Some facts about cheese

Great Cheese Quotes

“A cheese may disappoint. It may be dull, it may be naive, it may be over sophisticated. Yet it remains, cheese, milk’s leap toward immortality.” Clifton Fadiman (American writer and editor; New Yorker book reviewer, 1904-1999)

“A dinner which ends without cheese is like a beautiful woman with only one eye.” Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin (French lawyer and politician, epicure and gastronome, 1755-1826)

“Many’s the long night I’ve dreamed of cheese — toasted, mostly.” Robert Louis Stevenson (Scottish

novelist, poet, essayist and travel writer, 1850-1894)

“How can you govern a country which has 246 varieties of cheese?” Charles De Gaulle (French general and president, 1890-1970)

“Other” Cheese

Although most cheese is produced from cow, sheep, or goat’s milk, it can and has been made from a plethora of milk-producing animals. A farm in Bjurholm, Sweden actually makes moose cheese. The lactation period of moose is short, lasting from about June to August, and the farm, owned by Christer and Ulla Johansson, keeps three moose that produce only 300 kilograms of cheese per year. The moose cheese sells for roughly US$1000 per kilogram. Places in Russia also produce moose milk but have not had success with moose cheesemaking due to its high protein content.

Top Cheese

The United States is the top producer of cheese in the world, with Wisconsin and California leading the states in production. Although the US produces the most cheese, Greece and France lead the pack in cheese consumption per capita, averaging 27.3 and 24.0 kilograms per person in 2003 respectively. In the same year, the average US citizen consumed around 14.1 kg, although cheese consumption in the US has tripled since 1970 and is continuing to increase. Pictured above is cheez whiz. Keep it classy.

 Stinky Cheese and Feet

Limburger cheese is notorious for its strong and generally unpleasant odor. The bacteria known as brevibacterium linens causes this. It is also found on human skin and is partially responsible for body odor. The Chalet Cheese Cooperative, located in Monroe, Wisconsin, is the only maker of limburger cheese in North America today.

 Fondue

When eating cheese fondue, make sure to save room for “the nun” at the bottom of the pot, or la religieuse. Religieuse means nun in French and usually refers to a type of pastry. There is much speculation as to why the cracker-like, toasted cheese layer found in the bottom of a caquelon is called la religieuse, ranging from the legend that monks saved the last remaining bits of fondue for the nuns to the idea that eating it is a religious experience. In German, it is called the Großmutter or grossmutter, which translates to grandmother. The meaning behind this use is also unclear.