Cheese

Curdled milk food product

For other uses, see Cheese (disambiguation).

A platter with cheese and garnishes Cheeses in art: Still Life with Cheeses, Almonds and Pretzels, Clara Peeters, c. 1615

Cheese is a type of dairy product produced in a range of flavors, textures, and forms by coagulation of the milk protein casein. It comprises proteins and fat from milk (usually the milk of cows, buffalo, goats or sheep). During production, milk is usually acidified and either the enzymes of rennet or bacterial enzymes with similar activity are added to cause the casein to coagulate. The solid curds are then separated from the liquid whey and pressed into finished cheese.[1] Some cheeses have aromatic molds on the rind, the outer layer, or throughout.

Over a thousand types of cheese exist, produced in various countries. Their styles, textures and flavors depend on the origin of the milk (including the animal's diet), whether they have been pasteurised, the butterfat content, the bacteria and mold, the processing, and how long they have been aged. Herbs, spices, or wood smoke may be used as flavoring agents. Other added ingredients may include black pepper, garlic, chives or cranberries. A cheesemonger, or specialist seller of cheeses, may have expertise with selecting, purchasing, receiving, storing and ripening cheeses.[2]

Most cheeses are acidified by bacteria, which turn milk sugars into lactic acid; the addition of rennet completes the curdling. Vegetarian varieties of rennet are available; most are produced through fermentation by the fungus Mucor miehei, but others have been extracted from Cynara thistles. For a few cheeses, the milk is curdled by adding acids such as vinegar or lemon juice.

Cheese is valued for its portability, long shelf life, and high content of fat, protein, calcium, and phosphorus. Cheese is more compact and has a longer shelf life than milk.[3] Hard cheeses, such as Parmesan, last longer than soft cheeses, such as Brie or goat's milk cheese. The long storage life of some cheeses, especially when encased in a protective rind, allows selling when markets are favorable. Vacuum packaging of block-shaped cheeses and gas-flushing of plastic bags with mixtures of carbon dioxide and nitrogen are used for storage and mass distribution of cheeses in the 21st century,[3] compared with the paper and twine that was used in the 20th and 19th century.

## Etymology

[edit]

Hard cheeses in Germany

The word cheese comes from Latin caseus,[4] from which the modern word casein is derived. The earliest source is from the proto-Indo-European root *kwat-, which means "to ferment, become sour". That gave rise to cīese or cēse (in Old English) and chese (in Middle English). Similar words are shared by other West Germanic languages—West Frisian tsiis, Dutch kaas, German Käse, Old High German chāsi—all from the reconstructed West-Germanic form *kāsī, which in turn is an early borrowing from Latin.[citation needed]

The Online Etymological Dictionary states that "cheese" derives from:[5]

> Old English cyse (West Saxon), cese (Anglian) ... from West Germanic *kasjus (source also of Old Saxon kasi, Old High German chasi, German Käse, Middle Dutch case, Dutch kaas), from Latin caseus [for] "cheese" (source of Italian cacio, Spanish queso, Irish caise, Welsh caws).

The Online Etymological Dictionary states that the word is of:[5]

> unknown origin; perhaps from a PIE root *kwat- "to ferment, become sour" (source also of Prakrit chasi "buttermilk;" Old Church Slavonic kvasu "leaven; fermented drink," kyselu "sour," -kyseti "to turn sour;" Czech kysati "to turn sour, rot;" Sanskrit kvathati "boils, seethes;" Gothic hwaþjan "foam").

When the Romans began to make hard cheeses for their legionaries' supplies, a new word started to be used: formaticum, from caseus formatus, or "cheese shaped in a mold". It is from this word that the French fromage, standard Italian formaggio, Catalan formatge, Breton fourmaj, and Occitan fromatge (or formatge) are derived. Of the Romance languages, Spanish, Portuguese, Romanian, Tuscan and some Southern Italian dialects use words derived from caseus (queso, queijo, caș, cacio and caso for example). The word cheese is occasionally employed, as in head cheese, to mean "shaped in a mold".[6][7]

## History

[edit]

Main article: History of cheese

### Origins

[edit]

A piece of soft curd cheese, oven-baked to increase shelf life

Cheese is an ancient food whose origins predate recorded history. There is no conclusive evidence indicating where cheesemaking originated, whether in Europe, Central Asia or the Middle East. The earliest proposed dates for the origin of cheesemaking range from around 8000 BCE, when sheep were first domesticated. Because animal skins and inflated internal organs have provided storage vessels for a range of foodstuffs since ancient times, it is probable that the process of cheese making was discovered accidentally by storing milk in a container made from the stomach of an animal, resulting in the milk being turned to curd and whey by the rennet from the stomach.[8] There is a legend—with variations—about the discovery of cheese by an Arab trader who used this method of storing milk.[9]

The earliest evidence of cheesemaking in the archaeological record dates back to 5500 BCE and is found in what is now Kuyavia, Poland, where strainers coated with milk-fat molecules have been found.[10][11] The earliest evidence of cheesemaking in the Mediterranean dates back to 5200 BCE, on the coast of the Dalmatia region of Croatia.[12]

Cheesemaking may have begun independently of this by the pressing and salting of curdled milk to preserve it. Observation that the effect of making cheese in an animal stomach gave more solid and better-textured curds may have led to the deliberate addition of rennet. Early archeological evidence of Egyptian cheese has been found in Egyptian tomb murals, dating to about 2000 BCE.[13] A 2018 scientific paper stated that cheese dating to approximately 1200 BCE (3200 years before present), was found in ancient Egyptian tombs.[14][15] The earliest ever discovered preserved cheese was found on mummies in Xiaohe Cemetery in the Taklamakan Desert in Xinjiang, China, dating back as early as 1615 BCE.[16][17][18]

The earliest cheeses were likely quite sour and salty, similar in texture to rustic cottage cheese or feta, a crumbly, flavorful Greek cheese. Cheese produced in Europe, where climates are cooler than the Middle East, required less salt for preservation. With less salt and acidity, the cheese became a suitable environment for useful microbes and molds, giving aged cheeses their respective flavors.

