| It's no surprise that cheese has been around for a | | | | The Roman process of making cheese spread |
| long time. With estimates ranging from 5,000 | | | | throughout the known world. When the Empire |
| years to 10,000 years old, cheese is actually older | | | | declined and fell, cheese history moved forward. |
| than history. The most accepted version of its | | | | As long-distance trade fell off, local cheese |
| origin is that it was likely the way that already | | | | makers began to develop more diverse cheeses |
| sour milk was preserved. | | | | and processes. France and Italy take their place in |
| By waiting for the sour milk to separate, the | | | | cheese history by having the greatest varieties of |
| solids could be removed, pressed and salted and | | | | cheeses: about 400 each. |
| then eaten. This probably happened in the Middle | | | | In the modern section of cheese history, the big |
| East. These early cheeses were probably very | | | | event was the industrialized production of cheese. |
| salty and acidic. At a later point someone | | | | The first cheese factory opened in Switzerland in |
| discovered that milk stored in the stomach of a | | | | 1815. Larger scale production was established in |
| calf became better cheese and rennet, the | | | | the United States with its first assembly-line |
| enzyme that helps digest milk entered cheese | | | | cheese factory in 1851. The necessary cheese |
| history. | | | | ingredient, rennet, began being mass produced a |
| Ancient to Modern | | | | decade later. |
| Once cheese traveled to cooler climates, salt and | | | | By the beginning of the twentieth century, science |
| acid became a little less important, allowing | | | | was able to add pure microbial cultures to the |
| microbes and mold to become part of the | | | | mix. Traditional cheese making was |
| flavoring of aged cheeses. Cheese was important | | | | overshadowed by factory cheese making around |
| in ancient Greece and Rome. Cheese making was | | | | World War II. Today, cheese history records the |
| mentioned in Homer's Odyssey. According to | | | | fact that the majority of cheese is factory made. |
| cheese history, the art of making cheese was | | | | In America, more processed cheese is bought |
| established by the time the Roman Empire came | | | | than any other kind. Processed cheese is a |
| into power. | | | | mixture of regular cheese - usually scraps - some |
| The methods used to turn a variety of milk into a | | | | unfermented dairy products, emulsifiers for more |
| array of cheeses are similar to those used today. | | | | even melting, extra salt and various food |
| Cheese was considered part of an everyday diet. | | | | colorings. |