Cheese — the word contains a world of aroma and taste in itself. Don’t you agree? It is quite surprising to note that although cheese has become one of the world’s favourite food items, originating about 4,000 years back, nobody is sure who the first person to make cheese was!
What we do know is that the practice of cheese making is closely associated with the history of domestication of milk producing animals. It is possible that cheese originated in an Arabic country. There is an old story that says that an Arab merchant discovered cheese accidentally while he was carrying some milk for his journey in a pouch lined with the skin of a sheep’s stomach. In the great heat of the desert, the enzyme in the sheep’s stomach skin reacted with the milk and turned it into whey and cheese. This is one of the popular stories that explains how cheese was discovered.
The various flavours are derived by manipulating different factors associated with the cheese making process such as the kind of milk used, the method used to curdle, cook and cut the cheese, the type of bacteria used for ripening it.
Let’s look at some of the interesting and popular cheese variants that have thus been influenced.
1. Mozzarella: Mozzarella’s place of origin is Italy. This cheese is made using the milk of cows or water buffalo. The curd is heated in warm water and stretched by hand. Then it is packed into soft balls.
Do I need to tell you its most popular use or can you guess? If you guessed pizza, you hit the bull’s eye.
2. Camembert: This type of cheese originated in France. It is made using cow’s milk. It is one of the most widely produced French cheeses. It is often used in sandwiches. Camembert has a rich buttery texture and a mushroomy aroma.
3. Feta: Another very popular type of cheese, Feta comes from Greece. This is made using milk from sheep and goats. A brined cheese, it is made by soaking freshly pressed curd in salt water. It can be crumbly or moderately creamy in its texture and pairs well with tacos and other Mexican dishes.
4. Emmental: If we are talking cheese, how far can the Swiss be? Swiss people have reared cows and taken them for grazing to the Alps for as long as we can remember. Emmental is a type of cheese that originated in Switzerland. It is popularly known as, you guessed it right, the Swiss cheese. The most distinguishing feature of Emmental is the number of holes on the yellow exterior. These holes are called eyes and are caused due to the expansion of gas within the cheese during the ripening period. This is popularly used in casseroles and dishes that require grilling because this type of cheese melts very easily.
5. Cheddar: This cheese originated in the Queen’s land, England. It is made from the milk of cows. It has a crumbly texture and is known for its tangy and somewhat nutty flavour. The colour and taste of this cheese varies with the season and the feed of the cattle.
6. Gouda: This is yet another cheese that is made with cow’s milk. But this cheese originated in the Netherlands. It is a semi-hard cheese that you will often see in grated form in salads and casseroles.