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