A History of Cheese

While it is impossible to pinpoint the exact moment in time when the first cheese was made – and how the process for making it was discovered – archaeologists have unearthed enough evidence of its origins to tell us cheese has been around since the earliest days of mankind.   Ancient Greece, the Bible, Ancient Egypt and Neolithic-era France all contain evidence of cheesemaking. 

Shortly after human beings domesticated animals such as cows, sheep and goats, they discovered the animals' milk was not only life-sustaining for calves, lambs and kids, but for adult Homo sapiens as well.   Without refrigeration, however, liquid milk rapidly spoils, especially in the warm climates of the “cradles of civilization.”   It was inevitable that early man would figure out some way to control the spoilage of milk in order to prolong receiving its nutritional benefits.

One theory of how cheese was first made is by “happy accident.”     Once upon a time, people used all parts of a slaughtered animal for food, clothing, shelter and tools.   For example, an animal’s stomach, when removed and dried, would make an excellent flask or canteen of sorts.   A shepherd could bring quite a bit of milk to keep him refreshed while he tended his flocks.   If the stomach came from an unweaned animal, the lining would contain an abundance of enzymes that caused liquid milk to coagulate.

It’s not too far-fetched to imagine the shepherd filling the sack with milk, and then later opening it to find the milk had solidified to the texture of what we would recognize as thin pudding.

Wondering what happened he may have retraced his steps and discovered the secret of cheesemaking: that combining the enzymes (also known as “rennet”) from the lining of a baby animal’s stomach with milk causes the separation of curds (solids) and whey (liquids), thus cheese is made.

Regardless of the whys and hows of cheese’s discovery, one thing we know to be true is that cheesemaking traveled from the earliest to later civilizations through colonization and conquest.   Although England is only across the channel from France, home of a multitude of soft, runny fromages, nearly all traditional British Isle varieties are closer in character to the sturdy, dry cheeses of Italy.   This is no coincidence; the conquering Romans brought cheesemaking recipes with them when they occupied the British Isles.

France, too, owes one of its famous categories of cheese to invaders.   In the 8^th and 9^th centuries, Saracens from Arab lands occupied the Loire Valley, bringing their goats and goat-cheese recipes with them.   When the French finally expelled the Saracens, they kept the goats and the recipes, and today, nearly all well-known French chèvres, such as Selles-sur-Cher, Pouligny-Saint-Pierre, and Sainte-Maure, are from the Loire Valley.   And when the Dutch pilgrims crossed the Atlantic on the Mayflower, they brought dairy goats with them, and enjoyed fresh goat cheese at the first Thanksgiving dinner.

While cheese’s beginnings are both mysterious (how was it really discovered?) and violent (it traveled with invaders), the result is one of the most nutritious and enjoyable foods in the world.   It preserves milk for sustained use, it allows family farms to make a profit, and it tastes really good.