7 Cheese Facts

7 Cheese facts

1. The Cheesiest

The United States is the top producer of cheese in the world – 90% of them being cheddar. On the other hand, Pizza Hut uses about 140 million kilograms of cheese a year. That’s...a whole lot of cheese in store!

2. How Cheese Was Discovered

The earliest archaeological evidence of cheese-making dates back to 2,000 BC in Ancient Egypt. However, scholars believe cheese was first discovered around 8,000 BC in the Middle East where tribes transported food items in animal hides and organs. The stomach acid would have naturally separated the curds and whey into cheese.

3. Origins Matter

Cheese with a ‘protected designation of origin’ means they bear the name only if they have been made in a particular region in a certain country. Unlike Roquefort, Gorgonzola, and Blue Stilton, other blue cheeses with no protected origin name are simply called “blue cheese”.

4. The Yellow of Cheese

Cheddar, Cheshire and Leicester cheeses have been colored with annatto seeds for many centuries. Carrot juice and marigold petals are also common. It was originally used to colour winter milk where cows fed on hay to match the summer milk where cows fed on grass.

5. Edible Mold

Blue cheeses are typically aged in a temperature-controlled environment like a cave. The blue, blue-gray, or blue-green mold comes from cultures of the mold penicillium that is added in the curd or injected in the final product. Wrap it up tightly when storing, otherwise, the mold will transfer into anything near it!

6. The Hotter It is, The Saltier

Notice that in hotter climates, cheeses need much more salt to be preserved, like the feta cheese of Greece. Cheeses made in cold climates do not require as much salt, paving way for delicious microbes and molds to form and allowing aged cheese to produce robust flavours.

7. Cheese is an Art

The Greeks and Romans were the first to discover methods to smoke cheeses and add special flavours to it. A “careale”, or a cheese kitchen was especially developed for cheese makers to utilise, turning cheese-making into fine art.