Cheese is made from the maturation of milk curds.
Cheese is a food obtained by maturing milk curds . Each cheese has specific characteristics depending on its origin or the method that allowed it to be made.
The term derives from the Latin caseus . Generally, cheese is a solid that is made from the curdled milk of mammals such as cows, sheep, goats, buffaloes and camels, among others. Milk, according to experts in this matter, is forced to curdle from a combination of rennet and a certain level of acidification . For this purpose, bacteria are used, whose mission is to acidify the milk and define the texture and flavor that each cheese will have. Some may also have mold on the internal or external surface.
Origins of cheese making
The origins of cheese making cannot be specified, although there are those who say that they date back to 8000 BC. C. (when the domestication of the sheep occurs) and 3000 BC. C. It is believed that it was discovered in Central Asia or the Middle East , and that its manufacture later spread to Europe . In Roman times, there were already multiple production methods and several types of cheese.
It is worth mentioning that in ancient times, cheese was highly valued for the ease of preserving it . For this reason, it was stored for times of scarcity and as food for travel, thanks to its high fat content and its richness in protein, calcium and phosphorus .
Many of today's cheeses were already consumed hundreds of years ago, such as cheddar (emerged around the year 1500 ), parmesan ( 1597 ), gouda ( 1697 ) and camembert ( 1791 ).
The first factory for the industrial production of cheese was installed in 1815 in Switzerland . However, scale manufacturing began to be successful in the United States . According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations , in 2004 more than eighteen million tons of cheese were produced on the planet.
There are multiple types of cheeses.
Veganism and dairy
People tend to think that the consumption of dairy products is in no way related to animal exploitation and that it cannot be compared to the consumption of meat; but the reality is very different. The cows that are used for milk production are far from painting the typical picture of the happy farm that they try to sell us; These animals are used as machines and, as expected, their permanence on this earth is directly linked to their "proper functioning."
As in all mammals , milk production depends on breeding, which is why these cows are inseminated once a year. However, to prevent the calves from consuming more raw material than is convenient for the businessmen, they are separated from their mothers as soon as possible , and sold to butcher shops. Similarly, when the cows reach the age of 5 or 6 years, they are replaced by their daughters and sent to the slaughterhouse. In the wild, these animals would live up to 25 years.