Nutty, salty, and sharp are just some of the few flavor notes associated with cheese, though there are plenty more notes than just the three mentioned. And you may be wondering, why is there an article about cheese? Well, here is why: cheese predates recorded history and likely was made by accident. However, there is no concrete evidence on where cheese-making originated, as it could’ve originated in Europe, Central Asia, the Middle East, or even the dunes of the Sahara. As for the evidence of the first cheese made, like cheese-making is all over the place as evidence of cheese had been found in Poland, Croatia, and Switzerland, however, the first written evidence of cheese come from Mesopotamia as with a lot of things, were Sumerian cuneiform texts which describes the first cheeses as salty and sour which are similar to feta or rustic cottage cheese.
However, the invention of cheese cannot be further discussed without the mention of rennet. Rennet is a combination of enzymes produced in the fourth stomach of young ruminants, usually cows, goats, or she, and usually from calves, lambs, or kids who still depend on milk as a food source. The discovery of rennet, like cheese, was likely also accidental, as milk was stored in animal stomachs where the rennet caused the milk to form two products: whey and curds. These curds then became the building blocks of cheese. Despite the mistake, rennet became a staple ingredient in cheese, and today, while rennet is most popular and comes from animals, vegetables, microbes, or fermentation, other substances can be used like acids mainly vinegar or citrus juice which are used in paneer a cheese from the Indian subcontinent.
While cheese is a worldwide commodity, most of our understanding of cheese comes from Europe and where most of the world’s most popular cheeses originate. Beginning in the Mediterranean, the Greek cheese feta; a crumbly white cheese traditionally made from sheep’s milk or a blend of sheep and goat milk and aged in brine. Another Mediterranean cheese is Pecorino Romano, a hard, dry-aged cheese made exclusively from sheep’s milk. Originating in the Italian peninsula during Roman times, it was a staple in Roman legionnaires’ daily rations. Additionally, ricotta or a version similar to modern-day ricotta was also eaten, though due to its shorter shelf-life, it was mostly eaten by those inside the Roman Empire. However, ricotta differs from most cheeses as it is made from the whey left over from the production of other cheeses. Apart from being a staple in Mediterranean diets, cheeses like feta or Pecorino Romano were also important commodities for trade and religious practices used throughout the Mediterranean.
However, the story of cheese goes north towards the Alps, where Swiss monks in monasteries began to experiment with cheese-making, and Emmental and Gruyère cheeses were made. Emmental, known for its holes and yellow color, it is a medium-hard aged cheese traditionally made from raw cow’s milk. Gruyère, often confused with Emmental, shares the same traits as Emmental, though it lacks the holes. Instead, as Gruyère ages, it develops small cracks and gains a slightly grainy texture.
Though the European country best known for cheese (in my opinion) is France, with estimates stating 1000 to 1600 types of French cheeses. One of the most famous French cheeses, Roquefort, is world-renowned due to being a type of blue cheese, which includes other blue cheeses like Stilton and Gorgonzola. However, unlike Stilton and Gorgonzola, which are made from cow’s milk, Roquefort is made from sheep’s milk, and once made into cheese, Roquefort is a semi-hard cheese and, due to being inoculated with the mold named Penicillium roqueforti, develops its distinctive blue-green veins.
Speaking of mold, while we are conditioned to instinctively not consume and throw out anything with mold on it or for some individuals cutting off the moldy piece, in cheese-making, the presence of beneficial microbes such as Penicillium roqueforti which as the name implies is used to make Roquefort are welcomed. Penicillium camemberti is another type of mold and is used in the production of popular French cheeses like Brie and Camembert.
And, while fungus is used commonly in cheeses, so are bacteria, mainly lactic acid bacteria, and although rarer, yeast can be used, which is ironic considering wine also uses yeast, and cheese and wine are often paired together which makes a nice coincidence. Although a cheese named Casu marzu from Sardinia, made from pecorino, instead of using the traditional microscopic friends, relies on live larvae from the cheese fly and is sometimes called maggot cheese due to developing its soft texture from the larvae and the maggots still being alive while the cheese is being eaten. Understandably, this cheese is banned from being sold and bought both in the US and the EU, though a black market exists in Sardinia to produce and sell the cheese.
Despite that unsavory revelation of maggots in cheese, one more important factor goes into cheese, and that is the rind. While some rinds are not edible as they are made from tree bark, wax, or paper three types of rind arre edible that are: bloomy rinds which are snowy white usually found on Brie and Camembert, washed-rinds which are made with both bacteria and a salty brine, and finally natural rinds which are formed from the natural aging processing found on cheeses like Parmesan and cheddar. However, a very important aspect of cheeses is trademarking.
Trademarks in the cheese were developed to combat fake and counterfeit cheeses. One example of these trademarks is are Protected Designation of Origin. The PDO is used in Europe to ensure that certain cheeses like Gorgonzola, Roquefort, and Pecorino Romano are protected and have to be produced in a certain region and adhere to strict practices. Parmigiano Reggiano takes it a step further by marking the cheese with a QR code, which tells the buyer information about the cheese, along with being marked as well to ensure people are getting the real deal.
Whether from cow’s to sheep’s milk from fungus to bacteria and maybe the occasional worm, cheese has been and continues to be a staple of humanity’s diet and with the Industrial Revolution, the production of cheeses has increased up to the point where 21.6 million metric tons of cheese are consumed yearly and not by just cheese by itself as foods like pizza, quesadilla, fondue, pasta and macaroni and cheese contribute to the gargantuan number. So the next time you eat a piece of cheese, whether in the form of a wedge, cube, or slice, remember the prehistoric nature of cheese that predates civilization itself.
