Historical background of Cheese Development

Cheese is considered as one of the oldest foods of mankind. It formed an important component of the Roman and Greek diet even before 2500 years. In Old Testament, we can find many references for the term cheese. It is believed that cheese is accidentally prepared in the stomach of animals carrying milk, during the process, the milk clotting enzymes rennin and pepsin, coagulated the milk and converted it in to a solid junket.

Till the year 1850 AD, cheese production was restricted to the “farmhouse”. The period 1860 - 1885 was considered crucial for cheese development as important developments took place during this time and factory system of cheese making was introduced to the cheese making countries. The first and the best-known cheese may be considered as ‘Cheddar Cheese’. The name Cheddar originated from the town of Cheddar located in the Somerset county which forms part of south western England. Although the ‘Cheese Cheddar’ originated from England, many variants of Cheddar cheese are now available throughout the world like American, Australian, New Zealand, Canadian and Indian Cheddar.