The residents fed livestock and especially cows, whose milk their owners transformed into a number of cheeses, butter and other dairy products. Among them were cheeses flavored with honey, spices, fruits and herbs.
Most likely the first cheese were made by souring or ‘clabbering’ milk and then draining the whey from the curds in baskets. According to the legend, it is likely that some ancient traveler carrying milk in a pouch made from the lining of a sheep’s stomach discovered that the milk had coagulated into cheese along the way.
About twenty different types of cheese are described in ancient Sumerian writings from 3000 BC.
Archeologically, the oldest known cheese was found in an earthenware pot in the Egyptian tomb of King Horaha, dating back to 2300 BC.
Homer in 1184 BC wrote about cheese which was manufactured from sheep’s or goat’s milk in the caves by the ‘Cyclops Polyphemus’. The cheese may have been the ancestor of the Feta and Halloumi cheeses that are widely produced in Greece, Cyprus and Bulgaria.
Cheese made from goat’s and ewe’s milk were common fare in ancient Roman times, an era which saw cheesemaking attain an unprecedented level of sophistication.
Knowledge of the art of cheesemaking spread throughout the empire and a number of firm cheeses were developed by the Romans, including Parmesan and Pecorino. The name Parmesan traces back to old Italian’s parmigiano – loosely translated, it means ‘in true Parma style’ or ‘in the ‘Parma tradition’.
History of cheesemaking