### Ancient Greece and Rome

[edit]

Cheese in a market in Italy

Ancient Greek mythology credited Aristaeus with the discovery of cheese. Homer's Odyssey (8th century BCE) describes the monstrous Cyclops making and storing sheep's and goats' milk cheese (translation by Samuel Butler):

> We soon reached his cave, but he was out shepherding, so we went inside and took stock of all that we could see. His cheese-racks were loaded with cheeses, and he had more lambs and kids than his pens could hold...

> When he had so done he sat down and milked his ewes and goats, all in due course, and then let each of them have her own young. He curdled half the milk and set it aside in wicker strainers.[19]

Columella's De Re Rustica (c. 65 CE) details a cheesemaking process involving rennet coagulation, pressing of the curd, salting, and aging. According to Pliny the Elder, it had become a sophisticated enterprise by the time the Roman Empire came into being.[20] Pliny the Elder also mentions in his writings Caseus Helveticus, a hard Sbrinz-like cheese produced by the Helvetii.[21][22] Cheese was an everyday food and cheesemaking a mature art in the Roman empire.[23] Pliny's Natural History (77  CE) devotes a chapter (XI, 97) to describing the diversity of cheeses enjoyed by Romans of the early Empire. He stated that the best cheeses came from the villages near Nîmes, but did not keep long and had to be eaten fresh. Cheeses of the Alps and Apennines were as remarkable for their variety then as now. A Ligurian cheese was noted for being made mostly from sheep's milk, and some cheeses produced nearby were stated to weigh as much as a thousand pounds each. Goats' milk cheese was a recent taste in Rome, improved over the "medicinal taste" of Gaul's similar cheeses by smoking. Of cheeses from overseas, Pliny preferred those of Bithynia in Asia Minor.[24]

### Post-Roman Europe

[edit]

Cheese, Tacuinum sanitatis Casanatensis (14th century)

c. 1000, Anglo-Saxons in England named a village by the River Thames Ceswican, meaning "Cheese farm".[25] In 1022, it is mentioned that Vlach (Aromanian) shepherds from Thessaly and the Pindus mountains, in modern Greece, provided cheese for Constantinople.[26] Many cheeses popular today were first recorded in the late Middle Ages or after. Cheeses such as Cheddar around 1500, Parmesan in 1597, Gouda in 1697, and Camembert in 1791 show post-Middle Ages dates.[27]

In 1546, The Proverbs of John Heywood claimed "the moon is made of a green cheese" (Greene may refer here not to the color, as many now think, but to being new or unaged).[28] Variations on this sentiment were long repeated and NASA exploited this myth for an April Fools' Day spoof announcement in 2006.[29]

### Modern era

[edit]

Cheese display in grocery store, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States

Until its modern spread along with European culture, cheese was nearly unheard of in east Asian cultures and in the pre-Columbian Americas and had only limited use in sub-Mediterranean Africa, mainly being widespread and popular only in Europe, the Middle East, the Indian subcontinent,[citation needed] Tibet,[30][31] and areas influenced by those cultures. But with the spread, first of European imperialism, and later of Euro-American culture and food, cheese has gradually become known and increasingly popular worldwide.

The first factory for the industrial production of cheese opened in Switzerland in 1815, but large-scale production first found real success in the United States. Credit usually goes to Jesse Williams, a dairy farmer from Rome, New York, who in 1851 started making cheese in an assembly-line fashion using the milk from neighboring farms; this made cheddar cheese one of the first US industrial foods.[32] Within decades, hundreds of such commercial dairy associations existed.[33]

The 1860s saw the beginnings of mass-produced rennet, and by the turn of the century scientists were producing pure microbial cultures. Before then, bacteria in cheesemaking had come from the environment or from recycling an earlier batch's whey; the pure cultures meant a more standardized cheese could be produced.[34]

Factory-made cheese overtook traditional cheesemaking in the World War II era, and factories have been the source of most cheese in America and Europe ever since.[35] By 2012, cheese was one of the most shoplifted items from supermarkets worldwide.[36]

## Production

[edit]

Cheese production
2022, millions of tonnes United States | 6.4

|

Germany | 2.3
France | 1.7
Italy | 1.2
Netherlands | 0.9
World | 22.6
Source: FAOSTAT of the United Nations[37]

In 2022, world production of cheese from whole cow milk was 22.6 million tonnes, with the United States accounting for 28% of the total, followed by Germany, France, Italy and the Netherlands as secondary producers (table).

As of 2021, the carbon footprint of a kilogram of cheese ranged from 6 to 12 kg of CO2eq, depending on the amount of milk used; accordingly, it is generally lower than beef or lamb, but higher than other foods.[38]

### Consumption

[edit]

France, Iceland, Finland, Denmark and Germany were the highest consumers of cheese in 2014, averaging 25 kg (55 lb) per person per annum.[39]

## Processing

[edit]

Main article: Cheesemaking

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
Find sources: "Cheese" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (February 2013) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

|

### Curdling

[edit]

In industrial production of Emmental cheese, the as-yet-undrained curd is broken by rotating mixers.

A required step in cheesemaking is to separate the milk into solid curds and liquid whey. Usually this is done by acidifying (souring) the milk and adding rennet. The acidification can be accomplished directly by the addition of an acid, such as vinegar, in a few cases (paneer, queso fresco). More commonly starter bacteria are employed instead which convert milk sugars into lactic acid. The same bacteria (and the enzymes they produce) also play a large role in the eventual flavor of aged cheeses. Most cheeses are made with starter bacteria from the Lactococcus, Lactobacillus, or Streptococcus genera.[citation needed]

Swiss starter cultures include Propionibacterium freudenreichii, which produces propionic acid and carbon dioxide gas bubbles during aging, giving Emmental cheese its holes or eyes.[40]

Some fresh cheeses are curdled only by acidity, but most cheeses also use rennet. Rennet sets the cheese into a strong and rubbery gel compared to the fragile curds produced by acidic coagulation alone. It also allows curdling at a lower acidity—important because flavor-making bacteria are inhibited in high-acidity environments. In general, softer, smaller, fresher cheeses are curdled with a greater proportion of acid to rennet than harder, larger, longer-aged varieties.[citation needed]

While rennet was traditionally produced via extraction from the inner mucosa of the fourth stomach chamber of slaughtered young, unweaned calves, most rennet used today in cheesemaking is produced recombinantly.[41] The majority of the applied chymosin is retained in the whey and, at most, may be present in cheese in trace quantities. In ripe cheese, the type and provenance of chymosin used in production cannot be determined.[41]

### Curd processing

[edit]

At this point, the cheese has set into a very moist gel. Some soft cheeses are now essentially complete: they are drained, salted, and packaged. For most of the rest, the curd is cut into small cubes. This allows water to drain from the individual pieces of curd.

