The first cheese was probably the result of prolonged bacterial action beyond the point at which a homogenous, yogurt-like texture is reached. It makes sense that the rennet, an extract from the fourth, or true stomach, of a milk-fed calf would have been discovered as an especially efficient curdling agent after the organ had been used as a bag to carry milk. It is not known when this discovery was made.
According to one historian, the Greeks ate cheese at the end of the meal, but it was in order to renew their thirst for wine. The Greeks of the Golden Age made much of cheesecake, with each city-state boasting its own special recipe for this delicacy. To this day, at least a dozen kinds of tiropita (which literally translates as "cheese pie" or "cheese pastry") are made in Greece. Cheese was also one of the foods for athletes competing in the original Olympic games. The Greeks used fig-tree branches as a rennet substitute to bring about coagulation of the milk, and the Romans added seeds and spices to their cheeses. Cheese was a subject of fascination to Roman gourmets in the days of the great Caesars, and over the roads of the Roman Empire many wagons carried wheels of cheese to be sold in the Imperial City. Pliny, the Roman historian, in his 10-volume Natural History, wrote of caseus helveticus, a Swiss cheese that was in great demand in Rome. He described the cheese as hard enough to grate into powder. Cheese experts believe it was the original of what is now called Sbrinz, or it may have been the forerunner of Saanen, the cheese said to have remained edible for 100 years. The Romans also imported cheeses from France, England and the Dalmatian coast.
Besides the sheep cheese of Nîmes mentioned by Pliny, a cheese from Toulouse was highly rated by Roman gastronomes, including the Emperor Augustus, who liked it on black bread, accompanied by figs and fried little fishes. Cantal cheese from the Haute-Auvergne was another French cheese singled out by Pliny - and this golden, savory cheese is still produced today in France, much as it was 2,000 years ago. When the Romans reached England, they were so impressed by the excellence of Cheshire cheese that they built a wall around the city of Chester to protect the cheese-making industry. Very likely, sheep cheeses from biblical lands were also served at Roman tables, for many references to cheese appear in the Bible. Semiramis, Queen to Ninus, the legendary founder of Nineveh, was said to have been nurtured on cheese brought by birds when she was a child, and Pliny reports that the prophet Zoroaster lived on a single cheese in the wilderness for 20 years. It must have been the cheese of the same mammoth size as those that David took to the armies of Saul, for David carried only 10 cheeses to feed 1,000 men.
With the rise of Christianity in Western Europe, some of the cheeses were produced by monks, and the many French cheeses named for saints attest to the devout faith of the friars who, when they succeeded in producing especially fine cheeses, recognized that much of their success was due to divine providence. It would appear that, during the Dark Ages, the appreciation of cheese was preserved in the religious houses (as was true of so many other aspects of civilized life).
The Latin word for cheese, caseus, became German Käse and English "cheese", as well as Spanish queso and queijo in Portuguese. The Italian formaggio and the French fromage also derive from Latin, although the root of these words is in the Greek formos, the Cyclops' wicker basket. (Homer's Odyssey tells how Ulysses and his men hid in the Cyclops' cavern while the one-eyed giant milked his ewes and goats, then curdled half the milk, drained the curds and set them aside in wicker baskets.)
Some cheeses are coated in order to prevent moisture loss, spoilage and physical damage. Cloth, wax, fat, foil and plastic are all used for this purpose. Some of them have also been artificially colored for centuries with dyes, which are added to the milk along with the starter bacteria, or rennet. Carrot juice and marigold petals were among the first materials used, and annatto, or achiote, the crushed seed of a tropical tree, has colored Leicester, Cheshire and Cheddar cheeses for 200 years (the Spanish found the Mexicans reddening their chocolate beverage with it in the 16th century).
Because of its high protein and fat content, a small piece of cheese can curb a large hunger. The principle difference between cheese and other cultured milk products is the extent to which curdling and fermentation are allowed to proceed. Cheese is about one-tenth the volume of its original milk and, because it's drier and more acidic, it's much more resistant to spoilage. See also Admirals, aettekees, alemtejo, Altenburger, Ambert, Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée (AOC), Appenzeller, appetitost, armavir, artisanal, asadero, Asiago, Auvergne, banon, Barberey, Bath cheese, battelmat, Bavarian blue, Bayrischer Bierkäse, Beaufort, beli sir, Bel Paese, Bergkäse, Berliner kuhkäse, Bernade, Bierkäse, bitto, Bleu de Bresse, Bleu des Causses, blue castello, blue cheese, blue Cheshire, blue Dorset, blue Shropshire, bocconcini, Bonbel, Bondane, Bondost, Boursault, Boursin, brandkäse, Brebichon, brebis, brenza, brickbat, brick cheese, bricotta, Brie, Brillat-Savarin, brousse, Bûcheron, Cabécou, caboc, Cabrales, cabreiro, cachat, caciocavallo, Caerphilly, calacagno, Cambozola, Cambridge cheese, Camembert, canestrato, Cantal, caprino formaggio, Cashel Blue, cebrero, Chabichou, chaivari, Chaource, Cheddar, chenna, Cheshire, chèvre, Colwick, Cotherstone, cottage cheese, Cottenham, cream cheese, Coulommiers, Crema Dania, crescenza, crottin, Danbo cheese, Danish blue, Derby cheese, Dolcelatte, double-crème cheese, double Gloucester, Dry Jack, Dunlop, Edam, Emmental, Époisses, Esrom, Explorateur, farmer's cheese, feta cheese, Fontina, Fourme d'Ambert, fromage blanc, Gamonedo, gjetost, goat cheese, Gorgonzola, Gouda, Grabetto, haloumi, Handkäse, Havarti, Herve, hoop cheese, Jarlsberg, kasseri cheese, kefalotyri, Lancashire, Lappi, Leicester, Leyden, Liederkranz, Limburger, Liptauer, manchego, Maroilles, mascarpone, Maytag blue, mimolette, monk's head, Monterey Jack, Montrachet cheese, mozzarella, Munster, mycella, mysost, myzithra, nökkelost cheese, Oka, paneer, Parmesan, pecorino, pepper Jack, petit-suisse, Plymouth cheese, Pont-l'Eveque, Port Salut, pot cheese, provolone, quark, queso anejado, queso blanco, queso fresco, raclette, Reblochon, ricotta, ricotta salata, Romano, Roquefort, Saanen, Saga blue, sage cheese, sapsago, Sbrinz, scamorza, Shropshire blue, Sonoma Jack, steppe cheese, Stilton, stracchino, string cheese, Swiss cheese, Tête de Moine, Tilsit, tomme cheese, triple-crème cheese, tybo, unripened cheese, vacherin, Valençay, Wensleydale, whey cheese, Yarg.
From The Food Encyclopedia by Jacques Rolland and Carol Sherman
