Cheese Worldwide: Some Thoughts
Why don’t Indians make cheese? That’s come up in the discussion of Mexican cheese. I don’t have a knock down answer but I do have some thoughts on the worldwide distribution of cheese.
First, let’s be clear about cheese. If you define cheese as the aged cheeses typical of Europe, then you are talking about a pretty odd culinary foodstuff in world terms. Basically the only places make these cheeses are European countries and their overseas colonies or former colonies, usually in the temperate zones where cattle flourish. Ripened cheese seems so prominent now because of European expansion. But fresh cheeses are much, much commoner in most times and places.
Second, like Adam Balic, I’m inclined to discount the lactose intolerance theory, plausible as it seems at first sight. Partly for the same reasons, namely that most people can tolerate fermented milk products. (The consumption of fresh milk is a very odd Western habit and even in the West it’s really only become common in the last hundred years since pasteurization made it safer).
Partly because many populations of the lactose intolerant (a) happily consumed milk products in the past. And (b) are increasingly consuming them today, even in the form of milk, thanks to the spread of those odd western ideas about consuming fresh milk. China had lots of dairy foods in the Middle Ages. And the Chinese now have some of the biggest dairies in the world.
Third, one factor that seems to be important in India is religion. The historical data are not entirely clear (well that’s one huge understatement). But just two examples.
K. T. Achaya, the great expert on the history of Indian food, suggests Indian traditions going back to the Rig Vedas that found cutting milk with acids (presumably as opposed to allowing natural bacterial fermentation to make yogurt-like curd) was unacceptable for theological reasons. I think the idea was that milk was such a holy and precious substance that it should not be treated this roughly.
What does seem to be the case is that paneer and chhana, the two fresh cheeses that crop up in India, were introduced by the Portuguese who arrived in India in the 16th century. They “cut” milk with citrus juice and, it is said, Indians in the north east of the country picked up the habit. This says Achaya “lifted the Aryan taboo on deliberate milk curdling.” He cites an article by Arindam Nag that I have not seen: “A Milk Curdling Tale,” Society (Bombay, February 1989), 33.
Indian Buddhists, too, hallowed milk products. They took their methods of making curd or yogurt and probably ghee too to China and from there to Japan between say 200 AD and 800 AD. I’d take a bet that Koreans also ate them at that stage (to respond to other comments in the discussion). Then for various reasons China and Japan (and if I’m right Korea too) backed away from milk products.
I’ll leave other factors affecting the distribution of cheese for another post.
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I’m not sure that acid coagulated cheese is suitable for producing aged cheese (mostly because I can’t think of an example). Which means you use rennet or various plant (some thistles, Lady’s Bedstraw) extracts. For many cultures the former is a big problem.
I guess that if you think of aged cow’s milk cheese as “white meat”, it fits the profile of a foodstuff that is available during periods where fresh meat is hard to come by. During winter in Northern/Alpine Europe, people in general didn’t eat their cattle as they were hoping simply to get them to survive winter (there are accounts in Scotland of cattle being carried to the pasture in Spring as they were so weak). Cheese was most likely a welcome change to eating salt meat.
Most regions of the world don’t have this issue. Also, historically butter was a major cooking fat for much of Europe, milk is a by-product of this butter production (in fact it would be worth checking if famous historical cheeses were made from skim v whole milk. Parmesan is made from skim milk I think). Unlike India there were specific issues due to the climate, no issue with using rennet, plenty of people that were happy to trade for the item……..So lots of factors contributing.
“I’d take a bet that Koreans also ate them at that stage (to respond to other comments in the discussion). Then for various reasons China and Japan (and if I’m right Korea too) backed away from milk products.”
You’re probably right. A quick search show dairy products are or were part of the diet for Korean Buddhist monks.
Now I’m curious if there is something in Confucianism or Taoism about milk or dairy products.
Also in this region dairy produce would have to compete with soya bean. My guess would be that without compelling reasons for eating diary then soya would win out. Also the ban of eating red meat during the Edo period in Japan is likely to have knocked dairy on the head.
Another issue is modern dairy cattle are not representative of historical cattle, nor are modern dairy production methods. Things like improved pasture etc are very modern. Most places that had cattle (for draught or meat) would be unsuitable for dairy.
In precolonial times cheese was not produced in sub-Saharan Africa, as far as I’ve been able to determine. Milk could be clabbered, but that’s about it.
There are are a variety of simple cheeses that have been traditionally made throughout the Sahel; somewhere I have information on that. Primarily made by pastoral groups, as I recall.
Here in Burundi, cows milk is especially appreciaed by Tutsi who are considered to have formerly been pastoralists. But their Ankoli cattle are raised prinicipally for meat – as well as for investment purposes [savings accounts on the hoof], prestigue, and ceremonies – which remains the case with most livestock in sub-Saharan Africa.
In Egypt, the earliest cheese that has been found was from the remains of funerary offerings of Hor-Aha, either the first or second pharaoh of the First Dynasty [lots of disputing over dates] – but that would be aproximately 3200 BC. I think these are the earliest cheese remains, globally but have not found data on analysis of these remains.
A very strong cheese is traditionally made in Rural Egypt – and especially popular in Upper Egypt. Called mish, o gibna qadima, it is an aged cheese which must remain in the aging process for a minimum of a year. It is off-white and quite hard – and exceptionally strong. Personally, I do not like it, preferring the white cheeses – or gibna bayda, that are more mild and sometimes quite pleasantly salty, found especially in Cairo and Alexandria. Maybe these processes were introduced during the Ottoman period.
Interesting disucssion – why / where / etc. of cheese production, globally. It’s easy to forget that except in a very few places – as you mention Rachel – specialized livestock breeds for cheese production haven’t existed.
Adam – I like your analogy to cheese as a kind of white meat.
P.S. –
This is a reference that I have filed away; wish I could get a copy of it:
North African Brined Cheeses
Chapter Authors: M. Abd-El Salam, N. Benkerroum
Summary
This chapter contains sections titled:
* Background
* Production and consumption of dairy products in North African countries
* Egyptian pickled cheeses
* North African brined cheeses
* Conclusion
* Acknowledgement
* References