| Cheese has been around for at least 8000 years. | | | | The move towards industrialization brought a |
| It has been a great way to preserve the | | | | renewed interest in cheese, and factories began |
| nutritional value of milk, and also tends to taste | | | | producing it. Pasteurization, the process of |
| very good. Cheese has its origins in the Middle | | | | sterilizing milk, helped popularize cheese, as it was |
| East. People were renowned for their cheese | | | | thought of as more healthy. Until the 20th |
| making skills. The Roman Empire adopted cheese | | | | century, cheese had always been considered a |
| and refined the process of making cheese into a | | | | specialty food. Due to the ability to mass produce |
| fine art. They had separate kitchens solely for | | | | it, cheese has became a staple of most diets. It |
| making cheese, and centers where people could | | | | has also flourished in the types available. Italy |
| bring cheese to get it smoked. | | | | alone has almost four hundred varieties of cheese. |
| As the Roman Empire spread through Europe, the | | | | Italian cheeses can be found at a number of local |
| secrets of making cheese spread with it. After | | | | retailers in your area. Whether you use mozzarella |
| the collapse of the empire, cheese making regions | | | | on a homemade pizza, Fontina in a fondue pot or |
| became isolated, and developed their own unique | | | | Gorgonzola after dinner with a red wine the |
| types of cheeses. The dark ages were a time of | | | | development of Italian cheeses have added |
| little innovation as far as cheese making was | | | | character, taste and richness to most everyday |
| concerned, as well. While monks kept the tradition | | | | diets. Cheese, like most aspects of life, should be |
| alive through the middle ages, cheese became | | | | enjoyed in moderation - but if so it can be a |
| less popular, as it was considered unhealthy. | | | | healthy way to enjoy a bit of Italian history. |
| However, that changed in the early 19th century. | | | | |