Some hard cheeses are then heated to temperatures in the range of 35–55 °C (95–131 °F). This forces more whey from the cut curd. It also changes the taste of the finished cheese, affecting both the bacterial culture and the milk chemistry. Cheeses that are heated to the higher temperatures are usually made with thermophilic starter bacteria that survive this step—either Lactobacilli or Streptococci.

Salt has roles in cheese besides adding a salty flavor. It preserves cheese from spoiling, draws moisture from the curd, and firms cheese's texture in an interaction with its proteins. Some cheeses are salted from the outside with dry salt or brine washes. Most cheeses have the salt mixed directly into the curds.

Cheese factory in Zaanstad, the Netherlands

Other techniques influence a cheese's texture and flavor. Some examples are:

* Stretching (Mozzarella, Provolone): the curd is stretched and kneaded in hot water, developing a stringy, fibrous body.
* Cheddaring (Cheddar, other English cheeses): the cut curd is repeatedly piled up, pushing more moisture away. The curd is also mixed (or milled) for a long time, taking the sharp edges off the cut curd pieces and influencing the final product's texture.
* Washing: (Edam, Gouda, Colby): the curd is washed in warm water, lowering its acidity and making for a milder-tasting cheese.

Most cheeses achieve their final shape when the curds are pressed into a mold or form. The harder the cheese, the more pressure is applied. The pressure drives out moisture—the molds are designed to allow water to escape—and unifies the curds into a single solid body.

### Ripening

[edit]

Main article: Cheese ripening

Parmigiano-Reggiano in a modern factory

A newborn cheese is usually salty yet bland in flavor and, for harder varieties, rubbery in texture. These qualities are sometimes enjoyed—cheese curds are eaten on their own—but normally cheeses are left to rest under controlled conditions. This aging period (also called ripening, or, from the French, affinage) lasts from a few days to several years. As a cheese ages, microbes and enzymes transform texture and intensify flavor. This transformation is largely a result of the breakdown of casein proteins and milkfat into a complex mix of amino acids, amines, and fatty acids.

Some cheeses have additional bacteria or molds intentionally introduced before or during aging. In traditional cheesemaking, these microbes might be already present in the aging room; they are allowed to settle and grow on the stored cheeses. More often today, prepared cultures are used, giving more consistent results and putting fewer constraints on the environment where the cheese ages. These cheeses include soft ripened cheeses such as Brie and Camembert; blue cheeses such as Roquefort, Stilton, Gorgonzola; and rind-washed cheeses such as Limburger.

## Types

[edit]

Main article: Types of cheese

There are many types of cheese, with around 500 different varieties recognized by the International Dairy Federation,[42] more than 400 identified by Walter and Hargrove, more than 500 by Burkhalter, and more than 1,000 by Sandine and Elliker.[43] The varieties may be grouped or classified into types according to criteria such as length of ageing, texture, methods of making, fat content, animal milk, country or region of origin, etc.—with these criteria either being used singly or in combination,[44] but with no single method being universally used.[45] The method most commonly and traditionally used is based on moisture content, which is then further discriminated by fat content and curing or ripening methods.[42][46] Some attempts have been made to rationalise the classification of cheese—a scheme was proposed by Pieter Walstra which uses the primary and secondary starter combined with moisture content, and Walter and Hargrove suggested classifying by production methods which produces 18 types, which are then further grouped by moisture content.[42]

The British Cheese Board once claimed that Britain had approximately 700 distinct local cheeses;[47] France and Italy have perhaps 400 each (a French proverb holds there is a different French cheese for every day of the year, and Charles de Gaulle once asked "how can you govern a country in which there are 246 kinds of cheese?").[48]

## Cooking and eating

[edit]

Wikibooks Cookbook has a recipe/module on

* Cheese

Saganaki, lit on fire, served in Chicago

At refrigerator temperatures, the fat in a piece of cheese is as hard as unsoftened butter, and its protein structure is stiff as well. Flavor and odor compounds are less easily liberated when cold. For improvements in flavor and texture, it is widely advised that cheeses be allowed to warm up to room temperature before eating. If the cheese is further warmed, to 26–32 °C (79–90 °F), the fats will begin to "sweat out" as they go beyond soft to fully liquid.[49]

Above room temperatures, most hard cheeses melt. Rennet-curdled cheeses have a gel-like protein matrix that is broken down by heat. When enough protein bonds are broken, the cheese itself turns from a solid to a viscous liquid. Soft, high-moisture cheeses will melt at around 55 °C (131 °F), while hard, low-moisture cheeses such as Parmesan remain solid until they reach about 82 °C (180 °F).[49] Acid-set cheeses, including halloumi, paneer, some whey cheeses and many varieties of fresh goat cheese, have a protein structure that remains intact at high temperatures. When cooked, these cheeses just get firmer as water evaporates.

Some cheeses, like raclette, melt smoothly; many tend to become stringy or suffer from a separation of their fats. Many of these can be coaxed into melting smoothly in the presence of acids or starch. Fondue, with wine providing the acidity, is a good example of a smoothly melted cheese dish.[49] Elastic stringiness is a quality that is sometimes enjoyed, in dishes including pizza and Welsh rarebit. Even a melted cheese eventually turns solid again, after enough moisture is cooked off. The saying "you can't melt cheese twice" (meaning "some things can only be done once") refers to the fact that oils leach out during the first melting and are gone, leaving the non-meltable solids behind.

