No matter how far archaeological finds go, there is evidence that cheese came into being in prehistoric times.
Cheese can not really be said to have been "invented". This delicious food must have resulted from the simple observation that milk left in a container ends up by coagulating, even more if it is hot. People living in areas where the climate changed seasonally would also have noticed the effect of temperature on this process: in warmer weather the milk would curdle faster than in the cold. This might be considered the first technological cheesemaking discovery.
There are hundreds of different types of cheese that can be differentiated both by the type of milk - raw, skimmed or pasteurised, and by the animal - cow, goat, sheep, buffalo, horse or camel.
Serving and Storage Tips
- Unpasteurised cheese with a range of flavours should not be sliced until purchase otherwise it will start to lose its subtlety and aroma.
- Keep the cheese in conditions in which it matures. Hard, semi-hard and semi-soft cheeses are stored in the temperatures from around 8 - 13 C.
- Keep the cheese wrapped in the waxed paper and place it in a loose-fitting food-bag not to lose humidity and maintain the circulation of air.
- Wrap blue cheeses all over as mould spores spread readily not only to other cheeses but also to everything near.
- Chilled cheeses should be taken out of the refrigerator one and a half or two hours before serving.
- Cheeses contain living organisms that must not be cut off from air, yet it is important not to let a cheese dry out.
- Do not store cheese with other strong-smelling foods. As a cheese breathes it will absorb other aromas and may spoil.
- Wrap soft cheeses loosely. Use waxed or greaseproof paper rather than cling film.
- Let cold cheese warm up for about half an hour before eating to allow the flavour and aroma to develop.
How to cut cheese?
The way a cheese is cut depends largely on its shape and size. The most important thing to keep in mind when cutting a cheese is to divide cheese so that everybody has an equal share of the inside and outside.
- Round cheeses are to be cut in wedges, like a cake.
- Cheese bought in slices should be cut lengthwise rather than across.
- Tall truckles are easier to serve if sliced horizontally.
Making cheese
Cheese is a fresh or ripened product made from coagulated milk. Cheese can be differentiated both by the type of milk - raw, skimmed or pasteurised, and by animal - cow, goat, sheep, buffalo, horse or camel. For all of them however, there are four major stages in the basic process:
- Curdling or coagulation of the milk
- Shaping of the curds (de-moulding and draining)
- Salting, washing and seeding
- Maturing
Cheeses according to hardness and rind
- Soft white cheeses
- Bloomy-rind cheeses
- Washed-rind cheeses
- Pressed, uncooked cheeses
- Pressed, cooked cheeses
- Blue-mould cheeses
- Natural-rind cheeses
- Processed cheeses
Soft white cheeses
This is the simplest type of cheese. They are neither fermented nor matured. Their high moisture content, coupled with the high humidity, attracts and encourages the growth of the classic white penicillium mould. This type of cheese is creamy and smooth. They are based on cow's milk, skimmed or unskimmed, and sometimes enriched with cream.
Bloomy-rind cheeses
These cheeses are neither pressed nor cooked. They are salted and seeded with Penicillium candidum that gives them their bloom (the white down that takes on a golden aspect as it ages.)
Washed-rind cheeses
The curd, which may or may not be cut depending on how soft the final cheese should be, is scooped into moulds and left to drain. The high moisture of the curd and the humidity of the maturing rooms attract a bitter-tasting, grey, hairy mould called "cat fur". They are raw or pasteurised milk cheeses that come from the north of France, the east of Belgium, Luxembourg and the western marches of Germany. The maturation period lasts from two to six months, then the cheeses are washed in slightly salted brine. These cheeses are rather spicy and outrageously piquant in taste and aroma. They can smell yeasty or almost meaty.
Pressed, uncooked cheeses
For this type of cheese the raw or pasteurised milk is heated to 36 C and coagulated at a slightly lower temperature. The curds are fragmented into tiny particles the size of rice grains and pressed through cloths to extract the whey. The maturation takes two to three months. The rind is brushed to obtain a regular patina and prevent patches of humidity.
Pressed, cooked cheeses
Hard, pressed, cooked cheeses are virtually identical to the semi-hard, pressed, cooked cheeses. These cheeses are made using the evening's milk, left to stand overnight and skimmed, mixed with that of the next morning. Maturation takes place in a cool, humid cellar, and lasts four to ten months, during which the cheese is washed in a low-salt brine and scraped.
Blue-mould cheeses
The blue mould is a strain of penicillium that is added to the milk before the rennet is added either in liquid or powder form. Most blue cheeses are normally wrapped in foil to prevent them from drying out. They are neither pressed nor cooked. They are usually made from cow's milk.
Natural-rind cheeses
These are mainly goat's and sheep's cheeses. When young, they have a slightly wrinkled, cream-coloured rind. In time they dry out, the wrinkles become more pronounced and the character and flavour increases, along with the growth of bluish grey mould. Their taste is fresh, almost fruity, with undertones of goat. To mature, these cheeses must be kept dry.
Processed cheeses 
These are the result of melting one or more pressed, cooked or uncooked cheeses, and adding milk, cream, butter and sometimes flavouring agents. One or several ripened cheeses are heated and mixed, then pasteurised at high temperature (130-140 C) after other dairy products, such as liquid or powdered milk, cream, butter, casein, whey, and seasoning, have been added.
The final Curious © phrase:
“Only peril can bring the French together. One can't impose unity out of the blue on a country that has 265 different kinds of cheese”
( Charles de Gaulle)
