History and origin of Cheese Making

Cheese making is one of the ancient methods followed by the mankind the preservation of highly perishable and nutritional foodstuff like milk and converted in to a product which will be least susceptible for deterioration. Although the exact origin of cheese cannot be determined but from the archaeological evidence available with us, we can trace the origin to 6000 – 7000 B.C. A famous quote from a philosopher says

“The continued existence of man was primarily influenced some ten to fifteen thousand years ago by change in his way of life from being a food gatherer to a food producer”.

It can be inferred from the above quote that the transition from gatherer to producer was gradual and took place at different parts of the planet during different time intervals. During this period, domestication of animals is one of the important incidences of civilization. Man started to utilize the milk of domesticated animals such as cow, buffalo, goat and sheep.

Concentration, drying, fermentation, and salting are some of the methods of preservation of perishable commodities like milk known to the earlier mankind. Cheese is without doubt, a fermented dairy product, and in addition to the fermentation process, it is concentrated and salted. The earliest origin cheese can be traced back to the Mediterranean region in the Middle East.