Key insights

• 🧀 Cheesemaking dates back to 8000 BCE when Neolithic farmers in the Fertile Crescent discovered that sour milk could be turned into soft, spreadable cheese.
• 🥛 The discovery of cheese provided Neolithic people with a survival advantage due to its preservation, essential nutrients, and lower lactose content in comparison to milk.
• 🌍 Cheese became a standard commodity in Bronze Age maritime trade, was a staple in Mesopotamia, and spread globally through the use of rennet for cheesemaking.
• 🌐 Cheese has been embraced by various cultures with unique local flavors and production methods, including from Mongolians, Egyptians, South Asians, and Greeks.
• 🏰 Cheesemaking has a long history dating back to Roman rule and continued to evolve in medieval European monasteries.
• 🌱 The history of cheese making, from its refinement by clergymen to its global production today, highlights its enduring popularity and connection to Neolithic farming practices.

Q&A

• How is cheesemaking practiced today?

  Today, approximately 22 billion kilograms of cheese are produced annually, and it continues to be handcrafted by local farms. The history of cheesemaking, from its refinement by clergymen to its global production today, highlights its enduring popularity and connection to Neolithic farming practices. It also emphasizes the ongoing significance of traditional methods alongside modern production techniques.

• What role did Roman rule play in the history of cheesemaking?

  Cheesemaking has a long history dating back to Roman rule, and it continued to evolve in medieval European monasteries. During Roman rule, cheese production in Sicily was notable, and 'dry cheese' was used as an essential ration for Roman soldiers. The production of cheese shifted from monasteries to machinery during the Industrial Revolution.

• How did different cultures embrace cheesemaking?

  Cheese became a standard commodity in maritime trade during the Bronze Age in the eastern Mediterranean. It was embraced by various cultures with unique local flavors and production methods, including from Mongolians, Egyptians, South Asians, and Greeks. Each culture had its own way of making and consuming cheese, such as using yaks' milk for Byaslag cheese, making cottage cheese from goats' milk using reed mats, coagulating milk with various food acids to create paneer, and producing salty brined feta cheese.

• How did cheesemaking give Neolithic people a survival advantage?

  The discovery of cheese provided Neolithic people with a survival advantage due to its preservation, essential nutrients, and lower lactose content in comparison to milk. Cheese was made from clumps or curds of milk, and it provided essential proteins, fats, and minerals. It could be preserved for scarce famines and long winters.

• What is the history of cheesemaking?

  Cheesemaking dates back to 8000 BCE when Neolithic farmers in the Fertile Crescent discovered that sour milk could be turned into soft, spreadable cheese. It became a standard commodity in Bronze Age maritime trade, a staple in Mesopotamia, and spread globally through the use of rennet for cheesemaking. The history of cheesemaking continued to evolve in medieval European monasteries, from its refinement by clergymen to its global production today, highlighting its enduring popularity and connection to Neolithic farming practices.

• 00:07 Cheesemaking dates back to 8000 BCE when Neolithic farmers in the Fertile Crescent discovered that sour milk could be turned into soft, spreadable cheese.
• 01:01 The discovery of cheese provided Neolithic people with a survival advantage due to its preservation, essential nutrients, and lower lactose content in comparison to milk.
• 01:52 Cheese became a standard commodity in Bronze Age maritime trade, was a staple in Mesopotamia, and spread globally through the use of rennet for cheesemaking.
• 02:44 Cheese has been embraced by various cultures with unique local flavors and production methods, including from Mongolians, Egyptians, South Asians, and Greeks.
• 03:29 Cheesemaking has a long history dating back to Roman rule and continued to evolve in medieval European monasteries.
• 04:20 The history of cheese making, from its refinement by clergymen to its global production today, highlights its enduring popularity and connection to Neolithic farming practices.