Concept: Cheese

Reasons I think Cheese is good:

- There's such a huge range
- It tastes so good!
- Its versatile
- It can go with almost everything
- Most of my meals contain it
- I suffer withdrawal symptoms from it
- It can smell lovely
- You can get it anywhere
- Each country has its own taste for cheese
- It gives you nightmare - apparently 
- The more mature, the better

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Facts about  Cheese:

- Cheese consists of proteins and fat from milk, usually the milk of cows, buffalo, goats, orsheep.

- It is produced by coagulation of the milk protein casein.

- Hundreds of types of cheese are produced. Their styles, textures and flavors depend on the origin of the milk (including the animal's diet), whether they have been pasteurized, thebutterfat content, the bacteria and mold, the processing, and aging. Herbs, spices, orwood smoke may be used as flavoring agents.

-  The yellow to red color of many cheeses is from adding annatto.

- he word cheese comes from Latin caseus, from which the modern word casein is closely derived. 

- Cheese is an ancient food whose origins predate recorded history. There is no conclusive evidence indicating where cheesemaking originated, either in Europe, Central Asia or the Middle East, but the practice had spread within Europe prior to Roman times and, according to Pliny the Elder, had become a sophisticated enterprise by the time the Roman Empire came into being.

- Proposed dates for the origin of cheesemaking range from around 8000 BCE (when sheep were firstdomesticated) to around 3000 BCE.

- The first cheese may have been made by people in the Middle Eastor by nomadic Turkic tribes in Central Asia

- Cheese is made from milk and it takes around 10 litres of milk to make 1kg of hard cheese.

- We all know that "Little Miss Muffet sat on her tuffet, eating her Curds and Whey" but I bet you didn't know that to make cheese, milk has to be separated into curds which are the lumpy bits and whey which is the liquid bit. We make cheese with the curds!

- Some cheeses, like Mature Cheddar, are stored for one year or longer before they are ready to eat. They are kept in special rooms and sometimes even caves!

- There are over 700 different named cheeses produced in Britain.

- Cheddar is named after the Cheddar Gorge caves in Somerset where the cheese used to be stored to ripen. Cheddar is one of the most widely made cheeses in the world. King Henry II declared Cheddar cheese to be the best in Britain!

- Cheshire is one of the oldest British cheeses. It dates from Roman times and even gets a mention in the Domesday Book

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Words relating to Cheese:


- Mature
- Cheddar
- Leicester
- Curds
- Milk
- Cows
- Goats
- Variety
- Taste
- Ageing
- Smell

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Opinions about Cheese:

Questions and answers posted on Yahoo Answers

"What do you think is the best British Cheese?"

" a good vintage cheddar would be my favourite or a nice smoked cheese like applewood "

" Colthill Blue Cheese, made in a small holding in Market Rasen , Lincolnshire. Absolutely wonderful "

" i like a nice strong , crumbly ,white Cheshire cheese, witha piece of my mums homemade fruit cake and a chunk of apple... "

" Cheddar is the obvious choice, but we mustn't forget stuff like Stilton. "

" I love my Gouda and Edam cheese!!!! British will have to be Cheddar most definite! "

"What is the oldest commercially aged cheese?"

"I was recently in Sicily with friends. They told me of some ricotta forms that where found in the rubble of a bombed (WWII) out farm house many years (10 - 15?) afterward.... and the dirt and mold were cleaned off and all found that it actually tasted good. Local are now aging ricotta (from goat's milk) for several years and selling it. I don't remember the name of the cheese (I'll found out and report back). The area is close to Syracuse (about an hour and a half south of Catania).. "

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Images of Cheese: