Many consider that cheese was first made in the Middle East, when a man filled a saddlebag with milk to sustain him on a journey across the desert by horse. After several hours, he stopped to quench his thirst, only to find out that the milk had separated into a pale watery liquid and solid white lumps. Because the saddlebag, which was made from the stomach of a young animal, contained an enzyme known as rennin, the milk had been effectively separated into curds and whey by the combination of the rennin, the hot sun and the galloping motion of the horse. He found that the whey was drinkable and the curds edible, and so cheese was born!By AD 300, cheese was being regularly exported to countries along the mediterranean seaboard. In the fertile lowlands of europe, they developed at a faster pace and cheese-making from cows' milk became the norm, this might well the origin of Edam and Gouda in the Netherlands. This was much copied elsewhere under a variety of similar names such as Tybo and Fynbo.
France developed a wider range of cheese from the rich agricultural areas in the south and west area. However, throughout these periods, little progress was made in developing new cheese types. In France, it is a staple in every day diet, and the adage "there is a different cheese for every day of the year" is famous and is understood as an indicator of the many varieties of cheese.
During the Renaissance period cheese suffered a drop in popularity, being considered unhealthy, but it regained its fame in the nineteenth century, the period that saw the start of the move from farm to factory production.
Prior to the twentieth century, most people considered cheese a specialty food, produced in individual households and eaten rarely. However, with the advent of mass production, both the supply and demand for cheese have increased. In 1955, 13 percent of milk was made into cheese. By 1984, this percentage had grown to 31 percent, and it continues to increase. Interestingly, though processed cheese is now widely available, it represents only one-third of all the cheese being made today. Despite the fact that many cheeses are produced in large factories, a majority are still made using natural methods. In fact, small farmhouse cheese-making has made a comeback in recent years. Many Americans now own their own small cheese businesses, and their products have become quite popular, particularly among connoisseurs.
Cheese-making is done with skill and knowledge, various treatments, and conditions under storage result in different flavours and characteristics of the cheese. For many, the mild, slightly nutty flavor of Gruyère is the perfect addition to a steaming bowl of French onion soup or a ham sandwich, but for the medieval peasants who first created it, the flavour was secondary to matters of survival and location. Today, there are more than 1,400 types of cheese to choose from. \MA
