Culture Culture: The History of Cheese

My daily commute to and from town typically takes place on South Street, and thus I am required to pass I.J. Mellis at least twice a day. Recently, I have noticed that it is nearly impossible for me to avert my eyes from the glorious blocks and wheels stacked on the counter as I walk by the storefront, the perpetually open door tempting me with pungent wafts of cheese. I can’t remember a time when I didn’t love cheese, and now that I am responsible for cooking most of my meals, I can’t think of many recipes that wouldn’t benefit from a dusting of microplaned parmesan or a crumble of feta. 

Attempting to locate the origins of this love, I could consider my sympathy for the Stinky Cheese Man — a bedtime story character with a bacon smile and olives for eyes who was ridiculed for his odour in the children’s book The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales written by Jon Scieszka. Entertaining this possibility is amusing, but I likely love cheese so much because it was introduced in my diet early, and like many other humans, my appetite has fastened itself to cheese’s craveable qualities.

Both mammalian milk and cheese contain casein, which is a phosphoprotein that breaks down into casomorphin compounds when these dairy products are digested, releasing dopamine when attached to receptors in the brain. Along with casein’s effect on the human brain, the high fat content of cheese increases dopamine and thereby activates feelings of pleasure — a combination which might explain why cheese is so widely enjoyed and craved. 

In a mozzarella-making class I took over winter break, I learned that the addition of rennet, an enzyme found in the stomach linings of some ruminant animals, to milk causes the casein to separate from the whey, resulting in a protein-rich curd that, when strained, can either be eaten on its own or pressed into cheese. To produce 100g of cheese, ten times the amount of milk is needed, which means that cheese contains a higher concentration of casein than milk, making cheese more craveable than its dairy parent. Not only does casein lend itself to the addictive quality of cheese, but it also provides information about the etymological history of the word cheese which is derived from the Latin word caseus.

Although many of the cheeses that we enjoy today were created in the Middle Ages, evidence suggests that cheesemaking may have originated nearly eight thousand years ago. The curdling process we use today mimics the process discovered by humans who stored milk in ruminant animals’ stomachs for preservation. However, the creation of cheese has transformed from a practice to an art, pervading social and political environments from Ancient Rome onwards. Monks in Europe experimented with local bacteria, creating new cheeses in their monasteries, eventually giving way to the first factory dedicated to the production of cheese in Switzerland in the nineteenth century.

Returning to representations of cheese in the media, I’m sure most readers are familiar with the scene from Ratatouille in which Remy combines a bite of cheese with that of a strawberry, finding himself in a moment of culinary bliss represented by an array of colours swirling around his head. Many cheese boards at social gatherings offer the same possibility to conjure excitement, and the pairings of craveable cheeses with fresh fruits and cured meats allow cheeseboard-eaters the ability to easily discover flavour combinations. This presentation of meats originated in fifteenth century France with charcutiers, who took pride in the display of cured meats sold in their shops, eventually leading to the addition of a cheese course at formal dinners. Subsequently, charcuterie boards, as a form of informal dining, increased in popularity as cocktail parties began to take the place of formal dinners in the USA in the 20th century. And now, as I cast habitual glances at I.J. Mellis, my dreams of constructing an elaborate cheese board delight me as my subconscious recognises the scientific and historical culture enriched in the creation and consumption of cheese.

Illustration by Amelia Freeden