The History of Cheese

Cheese is a very old food. Historically, cheese-making was a means of preserving milk, an ancient science that developed organically out of necessity. While cheese-making is no longer a necessary method of storage and preservation, it retains an important role in Italian culture and cuisine.

Cheese-making probably happened by accident. Historians believe that it began as early as 7000 bce in the region of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Nomadic sheepherders, who traveled with milk stored in stomach sacs from their herds, may have discovered that the milk, acted upon by the rennet remaining in the sacs, combined with the vigorous movement of traveling, had separated into curds and whey. From there came the practice of draining the curds and salting them for preservation.