| Cheese is a solid food made from the milk of | | | | since then due to mechanization and economic |
| cows, goats, sheep, and other mammals. The milk | | | | factors. |
| is curdled using some combination of rennet (or | | | | Cheese has served as a hedge against famine |
| rennet substitutes) and acidification. Bacteria | | | | and is a good travel food. It is valuable for its |
| acidify the milk and play a role in defining the | | | | portability, long life, and high content of fat, |
| texture and flavor of most cheeses. Some | | | | protein, calcium, and phosphorus. Cheese is |
| cheeses also feature molds, either on the outer | | | | lighter-weight, more compact, and has a longer |
| rind or throughout. | | | | shelf life than the milk from which it is made. |
| There are hundreds of types of cheese produced | | | | Cheesemakers can place themselves near the |
| all over the world. Different styles and flavors of | | | | center of a dairy region and benefit from fresher |
| cheese are the result of using different species of | | | | milk, lower milk prices, and lower shipping costs. |
| bacteria and molds, different levels of milk fat, | | | | Cheese's substantial storage life lets a |
| variations in length of aging, differing processing | | | | cheesemaker sell when prices are high or when |
| treatments (cheddaring, pulling, brining, mold wash) | | | | money is needed. |
| and different breeds of cows, sheep, or other | | | | Origins |
| mammals. Other factors include animal diet and | | | | The exact origins of cheesemaking are debated |
| the addition of flavoring agents such as herbs, | | | | or unknown, and estimates range from around |
| spices, or wood smoke. Whether the milk is | | | | 8000 BCE (when sheep were domesticated) to |
| pasteurized may also affect the flavor. The | | | | around 3000 BCE. Credit for the discovery most |
| yellow to red coloring of many cheeses is a result | | | | likely goes to nomadic Turkic tribes in Central |
| of adding annatto. Cheeses are eaten both on | | | | Asia, around the same time that they developed |
| their own and cooked into various dishes; most | | | | yogurt, or to people in the Middle East. A common |
| cheeses melt when cooked. | | | | tale about the discovery of cheese tells of an |
| For a few cheeses, the milk is curdled by adding | | | | Arab nomad carrying milk across the desert in a |
| acids such as vinegar or lemon juice. Most | | | | container made from an animal's stomach, only to |
| cheeses, however, are acidified to a lesser degree | | | | discover the milk had been separated into curd |
| by bacteria, which turn milk sugars into lactic acid, | | | | and whey by the rennet from the stomach. |
| followed by the addition of rennet to complete | | | | Folktales aside, cheese likely began as a way of |
| the curdling. Rennet is an enzyme mixture | | | | preserving soured and curdled milk through |
| traditionally obtained from the stomach lining of | | | | pressing and salting, with rennet introduced |
| young cattle, but now also laboratory produced. | | | | later— perhaps when someone noticed |
| Vegetarian alternatives to rennet are also | | | | that cheese made in an animal stomach produced |
| available; most are produced by fermentation of | | | | more solid and better-textured curds. The earliest |
| the fungus Mucor miehei, but substitute | | | | archaeological evidence of cheesemaking has been |
| "vegetable rennets" have also been extracted | | | | found in Egyptian tomb murals, dating to about |
| from various species of the Cynara thistle family. | | | | 2300 BCE. The earliest cheeses would likely have |
| The word cheese is derived, through Middle English | | | | been quite sour and salty, similar in texture to |
| chese and, from the Latin caseus. | | | | rustic cottage cheese or feta. |
| Cheese is an ancient food whose origins may | | | | From the Middle East, basic cheesemaking found |
| predate recorded history. Probably discovered in | | | | its way into Europe, where cooler climates meant |
| Central Asia or the Middle East, cheesemaking | | | | less aggressive salting was needed for |
| spread to Europe and had become a sophisticated | | | | preservation. With moderate salt and acidity, the |
| enterprise by Roman times. As Rome's influence | | | | cheese became a suitable environment for a |
| receded, distinct local cheesemaking techniques | | | | variety of beneficial microbes and molds, which |
| emerged. This diversity reached its peak in the | | | | are what give aged cheeses their pronounced and |
| early industrial age and has declined somewhat | | | | interesting flavors. |