Did you know that 47% of the world’s cheese is cheddar cheese? Have you ever wondered about where the cheese in your sandwich comes from? Let’s dive in.
The word cheese originally comes from the latin word caseus which means “thick milk”. Now, let’s dive into how the first cheese wheel was made. The first cheese was made in Croatia. Back in the year 8000 BCE, there was a farmer living on a farm. He needed a way to store his milk, which was starting to go bad. He got a dried cow stomach, thinking the enzymes in the stomach would keep the milk good because he thought that was where the cows made milk. We think he probably added a lot of salt and left it for a year hung up on a rack. Eventually, he checked on it and most of the milk had solidified with mold into curds. He probably thought it went bad but when he tried it he didn’t get sick, instead he actually really liked the flavour. He then tried it again but in a wooden barrel and for longer, he made the first ever cheese wheel. After that he shared the cheese and recipe with his neighbors and they spread it across the world.
Next, let’s talk about the properties and what you can do with cheese. With cheddar, it has a moisture content of 39% and has a great flavour especially when aged or sharp. Perfect for mac and cheese. Gouda also has a very nice flavour, especially when smoked, and has a high 50% moisture content. Great for sauces. Mozzarella has a bland, cheese flavour with a super high 60% moisture content, great for pizza or cheesy garlic bread. Havarti cheese has a unique flavour and great melting. Amazing for grilled cheese. Feta cheese is a dry cheese with a high moisture content but unique flavour it is great for salad. With Parmigiano Reggiano, it has a texture like gouda and feta combined, but it has a great flavour and is perfect for sauces and salads. Gruyere has an interesting deep flavour and is good as a grilled cheese. Also, Swiss cheese is just guryere but aged for much, much less. It’s also super overrated.
Here are some fun facts about this delicious, nutritious treat that you might not know: Greek people eat an average of 2 and 3 quarter pounds of cheese every year. Pizza hut uses the most amount of cheese per year averaging at 200 million pounds of cheese from all its locations. In conclusion, cheese is very interesting and yummy and has an amazingly cool history. Cheese also kind of started world war 1, but that’s a story for another time. Cheese is a fascinating subject and should be learned about much more often.
