The History of Cheese - Part 3

Continuing our exploration of the origins of cheese, we are going to visit the Ancient Classical Worlds of Greece and Rome, and examine the origins of cheese as it relates to that region.

The Greeks

Ancient Greek mythology has credited Aristaeus with the discovery of cheese. Homer's Odyssey (8th century BCE) describes the Cyclops (Yes, even the Cyclops is involved in cheese making!) making and storing sheep's and goats' milk cheese.

From Samuel Butler's translation:

“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.”

The Romans

By Roman times, cheese was an everyday food and cheesemaking a mature art, not very different from what it is today. Columella's De Re Rustica (circa 65 CE) details a cheesemaking process involving rennet coagulation, pressing of the curd, salting, and aging. 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.

I’m sure the Greeks and Romans never imagined today’s varied uses of cheese. I wonder what they would say if they were to encounter a delicious tomato mozzarella salad from Precious Cheese!!

Category: General