10 facts you need to know about cheese
01 - Cheese is 5000 years old
Cheese is thought to have originated in the Middle East many, many years ago.
Murals have been found in a 2000-year-old tomb depicting the art of making cheese. In a tomb dated 3000 BC terracotta pots containing cheese were found. this cheese was obtained by acidifying the milk, or with vegetable juices or even with animal rennet.
Credits: Alinari Archives
Ricotta production in ancient Egypt is documented and we have documents for the importation of cheeses from the island of Chios, with a regular import tax of 25%!
Credits: Artsupp.com
02 - Cheese with worms is very good
The strangest cheese in the world (and also one of the strangest foods in the world) is considered to be cheese with worms.
Credits: Shardan
It is a cheese made with sheep's milk, in the beautiful Sardinia, an island of Italy. Its name is "Casu Marzu" (= rotten cheese). The flies deposit their larvae in the holes of the cheese and the larvae literally eat their way out to the crust. This whole thing is considered a delicacy in Sardinia.
03 - The “Parmesan bond”
Usually when we talk about the collateral of a bond loan we look at the maturity, this time instead it will perhaps be better to consider its maturing. Yes, because the first Minibond guaranteed by Parmigiano Reggiano forms has arrived on the financial markets. No wonder, given that the issuer is a Modenese cooperative that produces 75 thousand forms of the famous cheese per year, covering almost 2% of world production, and therefore offers the most valuable asset it has as a pledge.
Credits: nbcnews.com
04 - Ten Kilos of milk for each Kilo of cheese!
If you want to produce 1 Kilo of cheese, you’re going to need to start with at least 10 Kilos of milk. It seems an impressive loss, at first glance, but in fact it is a sensible thing, given that in order to preserve milk you have to eliminate the watery part! In the end, the same law applies as for cheeses of high quality: taste is valid, not quantity.
Credits: StudioDAG.vn
05 - the most expensive cheese
The most expensive cheese in the world is made with donkey milk. The reason for the very high price lies in the fact that to make a form of this cheese, called "Pule", you need to milk approximately 20 donkeys, which produce 1L of milk per day, very little. The price of this cheese is around 1000 USD per kg.
Credits: gigazine.net
Credits: gigazine.net
06 - The healthiest cheese
The fresh cheese that is probably the most favored by health-conscious people is ricotta. Extracted after the separation of fats and sugars from milk to make cheese, ricotta is extracted from whey, which is highly protein. Ricotta is a calcium, protein and mineral salts carrier, without any fat intake. An exemplary product that is made from whey is "Protein Whey", a product widely used by athletes and athletes for a better muscle response.
Credits: StudioDAG.vn
07 - the heaviest kind of cheese
Zizzona di Battipaglia: The weight of the Zizzona, a huge mozzarella, is not standard: it starts from 1 kg, the best-selling size, and can even reach 20 kg. Only a few expert (and robust) cheesemakers are able to handle such shapes, especially when they are at almost 80 degrees centigrade!
Credits: Zizzona.com
Provolone cheese: "We producers of provolone do a little crazy things: the five-quintal" salami "are ready for shipment in the warehouses. These are giant provolons that will become an "event" in the world "(Auricchio). Until the early 70s the giant was sold like this: the product was displayed and whoever wanted to buy it put the dollars on top of the requested piece. Once everything was sold, it was cut, with photographers and reporters reporting on the event. Dollars are no longer used to book, because some banknotes disappeared ...
Mammoth cheese: During a food - related event in Wisconsin the organizers placed one wheel of cheese on the cheese board, a Mammoth Cheddar, weighed in at 936 Kg on its own. It's almost a Tonne! Over 600 varieties, types and styles of American cheese are made in Wisconsin; that's two times more than any other state in the USA.
Credits: deercreekcheese.com
08 - The strangest cheese: the human cheese
Bacteria, as you already know, plays an essential part in the making of cheese. Keeping that theory in mind, scientists put up an exhibition in Trinity College, Dublin, that consisted of cheeses made from human armpit, mouth, belly button, and toe bacteria. Apparently, the smell of the final product resembles the “scent” of the individual human whose bacteria were used to make the cheese. Fear not though, this is just for scientific purposes and shouldn’t end up on your dinner plate any time soon.
Credits: nationalgeographic
09 - The smell of cheese
First of all, it is known that the feet - as well as the armpits - are a 'little paradise' for bacteria thanks to the fact that they are warm and humid environments because they are 'closed' inside socks and shoes. In addition, the feet represent a 'pantry' for bacteria that feed on dead skin, sweat and sebum. And it is for this reason that odor develops, that is when bacteria degrade their 'food', releasing organic acids and compounds rich in sulfur and nitrogen. What about cheese? Now not all feet are home to the same bacteria. However, some are present in most cases, such as those of the Brevibacterium family. These bacteria produce odorous compounds such as isovaleric acid and are involved in the production of some cheeses. No wonder. therefore, that our nose can quickly establish the connection.
Readmore: 5 Most Famous Fresh Cheeses
10 the happiest cheese
Let's start by saying that for this last item we wanted to keep ourselves light and above all away from foul-smelling bacteria and creatures in our cheeses ... Which is the fresh cheese that makes us happiest? Probably the fresh cheese: burrata. It depends on everyone's tastes, but in Ottima Cheese we firmly believe that burrata is able to give sensations that are close to ecstasy ...
Credits: StudioDAG.vn
Remember when you have fully tasted a quality burrata ... at the correct temperature, to feel all the creaminess of the cream and the freshness of the stracciatella inside. The scent of cream and milk that invests us when we “break” the burrata is truly inspiring, and I don't know if you noticed, but it is impossible to eat a burrata without smiling.
Ottima Cheese Team
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