Image credit: Wang da Gang
Cheese may not be the first thought that comes to mind when Chinese mummies are mentioned, but some of those very mummies—dating back to 1615 BCE—have been found with curds of cheese on their persons. Have we piqued your curiosity? Click here to learn more about how the Chinese made cheese thousands of years ago, including their innovative technology using the ancient superfood kefir (recipe included).
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Tagged ancient cheese, ancient history, ancient kefir, AntiquityNOW, AntiquityNOW month, cheese mummies, Chinese mummies
Ricotta. Image credit: Fugzu on Flickr
Did you know that soft, delicious ricotta cheese isn’t really a cheese at all? It’s actually a by-product of cheese-making. We’ve assembled some facts about the history of this extremely versatile “cheese,” along with a simple recipe for a ricotta tart that combined with any seasonal fruit makes for a treat of sweet perfection.
So, ricotta isn’t a cheese. It’s actually a creamy curd that has been cooked twice. The excess whey leftover when making cheese is skimmed off and then recooked, at which point the albumin in the whey solidifies and becomes the ricotta cheese we know and love. Of course, something this delicious has many potential origins, but it almost certainly evolved, as so many ancient foods did, out of necessity. It came from “peasant thrift, dairy farmyard recycling and domestic frugality.”[1] There are a few things we know for certain about ricotta’s past. Continue reading
Image credit: Wang da Gang
A recent discovery has uncovered new, hard – or in this case, semi-soft – evidence of the history behind one of our very favorite foods. Whether the scent is described as floral or nutty or even malodorous to the nose, the smooth taste of cheese is nonetheless an enduring delight to the palate. It is believed that cheese has been enjoyed by humans since before recorded history. There are several theories as to its exact origin, but all of these theories are speculation based on evidence of cheese production, not of any cheese itself. Well, now we have some ancient cheese of our very own to study. Continue reading
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