Say Cheese!

Cheese first appeared somewhere around 7,000 B.C. in the Neolithic period, which is at about the same time humans began to breed livestock. Legend has it that a desert nomad was transporting milk in a pouch made from a sheep’s stomach. Eventually, the rennet in the lining of the pouch, combined with the heat of the sun, caused the milk to separate into curd and whey. Curious, and no doubt hungry, the nomad drank the whey and tasted the curd. We can safely guess that he enjoyed the experience! This method of transforming milk was kept a closely-guarded secret for many years. In ancient Egypt, for example, only priests were privileged with this secret.

The word “fromage”, French for cheese, comes from the Latin “forma”. Originally, curdled milk was placed in perforated moulds to allow the whey to drain away. The Latin word for these containers was “forma”. Around the13th Century, forma became formage and finally in the 15th Century formage became fromage. The word cheese on the other hand comes from the Latin caseus, which translated into cese in Old English and eventually became cheese!

At first, the Romans and the Greeks considered cheese a luxury food, accessible only to the wealthy. Eventually though, it became a staple food that was used in both sweet and salty dishes. During the Roman Empire, cheese-making had advanced to the point where over thirteen varieties of cheeses were produced. It was during that time in fact that, in an effort to perfect the curd-draining process, the Romans invented the cheese press, a technique that they exported as far as Great Britain.

It was during the Middle-Ages that European monks invented ripening and ageing techniques for cheese. The monks produced milder-tasting cheeses. In the Jura and the Alps, communities of mountain farmers would get together in dairy associations, enabling them to produce first-rate, quality cheeses. In the 7th Century, many cheeses came to be known by the region in which they were produced. Names such as le Poitou, Munster, Gorgonzola and Maroilles are now commonplace.

In 1217, Blanche de Navarre sent two hundred Brie cheeses to Philippe Auguste so that he may offer them to the women he was courting…even back then, the nutritional virtues of cheese were well-recognized!

In the 13th Century, in Déservilliers, France, the first known cheese cooperative was created by women dairy farmers looking to increase their revenues from milk production.

In the 16th Century, Queen Elizabeth I was instrumental in officially promoting Cheshire cheese, a product that had being produced for three centuries.

The soft cheese industry got started around 1850 by Charles Gervais after his visit with a farmer, Dame Héroult, who made fresh, unripened cheese. The man behind the “petits suisses”, Gervais perfected a technique that involved draining the curds by layers. Pressure was created by piling the canvas bags containing the curds one on top of the other.

In the 19th Century, a chemist and biologist named Louis Pasteur proved that heating milk at sufficiently high temperatures for a specific amount of time could destroy pathogenic bacteria. The process came to be known as pasteurization.

The Vache qui rit was created in 1921 and the Bleu de Bresse appeared around 1950. The Caprice des Dieux quickly followed in 1956.

In 1953, the Stresa Convention, ratified by France, Italy, Swiss, Austria, Scandinavia and Holland screened certain national sorts of cheese (Parmesan, Roquefort, Gorgonzola) from conterfeiting.

In the 20th Century, new industrially-made cheeses started to appear on the European market. The first television ad for cheese (le Boursin) aired in France, in 1968.

The earlier records in Vedic hymms in India (6000 to 4000 BC), Egyptian records (4000 BC) and Babylonian records (2000 BC) clearly show references to milk, butter and cheese.

However it is believed that with the advance of civilizations, the art of cheesemaking spread via the Mediterranean basin to the rest of the world.

Witten history is scarce until the period of the Greek and Roman empires, when various authors left written evidence.

Greek records go back to about 1550 BC and Roman records to 750 BC indicating that milk and cheese were important components of the diet of these peoples.

By the beginning of the Christian era, milk and cheese were used as food throughout Europe.

Milking operations and the curding of milk are depicted in an early Sumerian frieze from El-Ubaid. A food material found in the tomb of Hories Aha (3000 BC) has been proven to be cheese.
A scene on the walls of a Ramesid tomb (100 BC) depicts goats being led to pasture and also skin bags suspend from poles. Such bags were traditionally used to ferment milk by nomadic tribes.

