutch began to ship their cheese abroad, protecting it by wrapping cheeses, such as Edam, in wax, a practice that is still done today. In England, during Elizabethan times, cheese was considered unhealthy, but elsewhere in Europe it still remained an important ingredient.
By the 19th century, cheese was no longer only farm produced and began to be made in factories, and in the early 1900s, the Swiss developed the first processed cheese. Cheese was believed to have been brought to America on the Mayflower in 1620, and, like in Europe, it was made only by local farmers until the first U.S. cheese factory was built in Rome, New York in 1851. Soon in America, cheese went from a specialty food to a mass product, with factory cheese dominating the industry. By the 1980s, however, the American artisanal cheese movement began to take off, and today these smaller cheese makers are looking to the methods of traditional European producers.
The European methods that they admire are in part due to the strict laws that regulate cheese in countries such as Italy, England, France, Spain and Switzerland. Like with wine, this designation of protected origin standardizes every part of the cheese making process from the grass the animals graze to the final product in order to ensure a quality and consistent cheese.
