How did people make cheese in colonial times?

Answer 1

• Archaeologist have discovered cheese making as far back as 6,000BC. Egyptian tomb murals of 2000 BC show butter and cheese being made. The Romans learned the early techniques for cheese making. The larger Roman houses had a separate cheese making kitchen, the caseale, and special areas where cheese could be matured. In large towns home made cheese could be taken to a special center to be smoked. By 300 BC cheese was regularly exported. Thus, the Roman expertise spread throughout Europe wherever their empire extended. With the fall of the Roman Empire around 410 AD cheese making spread slowly via the Mediterranean, Aegean and Adriatic seas to southern and central Europe. The river valleys easy access and methods adopted for production to suit the different terrain and climatic conditions. During the middle ages monks became the innovators and developers and because of them we have many types of cheese on the market today.

• Cheese making was done throughout Europe from ancient times. When the Romans got into contact with the people who lived in what is now Switzerland, the cheese they found there was already very like modern Swiss cheese. The manufacture of cheese in the Middle Ages was very much like it is today in the homestead. It consists of culturing milk, acidifying it, or using rennet; allowing it to curdle; cutting the curds; "cooking" it at temperatures that range from lukewarm to mildly warm, which causes the curds to contract; draining out the whey; pressing out the remaining whey; and possibly ageing. The ageing process can begin with soaking in brine to harden a rind, or covering with wax to prevent mold from growing, or it can include allowing or encouraging the mold to grow. At some point in the process, the milk, cheese or curds could be salted. Even in ancient times, cheese was sometimes smoked.

Answer 2

The pilgrims brought with them goats and made cheese from their milk, probably soft cheeses made with heat and vinegar, and later, when milk cows became more prevalent, cheddar cheese was even exported back to Europe! Dairy houses for butter and cheese built in Colonial America still survive to this day. Check out Colonial Williamsburg and their fantastic cheese house at the related link below.