During fermentation, drainage of whey though cloth or perforated bowls allowed the collection of curds which when salted became cheese.

There was indications that that the cheese was made n England well before the arrival of the Romans.

Cheese was included in the offering of ancient Greeks to the gods at Mount Olympus, and cheesemaking was clearly well established craft at the time of Homer’s writing.

Homer in 1184 BC referred to cheese made in caves by the “Cyclops” Polyphemus from milk of sheep and goats.

Later, Herodotus, 484 to 408 BC, referred to the “Scythian” cheese was made from mares’ milk, while Aristotle (384 to 322 BC) noted that “Phrygian” cheese was made from the milk of mares and asses.

By the fourteen century cheesemaking was a considerably industry in Switzerland, but export was forbidden. At this time, a cheese market was operating in Gouda, Holland. It is reported that the first cooperative cheese factory was started at Voralberg in the Balkans in about 1380.

By 1500m it is recorded that the expansion of cheesemaking in England, France, Germany and Holland resulted in Italy losing its dominant position as a cheesemaker.

Who invented Swiss cheese?

Swiss cheese was mentioned by the first century Roman historian Pliny the Elder, who called it Caseus Helveticus - the "cheese of the Helvetians", one of the tribes living in Switzerland at the time.

From cottage cheese to hard cheese
For centuries the standard type was cottage cheese, made by souring milk, and which did not keep. The technique of using rennet - a substance taken from the stomach lining of calves - to make hard cheese first appeared in Switzerland around the 15th century. Since such cheese could be stored for lengthy periods it is not surprising that it soon became part of the basic fare of travellers.

The monks who looked after the hospices at the top of some of the major passes, snowed in for part of the year, kept large stocks of it for their guests. And they needed to be large: one guest who passed through the hostel on the Great St Bernard pass was Napoleon, who - with the help of his 40,000 troops - got through a tonne and a half of the monks' cheese in May 1800. (The monks had to wait 50 years before they saw any money at all for it, and it was only in 1984 that the then French President, François Mitterrand, made a token payment of the rest.)

Cheese Variety Year(AD)
-------------- --------
Gorgonzola 879
Roquefort 1070
Grana 1200
Cheddar 1500
Parmesan 1579
Gouda 1697
Gloucester 1697
Stilton 1785
Camembert 1791

Here are some of the more popular types of cheese:

Swiss Cheese originally from Switzerland. This famous cheese has holes all over which are known as ‘eyes’. The larger the eyes are, the more pronounced its flavour will be. Longer aging or higher temperatures will cause the bacteria and enzymes to produce a sharper flavour. One of the down sides to Swiss cheese is that because of the holes it doesn't slice well, and will at times fall apart. Swiss cheese is known for its distinct look and its nutty, bitter yet sweet flavour.

Feta cheese is Greek cheese. It is made with a combination of goat and sheep milk. This cheese has to be matured for several months. Feta cheese is white and usually shaped into squares. It can be soft to semi-firm cheese. The flavour of feta can be salty and tangy or also range from mild to sharp depending on its aging process. The processed cheese crumbles easily. It can be used as a table cheese, as well as in salads, pastries and also for baking purposes.

Blue cheese is a combination of cow, sheep and goat milk. It is usually blue or blue- green, with veins or spotty which is due to mold. It is usually aged in a temperature controlled environment has a very distinctive aroma. The flavour of blue cheese is salty and very sharp. Because of its strong flavour and smell, the taste of blue cheese is one that has to be acquired.

Cheddar cheese originated in the English village of Cheddar. It is a relatively firm, light yellow to off-white, and at times a sharp tasting cheese. The taste of cheddar cheese can be mild or sharp. The sharper the cheddar, the more pungent and complex it will taste.

