Cheese

File:International cheese platters.jpg

International Cheeses on the board

File:Four Luxurious Cheese Plate from Baci.jpg

Cheese is a dairy product that is made from milk from many different animals' milk. There are many types of cheese, such as cheddar, Swiss, and provolone.

Many things affect the form, texture, color and flavor of a cheese. These include the milk (cow or goat), if the milk has been pasteurized, the amount of butterfat, bacteria and mold in the cheese, how the cheese is made, how much fat is in the cheese, and how old the cheese is.

Origin

People have been making cheese since before history was written down. It is not known when cheese was first made, but is known that cheese was eaten by the Sumerians in about 4000 BC.

Classification

There are many different ways to classify cheeses. Some ways include:

File:The Eighth of French Cheese plate from Terroirs by LQV.jpg

Some cheeses on the wood board

• How long the cheese was aged
• The texture of the cheese. These include Hard, Soft and Softer.
• How the cheese was made
• how tasty the cheese is.
• What type of milk was used to make the cheese. This is mainly what animal the milk comes from, such as cows, sheep, and goats. The diet of the animal can also affect the type of cheese made from its milk.
• How much fat is in the cheese
• What color the cheese is (common colors are yellow, and white)

There are also man-made foods that some people use instead of cheese. These are called Cheese analogues.

Different types of cheese include:

Feta Cream cheese Processed cheese Blue cheese Swiss cheese Mozzarella

Parmesan cheese Limburger cheese Brie Gouda Cheddar

Edam Wensleydale Goat's milk cheese Emmental Camembert

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  A heart-shaped goat milk cheese from France.

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  Feta cheese

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  Paremesan Cheese

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  Emmental and Boursin cheese

• Crumbly cheese

• Smoked cheese and Brie Cheese

• Swiss Cheese

• Bleu de Gex Blue Cheese

• Gorgonzola Cheese

• Pecorino cheese

• Camembert cheese

• Mozzarella Cheese

• Le Cendrillon Alexis de Portneuf

• Berkswell Cheese

• Parmigiano-Reggiano

• Époisses

• Blue Cheese

• Cacio Cavallo

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  Edam Cheese

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  Manchego

• Goat Milk Cheese

Cheese Media

• Cheese platter.jpg

  A platter with cheese and garnishes

• Cheeses in art: Still Life with Cheeses, Almonds and Pretzels, Clara Peeters, c. 1615

• Different hard cheeses

• A piece of soft curd cheese, oven-baked to increase shelf life

• Cheese in a market in Italy

• Cheese display in grocery store, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States

• Production of cheese 1.jpg

  In industrial production of Emmental cheese, the as-yet-undrained curd is broken by rotating mixers.

• Cheeseinthenetherlands.JPG

  Cheese factory in Zaanstad, the Netherlands

• Parmigiano reggiano factory.jpg

  Parmigiano-Reggiano in a modern factory

• Saganaki at the Parthenon Restaurant in Chicago.MOV.webm

  Saganaki, lit on fire, served in Chicago

Other websites

Media related to Cheese at Wikimedia Commons