As its temperature continues to rise, cheese will brown and eventually burn. Browned, partially burned cheese has a particular distinct flavor of its own and is frequently used in cooking (e.g., sprinkling atop items before baking them).

### Cheeseboard

[edit]

See also: Cheese and crackers

"Cheese plate" redirects here. For a small plate, see Bread-and-butter plate.

Cheeseboard, bread, and wine on a cafe table

A cheeseboard (or cheese course) may be served at the end of a meal before or following dessert, or replacing the last course. The British tradition is to have cheese after dessert, accompanied by sweet wines like port. In France, cheese is consumed before dessert, with robust red wine.[50][51] A cheeseboard typically has contrasting cheeses with accompaniments, such as crackers, biscuits, grapes, nuts, celery or chutney.[51]

A cheeseboard typically contains four to six cheeses, for example: mature Cheddar or Comté (hard: cow's milk cheeses); Brie or Camembert (soft: cow's milk); a blue cheese such as Stilton (hard: cow's milk), Roquefort (medium: ewe's milk) or Bleu d'Auvergne (medium-soft cow's milk); and a soft/medium-soft goat's cheese (e.g. Sainte-Maure de Touraine, Pantysgawn, Crottin de Chavignol).[51]

A cheeseboard 70 feet (21 m) long was used to feature the variety of cheeses manufactured in Wisconsin,[52] where the state legislature recognizes a "cheesehead" hat as a state symbol.[53]

## Nutrition and health

[edit]

The nutritional value of cheese varies widely. Low-fat cottage cheese is 2% fat and 11% protein while dry queso seco cheese is 24% fat and 25% protein, and full-fat cream cheese is 34% fat and 6% protein.[54] In general, cheese is a rich source (20% or more of the Daily Value, DV) of calcium, protein, phosphorus, sodium and saturated fat. A 17-gram (one slice) serving of cheddar cheese contains about 4 grams (0.14 oz) of protein and 120 milligrams of calcium.[54] Nutritionally, cheese is essentially concentrated milk, but altered by the culturing and aging processes: it takes about 200 grams (7.1 oz) of milk to provide that much protein, and 150 grams (5.3 oz) to equal the calcium.[citation needed]

Macronutrients in common cheeses per 100 g[54] | Water | Protein | Fat | Carbs

|
|
|
|

Swiss | 37.1 | 26.9 | 27.8 | 5.4
Feta | 55.2 | 14.2 | 21.3 | 4.1
Cheddar | 36.8 | 24.9 | 33.1 | 1.3
Mozzarella | 50 | 22.2 | 22.4 | 2.2
Cottage | 80 | 11.1 | 4.3 | 3.4

Abbreviations:

* Ch: Choline
* Ca: Calcium
* Fe: Iron
* Mg: Magnesium
* P: Phosphorus
* K: Potassium
* Na: Sodium
* Zn: Zinc
* Cu: Copper
* Mn: Manganese
* Se: Selenium.

Vitamin content of common cheeses, % DV per 100 g[54] | A  | B1  | B2  | B3  | B5  | B6  | B9  | B12  | C  | D  | E  | K

|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

Swiss  | 17  | 4  | 17  | 0  | 4  | 4  | 1  | 56  | 0  | 11  | 2  | 3
Feta  | 8  | 10  | 50  | 5  | 10  | 21  | 8  | 28  | 0  | 0  | 1  | 2
Cheddar  | 20  | 2  | 22  | 0  | 4  | 4  | 5  | 14  | 0  | 3  | 1  | 3
Mozzarella  | 14  | 2  | 17  | 1  | 1  | 2  | 2  | 38  | 0  | 0  | 1  | 3
Cottage  | 3  | 2  | 10  | 0  | 6  | 2  | 3  | 7  | 0  | 0  | 0  | 0
Mineral content of common cheeses, % DV per 100 g[54] | Ch  | Ca  | Fe  | Mg  | P  | K  | Na  | Zn  | Cu  | Mn  | Se

|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

Swiss  | 2.8  | 79  | 10  | 1  | 57  | 2  | 8  | 29  | 2  | 0  | 26
Feta  | 2.2  | 49  | 4  | 5  | 34  | 2  | 46  | 19  | 2  | 1  | 21
Cheddar  | 3  | 72  | 4  | 7  | 51  | 3  | 26  | 21  | 2  | 1  | 20
Mozzarella  | 2.8  | 51  | 2  | 5  | 35  | 2  | 26  | 19  | 1  | 1  | 24
Cottage  | 3.3  | 8  | 0  | 2  | 16  | 3  | 15  | 3  | 1  | 0  | 14

### Cardiovascular disease

[edit]

National health organizations, such as the American Heart Association, Association of UK Dietitians, British National Health Service, and Mayo Clinic, among others, recommend that cheese consumption be minimized, replaced in snacks and meals by plant foods, or restricted to low-fat cheeses to reduce caloric intake and blood levels of LDL fat, which is a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases.[55][56][57][58]

### Pasteurization

[edit]

A number of food safety agencies around the world have warned of the risks of raw-milk cheeses. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration states that soft raw-milk cheeses can cause "serious infectious diseases including listeriosis, brucellosis, salmonellosis and tuberculosis".[59] It is U.S. law since 1944 that all raw-milk cheeses (including imports since 1951) must be aged at least 60 days. Australia has a wide ban on raw-milk cheeses as well, though in recent years exceptions have been made for Swiss Gruyère, Emmental and Sbrinz, and for French Roquefort.[60] There is a trend for cheeses to be pasteurized even when not required by law.