Cream cheese is a type of white cheese. It is not naturally aged and is meant to be eaten fresh, which is why it differs from other soft cheeses. Cream cheese is also very difficult to manufacture. However, small adjustments in the timing of the development process can result in a distinction in flavour and texture. It is sweet, soft, creamy and mild to taste. Because the fat content of cream cheese is higher than other cheeses, stabilizers are added to lengthen its shelf life. Cream cheese is used in different kinds of savoury snacks such as bread, bagels and crackers. It can also be used in cheesecakes and salads.

Other cheeses include soft cheeses such as cottage cheese, ricotta, brie, roquefort and mozzarella, cheeses. These cheeses usually go well with fruits or meats. They can be used as breakfast cheeses for instance, in an omelette or even as pasta fillings. They are typically lightly flavoured and extremely high in moisture.

Semi-hard cheeses have a more bold flavour than semi-soft cheeses and goes wonderfully with fruits and crackers. Cheeses in this class include provolone and gouda to name a couple. Cheeses in this category are smoked. Smoked gouda is especially common. Milder gouda melts well and may be used in casseroles or as stuffing for certain kind of meats.

Hard cheeses include parmesan, romano and gruyere. Parmesan and romano are known as grated powder which is used to top spaghetti, but these cheeses are also used as side dishes for fruit, wine, nuts and other appetizers.

The word cheese comes from Latin caseus, from which the modern word casein is closely derived. The earliest source is from the proto-Indo-European root *kwat-, which means "to ferment, become sour".

More recently, cheese comes from chese (in Middle English) and cīese or cēse (in Old English). Similar words are shared by other West Germanic languages — West Frisian tsiis, Dutch kaas, German Käse, Old High German chāsi — all from the reconstructed West-Germanic form *kasjus, which in turn is an early borrowing from Latin.

When the Romans began to make hard cheeses for their legionaries' supplies, a new word started to be used: formaticum, from caseus formatus, or "molded cheese" (as in "formed", not "moldy"). It is from this word that the French fromage, Italian formaggio, Catalan formatge, Breton fourmaj, and Provençal furmo is derived from. Cheese itself is occasionally employed in a sense that means "molded" or "formed". Head cheese uses the word in this sense.

The main factor in the categorization of these cheese is their age. Fresh cheeses without additional preservatives can spoil in a matter of days.

For these simplest cheeses, milk is curdled and drained, with little other processing. Examples include cottage cheese, Romanian Caş, Neufchâtel (the model for American-style cream cheese), and fresh goat's milk chèvre. Such cheeses are soft and spreadable, with a mild taste.

Whey cheeses are fresh cheeses made from the whey discarded while producing other cheeses. Provençal Brousse, Corsican Brocciu, Italian Ricotta, Romanian Urda, Greek Mizithra, and Norwegian Geitost are examples. Brocciu is mostly eaten fresh, and is as such a major ingredient in Corsican cuisine, but it can be aged too.

Traditional pasta filata cheeses such as Mozzarella also fall into the fresh cheese category. Fresh curds are stretched and kneaded in hot water to form a ball of Mozzarella, which in southern Italy is usually eaten within a few hours of being made. Stored in brine, it can be shipped, and is known worldwide for its use on pizzas. Other firm fresh cheeses include paneer and queso fresco.

Classed by texture

Categorizing cheeses by firmness is a common but inexact practice. The lines between "soft", "semi-soft", "semi-hard", and "hard" are arbitrary, and many types of cheese are made in softer or firmer variations. The factor that controls cheese hardness is moisture content, which depends on the pressure with which it is packed into molds, and aging time.

Semi-soft cheeses and the sub-group, Monastery cheeses have a high moisture content and tend to be bland in flavor. Some well-known varieties include Havarti, Munster and Port Salut.

Cheeses that range in texture from semi-soft to firm include Swiss-style cheeses like Emmental and Gruyère. The same bacteria that give such cheeses their eyes also contribute to their aromatic and sharp flavors. Other semi-soft to firm cheeses include Gouda, Edam, Jarlsberg and Cantal. Cheeses of this type are ideal for melting and are used on toast for quick snacks.

