Cheese History

Cheese - popular for 5000 years. The oldest traditions involving the extraction and crafting of milk , come from Mesopotamia, today's Iraq. A corresponding portrayal in the temple of the life goddess Ninchursag, shows that cheese was already being produced at that time. This was around 3,000 years before the birth of Christ.

In order to discover the process involved in the production of cheese, people had to expand their existence as hunters to that of herdsmen. This began with goats, sheep and cows being domesticated, with the result that there was milk avai lab le in larger quantities for disposal.

It must have been an accident that led to the discovery that milk curdles if it is in the sun or heat too long. As well as the discovery of the lab cheese, a large part of today's cheese varieties came about from the power of observation and the impulse to experiment with new knowledge.

Cheese and the Franken The Franken, in the north and the east of France as well as in today's Belgium, preferred soft, cream cheese varieties to the hard cheese from the hilly region. A preference, which the inhabitants of one of their captured regions took over, so that today from these regions comes some of the best soft cheeses such as Brie, Camembert and Munster.

Great European heads enjoyed the unbelievable variety of the French cheese culture.

Karl the Great served Brie de Meaux regularly at his table. However, after he tasted a Roquefort for the first time, the crowned head was dedicated to serving this unique cheese every year at Christmas instead.

Cheese and the Romans In the area of old Rome, goat and sheep milk cheese was a staple food of the people. Soft cheese belonged to the food plan like longer matured variations, as well as ones combined with herbs which varied the flavour.

The close transportation network of the Roman empire is to thank for the cheese market in Rome where hard cheese of the French Jura and the Central Massif were offered.

Cheese in Greek mythology In Greek mythology the goat's milk and its cheese demanded a special position as food and sacrificial gifts.

The poet Homer described in the Odyssee the everyday life of the herdsmen and the craftsmanship of milk production. While the adventures of his heros on the Isle of the Cyclope, Polyphen also gave a detailed description of the craftsmanship of milk production.

French monasteries - the cradle of numerous cheese varieties Characteristic of the middle ages was the spreading of monastery life, because they were centres of agricultural production. Some well known French cheese varieties such as Port Salut, Maroilles and Saint-Nectaire are the names of monasteries which were then famous for the production of the aforementioned cheese varieties. As well Pont/lEveque and Livarot which are products of French monasteries.

The name Munster derives itself from the Greek-Latin word monasterium, which translates into monastery.

Benedictine monasteries regarded milk products and cheese as the ideal foodstuff and insisted on exact adherence to the preparation procedures and hygiene regulations. The reputation of the monasteries was not only based on the religiousness of the monks, but also on the consistently high quality of the products produced. It is the first time that one can clearly see the thought of the Appelation d'Origine Controlée ( AOC ).

The preference of the clergymen for pleasures of the palate may have led to the fact that they knew to refine the techniques of cheese production even further. In the year 1550 there were already more than 50 cheese varieties. Even today on many cheese lab els, especially on soft cheeses, there is a picture of a red faced cheerful monk - a personification for centuries of experience. Apart from the climate and the agricultural variety of France is the middle ages and its social confusions, which made only a small exchange of experiences possible, further important reasons for the fact that here so many cheese varieties could be developed. Much of the cheese was produced in monasteries.

How the first cheese came about Herdsmen filled up their daily ration of milk in dried calves stomachs in the morning. While stored in the calf stomach, the milk naturally combined with the digestive enzyme lab , an enzyme that is stored inside the stomach. By the evening, the remaining milk had turned into a white, thick lump in a watery whey. This was how lab cheese came about.

In the temperate climate of Europe, cheese developed into a delicacy. Nomads of the Middle East spread the knowledge about the production of cheese. People further refined the technique and craftsmanship of cheese production to the extent of elevating it to an art form.

Modern history of cheese With the development of the railway in the 19th century, the wide spread access of French cheese varieties was made possible. Cheese connoisseurs could now experience the pleasure of soft cheese and mould varieties, which before were ruined on the long transport routes.

The discovery from Louis Pasteur, that microorganisms are responsible for the maturity process in food and that they can be destroyed through heating, was a further milestone in the development of today's French cheese assortment. Now it was possible to produce cheese in a bigger, industrial style and always with consistant results. Larger dairies arose, whose cheese products not even within France as well as in whole Europe and over and above that found many connoisseurs.

Today France is one of the biggest cheese producers of the world and offers an assortment of around 500 types and more than 1000 different brand cheeses. Enterprises as Bougrain, Fromageries Bel, Lactalis or Sodiaal are behind the French cheese types which are popular in this country. Additionally, the traditional raw milk and goat cheese possess a constantly growing fan club just as all over in the country.