Pregnant women may face an additional risk from cheese: the U.S. Centers for Disease Control has warned pregnant women against eating soft-ripened cheeses and blue-veined cheeses, due to the listeria risk, which can cause miscarriage or harm the fetus.[61]

## Cultural attitudes

[edit]

A cheese merchant in a French market A traditional Polish sheep's cheese market in Zakopane, Poland

Among the few cheeses in Southeast and East Asian cuisines is paneer, a fresh acid-set cheese.[62] In Nepal, the Dairy Development Corporation commercially manufactures cheese made from yak milk and a hard cheese made from either cow or yak milk known as chhurpi.[63] Bhutan produces a similar cheese called Datshi, which is a staple in most Bhutanese curries.[64] The national dish of Bhutan, ema datshi, is made from homemade yak or mare milk cheese and hot peppers.[65] In Yunnan, China, several ethnic minority groups produce Rushan and Rubing from cow's milk.[66] Cheese consumption may be increasing in China, with annual sales doubling from 1996 to 2003 (to a still small 30 million U.S. dollars a year).[67]

Strict followers of the dietary laws of Islam and Judaism must avoid cheeses made with rennet from animals not slaughtered in accordance with halal or kosher laws respectively.[68]

Rennet derived from animal slaughter, and thus cheese made with animal-derived rennet, is not vegetarian. Most widely available vegetarian cheeses are made using rennet produced by fermentation of the fungus Mucor miehei.[69] Vegans and other dairy-avoiding vegetarians do not eat conventional cheese, but some vegetable-based cheese substitutes (soy or almond) are used as substitutes.[69]

### Odorous cheeses

[edit]

Even in cultures with long cheese traditions, consumers may perceive some cheeses that are especially pungent-smelling, or mold-bearing varieties such as Limburger, Stilton or Roquefort, as unpalatable. Such cheeses are an acquired taste because they are processed using molds or microbiological cultures,[70][71] allowing odor and flavor molecules to resemble those in rotten foods. One author stated: "An aversion to the odor of decay has the obvious biological value of steering us away from possible food poisoning, so it is no wonder that an animal food that gives off whiffs of shoes and soil and the stable takes some getting used to".[49]

### Effect on sleep

[edit]

There is some support from studies that dairy products can help with insomnia.[72] Scientists have debated how cheese might affect sleep. A folk belief that cheese eaten close to bedtime can cause nightmares may have arisen from the Charles Dickens novella A Christmas Carol, in which Ebenezer Scrooge attributes his visions of Jacob Marley to the cheese he ate.[73] This belief can also be found in folklore that predates this story.[74] The theory has been disproven multiple times, although night cheese may cause vivid dreams or otherwise disrupt sleep due to its high saturated fat content, according to studies by the British Cheese Board. Other studies indicate it may actually make people dream less.[73][75]

## See also

[edit]

* Dairy industry
* Dutch cheese markets
* List of cheese dishes
* List of cheeses
* List of dairy products
* List of microorganisms used in food and beverage preparation
* Sheep milk cheese

