Cheese is a dairy product obtained from the acid or rennet coagulation of milk
whole, partially or totally skimmed, or milk cream also making use of
of ferments and table salt.
Etymology In Latin the term used to refer to this product was caseus, but it was also
in use, among the legionaries, the term formaticum, with which a "form" of this
was indicated product de caseus formatus. Italian terms such as "caseificio",
derive from the Latin caseus "cacio" (from which, for example, "caciocavallo"),
but also the Spanish queso, the Portuguese queijo, the German Käse, the Dutch Kaas,
the Luxembourgish Kéis, the Romanian caş, the Corsican casgiu, the Calabrian and
the Sardinian casu and the English cheese (cf. the Venetian gratacaxa and the Pugliese Murgiano
grattachèse "grater [for cheese]", in Sardinian "Trattacasu"). From formaticum derive, in addition
to in Italian "cheese", the French fromage, the term formatge of Catalan and Occitan
and the Friulian term formadi.
History Magnifying glass icon mgx2.svg The same topic in detail: History of cheese.
The history of cheese has very ancient origins in the Mediterranean basin, in North Africa
and in Asia Minor. Legend has it that a shepherd put milk in a
stomach sheep in which rennet was left, where it turned into cheese; it was probably instead
the observation of the entrails of slaughtered animals still in the breastfeeding phase was crucial.
The oldest evidence dates back to the 3rd millennium BC
The oldest artifact found that testifies to the production of cheese dates back to the Sumerians, in
Mesopotamia, in the 3rd millennium BC. Other documents dating back to the same period testify to
the knowledge of cheese processing and production methods can also be found in Egypt.
For the diffusion of the cheese also in Italy we will have to wait for 1500 BC, which will then give
origin of famous Italian cheeses such as gorgonzola.
The art of making cheese has been increasingly improving and establishing itself among the ancient
Greeks and the ancient Romans. In the Middle Ages there was initially an involution, since only in
monasteries it was possible to preserve the Latin tradition, but in the later period the cheeses began
to be appreciated and to appear on noble tables. A treatise on nutritional qualities
of the product was drawn up by the Vercelli doctor and academic Pantaleone da Confienza in his
Summa Lacticinorum, in the second half of the fifteenth century. (source Wikipedia)


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