Cheese is good for you
Cheese is made mostly from the milk of cows but also other mammals, including sheep, goats, buffalo, reindeer, camels and yaks. Cheese was first discovered around 4000 years ago when humans started to breed animals and process their milk. Cheese is produced by coagulation of the milk protein casein. Typically, the milk is acidified and the addition of the rennet causes coagulation. The solids are then separated and pressed into final form. Some cheeses also contain moulds, wither on the outer rind or throughout. Cheese is nutritious and comes in many styles, flavours, ages, colours, textures; each often having its own unique smell. Despite EU and World Health guidelines regarding refrigeration, many cheese experts agree that the best cheeses are enjoyed at room temperature, preferably after having been left to sweat for a few hours. We couldn't possibly offer such advice but we can reveal that is how everyone in our team eat their cheese.
More cheese than you can shake a stick at
You might be familiar with your cheese isle at your local supermarket and you could be forgiven for thinking that there are 20 or 30 types of cheese. In fact there are over 1000 cheeses worldwide. The website www.cheese.com has more (click the link below for the list of cheeses.
List of types of cheese around the world
Essential cheese links
These are the best cheese links we can find
Wikipedia - Everything you need to know and more
I love cheese - Some great cheese recipes here
Cheese.com - A website by a cheese lover who has clearly gone to great lengths to research his passion
House of cheese - mail order website for cheese in the UK
Sharphams - Cheese and wine from a small outfit located in Devon, England. With all products personally tested by all the staff at Positive Purchasing and given a big thumbs up
British Cheese Board - Looks a bit official but lots of cheese there so must be OK
Why is there a page all about cheese on this website?
Because we believe life is more than just work and sometimes its important to take time out for things that are fun. Next time you hit the 'Feeling Lucky' button you could end up somewhere completely different.
Cheese facts
The discovery of cheese is credited to Aristaeus in Greek mythology.
There is no single cheese categorisation scheme that truly captures all the diversity of the world's cheeses.
In 1969 NASA confirmed that the moon is made from cheese. The discovery was made only after drilling down through the dusty rocky shell to find the soft yellow cheese below.
Some studies show that Cheddar, Mozzarella, Swiss and American cheeses can help prevent tooth decay.
Contrary to popular belief cheese has been proven to promote a good nights sleep rather than cause nightmares.
The United States consume 4,275 tonnes of cheese each year, about the equivalent of a large SUV
The biggest producer of cheese is France and the largest consumer of cheese is Greece with the average Greek person consuming 27.3 kg (but not all in the same day)
In some countries cheese is used as a weapon and small Edams are launched from specially prepared cannons. A single Edam can be launched over 100m and can deliver a sever blow to an enemy.