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Fankhauser, David B. (2007). "Fankhauser's Cheese Page". Archived from the original on September 25, 2007. Retrieved September 23, 2007.
2. ^ Jones, G. Stephen (January 29, 2013). "Conversation with a Cheesemonger". The Reluctant Gourmet. Archived from the original on June 24, 2012. Retrieved July 16, 2012.
3. ^ a b Johnson, M.E. (2017). "A 100-Year Review: Cheese production and quality". Journal of Dairy Science. 100 (12): 9952–9965\. doi:10.3168/jds.2017-12979. PMID 29153182.
4. ^ Simpson, D. P. (1979). Cassell's Latin Dictionary (5th ed.). London: Cassell. p. 883\. ISBN 978-0-304-52257-6.
5. ^ a b "cheese". Online Etymology Dictionary. Archived from the original on April 4, 2017. Retrieved April 3, 2017.
6. ^ "7 Deliciously Cheesy Cheese Words". Merriam-Webster. Archived from the original on October 26, 2023. Retrieved October 26, 2023.
7. ^ "7 Words That Will Expand Your Understanding of Cheese". Merriam-Webster. Archived from the original on October 26, 2023. Retrieved October 26, 2023.
8. ^ Silanikove, Nissim; Leitner, Gabriel; Merin, Uzi (2015). "The Interrelationships between Lactose Intolerance and the Modern Dairy Industry: Global Perspectives in Evolutional and Historical Backgrounds". Nutrients. 7 (9): 7312–7331\. doi:10.3390/nu7095340. PMC 4586535. PMID 26404364.
9. ^ Jenny Ridgwell, Judy Ridgway, Food around the World, (1986) Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-832728-5
10. ^ Subbaraman, Nidhi (December 12, 2012). "Art of cheese-making is 7,500 years old". Nature News. doi:10.1038/nature.2012.12020. S2CID 180646880. Archived from the original on January 11, 2013. Retrieved December 12, 2012.
11. ^ Salque, Mélanie; Bogucki, Peter I.; Pyzel, Joanna; Sobkowiak-Tabaka, Iwona; Grygiel, Ryszard; Szmyt, Marzena; Evershed, Richard P. (2013). "Earliest evidence for cheese making in the sixth millennium bc in northern Europe". Nature. 493 (7433): 522–525\. Bibcode:2013Natur.493..522S. doi:10.1038/nature11698. ISSN 0028-0836. PMID 23235824.
12. ^ McClure, Sarah B.; Magill, Clayton; Podrug, Emil; Moore, Andrew M. T.; Harper, Thomas K.; Culleton, Brendan J.; Kennett, Douglas J.; Freeman, Katherine H. (September 5, 2018). "Fatty acid specific δ13C values reveal earliest Mediterranean cheese production 7,200 years ago". PLOS ONE. 13 (9): e0202807. Bibcode:2018PLoSO..1302807M. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0202807. PMC 6124750. PMID 30183735.
13. ^ "History of Cheese". www.gol27.com. Archived from the original on July 21, 2017. Retrieved December 23, 2014.
14. ^ "Cheese discovered in Ancient Egypt tomb-GB". BBC News. August 18, 2018. Archived from the original on August 19, 2018. Retrieved August 20, 2018.
15. ^ "World's Oldest Cheese Discovered in Ancient Egyptian Tomb". Time. Archived from the original on August 22, 2018. Retrieved August 20, 2018.
16. ^ Watson, Traci (February 25, 2014). "Oldest Cheese Found". USA Today. Archived from the original on December 11, 2020. Retrieved February 25, 2015.
17. ^ Liu, Yichen; Miao, Bo; Li, Wenying; Hu, Xingjun; Bai, Fan; Abuduresule, Yidilisi; Liu, Yalin; Zheng, Zequan; Wang, Wenjun; Chen, Zehui; Zhu, Shilun; Feng, Xiaotian; Cao, Peng; Ping, Wanjing; Yang, Ruowei (September 2024). "Bronze Age cheese reveals human-Lactobacillus interactions over evolutionary history". Cell. 187 (21): 5891–5900.e8. doi:10.1016/j.cell.2024.08.008. PMID 39326418.
18. ^ Woodford, James (September 25, 2024). "World's oldest cheese found on 3500-year-old Chinese mummies". New Scientist. Retrieved September 28, 2024.
19. ^ Homer. Odyssey. Translated by Butler, Samuel. 9.216, 9.231. Archived from the original on September 27, 2020. Retrieved August 21, 2018.
20. ^ Capasso, L. (August 1, 2002). "Bacteria in Two-millennia-old Cheese, and Related Epizoonoses in Roman Populations". Journal of Infection. 45 (2): 122–127\. doi:10.1053/jinf.2002.0996. PMID 12217720. Archived from the original on June 7, 2021. Retrieved June 7, 2021.
21. ^ Papademas, Photis; Bintsis, Thomas (2017). Global Cheesemaking Technology: Cheese Quality and Characteristics. John Wiley & Sons. p. 190\. ISBN 9781119046172. Archived from the original on February 17, 2023. Retrieved February 1, 2023. "The production of [Swiss] cheese was mentioned for the first time in the first century by Roman historian Pliny the Elder, who called the cheese Caseus Helveticus, the 'cheese of the Helvetians', one of the tribes living in Switzerland at the time."
22. ^ Layton, Thomas Arthur (1973). The Cheese Handbook: Over 250 Varieties Described, with Recipes. Courier Dover Publications. p. 130\. ISBN 978-0486229553. Archived from the original on February 17, 2023. Retrieved February 1, 2023. "the caseus helveticus mentioned by Columella was probably a Sbrinz"
23. ^ "The History Of Cheese: From An Ancient Nomad's Horseback To Today's Luxury Cheese Cart". The Nibble. Lifestyle Direct, Inc. Archived from the original on May 8, 2019. Retrieved October 8, 2009.
24. ^ Pliny the Elder Natural History, chapter XI, 97.
25. ^ Room, Adrian (1988). "Chiswick". Dictionary of Place-Names in the British Isles. Bloomsbury. ISBN 9780747501701.
26. ^ David Jacoby, Byzantium, Latin Romania and the Mediterranean, St Edmundsbury Press, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, 1984, p. 522
27. ^ Smith, John H. (1995). Cheesemaking in Scotland – A History. The Scottish Dairy Association. ISBN 978-0-9525323-0-9.. Full text (Archived link), Chapter with cheese timetable (Archived link).
28. ^ Cecil Adams (1999). "Straight Dope: How did the moon=green cheese myth start?". Archived May 13, 2008, at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved October 15, 2005.
29. ^ Nemiroff, R.; Bonnell, J., eds. (April 1, 2006). "Hubble Resolves Expiration Date For Green Cheese Moon". Astronomy Picture of the Day. NASA. Retrieved October 8, 2009.
30. ^ Dorje, Rinjing (1985). Food in Tibetan Life. London: Prospect Books (UK). pp. 93, 96. ISBN 978-0-907325-22-2.
31. ^ Allen, Bryan; Allen, Silvia. "Mozzarella of the East (Cheese-making and Bai culture)" (PDF). SIL International. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 2, 2017. Retrieved February 4, 2010.
32. ^ "A Brief History of America's Appetite for Macaroni and Cheese". Smithsonian Magazine. Archived from the original on December 17, 2022. Retrieved December 17, 2022.
33. ^ Thom, Charles (1918). The Book of Cheese. New York: Macmillan.
34. ^ "History of Cheese". traditionalfrenchfood.com. Archived from the original on January 12, 2012. Retrieved October 21, 2011.
35. ^ McGee, Harold (2004). On Food and Cooking (Revised ed.). Scribner. p. 54\. ISBN 0-684-80001-2. "In the United States, the market for process cheese [...] is now larger than the market for 'natural' cheese, which itself is almost exclusively factory-made."
36. ^ Barkham, Patrick (January 10, 2012). "Why is cheese the most shoplifted food item in the world?". The Guardian. Archived from the original on April 10, 2022. Retrieved April 10, 2022.
37. ^ "Cheese production from cow milk in 2022, Crops/Regions/World list/Production Quantity/Year (pick lists)". United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, Corporate Statistical Database (FAOSTAT). 2025. Retrieved March 26, 2025.
