The Cheesecake’s Forgotten Heritage

Who invented the first cheesecake? Would you have guessed the Greeks?

I was shocked to learn this bit of trivia. For me, it seemed like an American classic. But it was the Romans who adopted the original cheesecake from the Greeks and spread it throughout Europe as their empire expanded. And when Europeans later landed on the shores of a newly discovered America, they brought the recipe with them. This plain-looking dessert, consisting of a cheese-based filling in a pastry shell, had been served on the table of Olympic athletes, emperors and immigrants.