Once upon a time ……..

As early as 120,000 years ago, our ancestors are thought to have domesticated plant-eating animals so that they would have a ready supply of meat. After watching the young animals suckling their mothers, people began to drink the milk. When on the move, people carried milk with them in bags made from the animals stomachs. Through the movement created while people were walking and the rennet contained in the stomach lining, the milk in the bag was turned into cheese.

The Greeks and then the Romans introduced rennet cheese in Europe. The Latin word caseus became the English word cheese or Kaese in German.

The first signs of cheese production in Switzerland dates back to medieval times, more specifically the 11th century for Gruyere, the 11th/12th century for Schabziger (Sap sago in North America) from the canton Glarus and possibly the 12th/13th century for Tete de Moine. International trade intensified in the 13th/14th century and this gave alpine farmers more scope for selling their cheeses. Justus von Liebig identified the fermentation processes behind cheese in the 19th century. His insights were implemented into the industrial process for milk and dairy products in 1895. The research and constant automation that have taken place since then have led to the cheese industry of today.

What is cheese? Actually nothing more than curdled milk. So really the first food a baby digests.

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