38. ^ "Carbon footprint of meat, egg, cheese and plant-based protein sources" (PDF). p. 24\. Archived (PDF) from the original on July 18, 2022. Retrieved July 18, 2022.
39. ^ "Cheese Consumption – Kilograms per Capita". Canadian Dairy Information Centre. March 13, 2014. Archived from the original on January 14, 2016. Retrieved June 2, 2016.
40. ^ Turgay, Meral; Bachmann, Hans-Peter; Irmler, Stefan; et al. (2022), "Bacteria, Beneficial: Propionibacterium spp. and Acidipropionibacterium spp.", Encyclopedia of Dairy Sciences, Elsevier, pp. 34–45, doi:10.1016/b978-0-08-100596-5.23016-3, ISBN 978-0-12-818767-8, retrieved March 20, 2024
41. ^ a b "Chymosin". GMO Compass. Archived from the original on March 26, 2015. Retrieved March 3, 2011.
42. ^ a b c Patrick F. Fox (2000). Fundamentals of cheese science. Springer. p. 388\. ISBN 978-0-8342-1260-2. Archived from the original on November 7, 2020. Retrieved September 12, 2020.
43. ^ Patrick F. Fox (1999). Cheese: chemistry, physics and microbiology, Volume 1. Springer. p. 1\. ISBN 978-0-8342-1338-8. Archived from the original on June 10, 2021. Retrieved March 23, 2011.
44. ^ "Classification of cheese types using calcium and pH". www.dairyscience.info. Archived from the original on July 23, 2011. Retrieved March 23, 2011.
45. ^ Barbara Ensrud (1981). The Pocket Guide to Cheese, Lansdowne Press/Quarto Marketing, ISBN 0-7018-1483-7
46. ^ "Classification of Cheese". Michigan State University. Archived from the original on November 24, 2011. Retrieved March 23, 2011.
47. ^ "British Cheese homepage". British Cheese Board. 2007. Archived from the original on May 12, 2019. Retrieved July 13, 2007.
48. ^ Quoted in Newsweek, October 1, 1962, according to The Columbia Dictionary of Quotations (Columbia University Press, 1993 ISBN 0-231-07194-9, p. 345). Numbers besides 246 are often cited in very similar quotes; whether these are misquotes or whether de Gaulle repeated the same quote with different numbers is unclear.
49. ^ a b c d McGee, Harold (2004). On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen. Scribner. ISBN 978-0-684-80001-1. Archived from the original on October 28, 2021. Retrieved September 12, 2020.
50. ^ Xanthe, Clay (November 18, 2006). "Finishing in style". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on October 11, 2018. Retrieved October 11, 2018.
51. ^ a b c "How to eat: cheese and biscuits". The Guardian. June 27, 2012. Archived from the original on June 9, 2016. Retrieved January 3, 2017.
52. ^ Olshansky, Clara (March 16, 2018). "Wisconsin Cheesemakers Just Created the World's Longest Cheeseboard". Food & Wine. Archived from the original on May 25, 2018. Retrieved May 25, 2018.
53. ^ "2011 Assembly Joint Resolution 89: commending Ralph Bruno, the creator of the cheesehead hat". Wisconsin State Legislature. January 19, 2012. Archived from the original on May 26, 2018. Retrieved May 25, 2018.
54. ^ a b c d e "Nutrient Data for 19 Types of Cheese; Foundation Foods". FoodData Central, US Department of Agriculture. April 2024. Retrieved March 26, 2025.
55. ^ Sacks, Frank M.; Lichtenstein, Alice H.; Wu, Jason H.Y.; et al. (June 15, 2017). "Dietary Fats and Cardiovascular Disease: A Presidential Advisory From the American Heart Association". Circulation. 136 (3): e1 – e23. doi:10.1161/CIR.0000000000000510. PMID 28620111. S2CID 367602.
56. ^ "Food Fact Sheet - Cholesterol" (PDF). Association of UK Dietitians. December 1, 2018. Archived (PDF) from the original on February 1, 2012. Retrieved July 28, 2019.
57. ^ "Eat less saturated fat". National Health Service. June 1, 2017. Archived from the original on April 24, 2015. Retrieved July 28, 2019.
58. ^ "Heart-healthy diet: 8 steps to prevent heart disease". Mayo Clinic. January 9, 2019. Archived from the original on July 27, 2019. Retrieved July 28, 2019.
59. ^ FDA Warns About Soft Cheese Health Risk" Archived January 22, 2013, at the Wayback Machine. Consumer Affairs. Retrieved October 15, 2005.
60. ^ Mercer, Chris (September 23, 2005). "Australia lifts Roquefort cheese safety ban". ap-foodtechnology.com. Archived from the original on June 27, 2006. Retrieved October 22, 2005.
61. ^ Listeria and Pregnancy. Archived February 24, 2006, at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved February 28, 2006.
62. ^ Kumar, Sunil; Rai, D.C.; Niranjan, K.; Bhat, Zuhaib (2011). "Paneer—An Indian soft cheese variant: a review". Journal of Food Science and Technology. 51 (5). Springer: 821–831\. doi:10.1007/s13197-011-0567-x. PMC 4008736. PMID 24803688.
63. ^ Neupaney, D.; Kim, J.; Ishioroshi, M.; Samejima, K. (1997). "Study on Composition of Nepalese Cheeses, Yak Milk and Yak Cheese Whey". Milk Science. 46 (2). Archived from the original on August 25, 2017. Retrieved June 2, 2017.
64. ^ Nair, Anooja; Choden, Dechen; Pradhan, Monika (April 21, 2022). "Chemical composition and microbial quality of Datshi and Zoety, unripen cottage cheese of Bhutan". Food Science & Nutrition. 10 (5): 1385–1390\. doi:10.1002/fsn3.2715. PMC 9094472. PMID 35592292.
65. ^ "How to Make Ema Datshi-the National Dish of Bhutan". Inspiria Knowledge Campus. February 26, 2015. Archived from the original on August 25, 2017. Retrieved June 2, 2017.
66. ^ Allen, Barry; Allen, Silvia. "Mozzarella of the East (Cheese-making and Bai culture)" (PDF). Ethnorêma. Archived (PDF) from the original on December 2, 2017. Retrieved June 2, 2017.
67. ^ Buckman, Rebecca (2003). "Let Them Eat Cheese". Far Eastern Economic Review. 166 (49): 41. Archived from the original on September 23, 2005. Retrieved September 25, 2005.
68. ^ "Frequently Asked Questions about Halal Foods". Toronto Public Health. Archived from the original on November 24, 2005. Retrieved October 15, 2005.
69. ^ a b Mauseth, James D. (2012). Plants and People. Jones & Bartlett Publishers. p. 432\. ISBN 978-0-7637-8550-5. Archived from the original on October 28, 2021. Retrieved October 8, 2020.
70. ^ "Source of Stilton cheese's unique smell revealed". BBC. December 25, 2012.
71. ^ Hui, Y.H.; Meunier-Goddik, Lisbeth; Josephsen, Jytte; Nip, Wai-Kit; Stanfield, Peggy S. (2004). Handbook of Food and Beverage Fermentation Technology: Food Science and Technology (Marcel Dekker), Vol 134. CRC Press. pp. 392–93\. ISBN 978-0-8247-5122-7. Archived from the original on October 28, 2021. Retrieved October 8, 2020.
72. ^ Komada, Yoko; Okajima, Isa; Kuwata, Tamotsu (2020). "The Effects of Milk and Dairy Products on Sleep: A Systematic Review". International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 17 (24): 9440. doi:10.3390/ijerph17249440. PMC 7766425. PMID 33339284.
73. ^ a b Extance, Andy (December 16–19, 2015). "Brie encounter". New Scientist. 228 (3052–3053): 69–70\. Bibcode:2015NewSc.228...69E. doi:10.1016/S0262-4079(15)31866-2.3052–3053&rft.pages=69-70&rft.date=2015-12-16/2015-12-19&rft_id=info:doi/10.1016/S0262-4079(15)31866-2&rft_id=info:bibcode/2015NewSc.228...69E&rft.aulast=Extance&rft.aufirst=Andy&rft_id=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/287507730&rfr_id=info:sid/en.wikipedia.org:Cheese" class="Z3988">
74. ^ Oates, Caroline (2003). "Cheese gives you nightmares: Old hags and heartburn". Folklore. 114 (2): 205–225\. doi:10.1080/0015587032000104220. S2CID 161962480.
75. ^ Mosley, Michael (2020). Fast Asleep: Improve Brain Function, Lose Weight, Boost Your Mood, Reduce Stress, and Become a Better Sleeper. Atria Books. ISBN 978-1982106928.

