Diverse Traditions

Early shepherds would have discovered the major transformations of milk in their first containers. When milk is left to stand, fat-enriched cream naturally forms at the top, and if agitated, the cream becomes butter. The remaining milk naturally turns acid and curdles into thick yogurt, which draining separates into solid curd and liquid whey. Salting the fresh curd produces a simple, long-keeping cheese. As dairyers became more adept and harvested greater quantities of milk, they found new ways to concentrate and preserve its nourishment, and developed distinctive dairy products in the different climatic regions of the Old World.