Harder cheeses have a lower moisture content than softer cheeses. They are generally packed into molds under more pressure and aged for a longer time. Cheeses that are semi-hard to hard include the familiar Cheddar, originating in the village of Cheddar in England but now used as a generic term for this style of cheese, of which varieties are imitated worldwide and are marketed by strength or the length of time they have been aged. Cheddar is one of a family of semi-hard or hard cheeses (including Cheshire and Gloucester) whose curd is cut, gently heated, piled, and stirred before being pressed into forms. Colby and Monterey Jack are similar but milder cheeses; their curd is rinsed before it is pressed, washing away some acidity and calcium. A similar curd-washing takes place when making the Dutch cheeses Edam and Gouda.

Hard cheeses — "grating cheeses" such as Parmesan and Pecorino Romano—are quite firmly packed into large forms and aged for months or years.
St. Pat Cow's Milk Cheese

Classed by content

Some cheeses are categorized by the source of the milk used to produce them or by the added fat content of the milk from which they are produced. While most of the world's commercially available cheese is made from cows' milk, many parts of the world also produce cheese from goats and sheep, well-known examples being Roquefort, produced in France, and Pecorino Romano, produced in Italy, from ewe's milk. One farm in Sweden also produces cheese from moose's milk. Sometimes cheeses of a similar style may be available made from milk of different sources - Feta style cheeses, for example, are made from goats' milk in Greece and from sheep and cows' milk elsewhere.

Double cream cheeses are soft cheeses of cows' milk enriched with cream so that their fat content is 60% or, in the case of triple creams, 75%.
Soft-ripened and blue-vein

There are three main categories of cheese in which the presence of mold is a significant feature: soft ripened cheeses, washed rind cheeses and blue cheeses.
Vacherin du Haut-Doubs cheese, a French cheese with a white Penicillium mold rind.

Soft-ripened cheeses begin firm and rather chalky in texture, but are aged from the exterior inwards by exposing them to mold. The mold may be a velvety bloom of Penicillium candida or P. camemberti that forms a flexible white crust and contributes to the smooth, runny, or gooey textures and more intense flavors of these aged cheeses. Brie and Camembert, the most famous of these cheeses, are made by allowing white mold to grow on the outside of a soft cheese for a few days or weeks. Goats' milk cheeses are often treated in a similar manner, sometimes with white molds (Chèvre-Boîte) and sometimes with blue.

Washed-rind cheeses are soft in character and ripen inwards like those with white molds; however, they are treated differently. Washed rind cheeses are periodically cured in a solution of saltwater brine and other mold-bearing agents that may include beer, wine, brandy, and spices, making their surfaces amenable to a class of bacteria Brevibacterium linens (the reddish-orange "smear bacteria") that impart pungent odors and distinctive flavors. Washed-rind cheeses can be soft (Limburger), semi-hard (Munster), or hard (Appenzeller). The same bacteria can also have some impact on cheeses that are simply ripened in humid conditions, like Camembert.
Stilton from England.

So-called blue cheese is created by inoculating a cheese with Penicillium roqueforti or Penicillium glaucum. This is done while the cheese is still in the form of loosely pressed curds, and may be further enhanced by piercing a ripening block of cheese with skewers in an atmosphere in which the mold is prevalent. The mold grows within the cheese as it ages. These cheeses have distinct blue veins, which gives them their name and, often, assertive flavors. The molds range from pale green to dark blue, and may be accompanied by white and crusty brown molds. Their texture can be soft or firm. Some of the most renowned cheeses are of this type, each with its own distinctive color, flavor, texture and smell. They include Roquefort, Gorgonzola, and Stilton.

Processed cheese is made from traditional cheese and emulsifying salts, often with the addition of milk, more salt, preservatives, and food coloring. It is inexpensive, consistent, and melts smoothly. It is sold packaged and either pre-sliced or unsliced, in a number of varieties. It is also available in aerosol cans in some countries.