## Further reading

[edit]

Listen to this article (27 minutes)

This audio file was created from a revision of this article dated 5 August 2006 (2006-08-05), and does not reflect subsequent edits.

(Audio help · More spoken articles)

* Black, Maggie (1989). Paxton & Whitfield's Fine Cheese. Exeter: Webb & Bower. ISBN 0863501052.
* Buckingham, Cheyenne (May 1, 2019). "Is It Bad to Eat Cheese With Mold On It?". Eat This, Not That!.
* Ensrud, Barbara (1981). The Pocket Guide to Cheese. Sydney: Lansdowne Press. ISBN 978-0-7018-1483-0.
* Jenkins, Steven (1996). Cheese Primer. Workman Publishing Company. ISBN 978-0-89480-762-6.
* Layton, T. A. (1971) [1967]. The ... Guide to Cheese and Cheese Cookery. London: The Cookery Book Club.
* Mellgren, James (2003). "2003 Specialty Cheese Manual, Part II: Knowing the Family of Cheese". Archived from the original on June 24, 2003. Retrieved October 12, 2005.

## External links

[edit]

Wikibooks Cookbook has a recipe/module on

* Cheese

*   * The Complete Book of Cheese at Project Gutenberg

* Cheese.com – includes an extensive database of different types of cheese.
* Classification of cheese – why is one cheese type different from another?

Cheese at Wikipedia's sister projects:

* Media from Commons
* Quotations from Wikiquote
* Recipes from Wikibooks
* Travel guides from Wikivoyage

* v
* t
* e

Cheese

Types|

* Acid-set
* Blue
* Brined
* Cottage
* Cream
* Goat
* Green
* Pasta filata
* Processed
* Smear-ripened
* Smoked
* Washed-rind
* Whey

Animal milk|

* Camel
* Cow
* Goat
* Moose
* Reindeer
* Sheep
* Water buffalo
* Yak

Regions|

* Argentina
* Bosnia and Herzogovina
* Cornwall
* Egypt
* France
* Germany
* Ireland
* Israel
* Italy
* Mexico
* Netherlands
* Norway
* Poland
* Serbia
* Spain
* Switzerland
* list
* Tibet
* Turkey
* United Kingdom
* United States

Special designations|

* Government cheese (United States)
* European cheeses with protected geographical status
* Greek
* Italian

Organizations|

* American Cheese Society
* International Cheese Awards
* Lucerne Cheese Festival
* Mountain Cheese Olympics
* National Cheese Exchange
* Swiss Cheese Union
* The Great British Cheese Festival

List articles|

* Cheese dishes
* Cheesemakers
* Cheeses
* Blue cheeses
* Goat milk cheeses
* Sheep milk cheeses
* Stretch-curd cheeses
* Water buffalo cheeses

Miscellaneous|

* Cheesemaking
* Cheese ripening
* Cheese soup
* Dairy salt
* The Moon is made of green cheese
* Truckle
* Tyromancy

* Category: Cheese
* Cheese dishes
* Cheesemakers
* List of cheeses

* v
* t
* e

Milk

Source|

* Buffalo
* Camel
* Cow
* Donkey
* Goat
* Horse
* Human
* Colostrum
* Newborn
* Moose
* Pig
* Sheep

Types|

* A2
* Baked
* Carbonated
* Condensed
* Evaporated
* Filled
* Flavored
* Anise
* Chocolate
* Coffee
* Papaya
* Strawberry
* Vanilla
* Watermelon
* Haymilk
* Malted
* Organic
* Pasteurized
* Powdered
* Raw
* Scalded
* Skimmed
* Soured
* Toned
* UHT
* Ultrafiltered

Products|

* Ayran
* Butter
* Buttermilk
* Cheese
* Cream
* Curd
* Custard
* Ghee
* Ice cream
* Ice milk
* Jewelry
* Filmjölk
* Kefir
* Kumis
* Milkshake
* Skyr
* Sour cream
* Crème fraîche
* Whey
* Ymer
* Yogurt

Containers|

* Bag-in-box
* Glass milk bottle
* Jug
* Milk bag
* Milk carton
* Milk churn
* Milk crate
* Milk delivery
* Plastic milk container
* Square milk jug
* Tetra Brik

Topics|

* Allergy
* Dairy
* Fidel Castro and dairy
* Lactation
* Breastfeeding
* Milk bar
* Bar mleczny
* Milking
* Pipeline
* Milkmaid
* Milkman
* Milk quotas in the United Kingdom
* World Milk Day

* Category

Authority control databases

National|

* Germany
* United States
* France
* BnF data
* Japan
* Czech Republic
* Israel

Other|

* NARA

*[c.]: circa
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template