Cheese. It’s a guilty pleasure for many people – an indulgence of gooey goodness apparently enjoyed even by government officials in ancient Egypt, according to a report by the Guinness World Records (GWR).
The oldest residue of solid cheese was discovered in 2018, buried in a 13th century B.C tomb belonging to Ptahmes – a mayor of the ancient city of Memphis.
Mass spectrometry was used to analyse a few milligrams of the sample found in a broken jar and described as a "solidified whitish mass," according to GWR. Chemists determined that the mass was a solid dairy product obtained by mixing cow milk with that of sheep or goats.
Cheese may be mildly addictive due to its protein casein which the human body breaks down into casomorphins. These compounds attach to dopamine receptors in the brain, possibly triggering cravings for similar foods.
According to scientists, cheese is delicious because the bacteria needed to turn dairy into cheese creates a large number of flavor molecules. Cheese processing is similar to the fermentation process of alcohol, which also creates many interesting flavors.
This explains why millions of people worldwide are obsessed with cheese, why it has been consumed for centuries, and why it’s the chosen word to make people smile when photographing them.
Here are facts you may not know about some of the world’s oldest cheese.
Ancient Mediterranean cheese
A 2018 study revealed that the Neolithic people from the Dalmatian coast of Croatia may have been making cheese over 7,200 years ago.
Like many of the earliest traces of cheese, scientists found dairy remains on ancient pottery shards which included sieves that were most likely used to strain cheese curds from whey.
While the scientists who published the paper believe that the pottery shows definitive evidence of cheese, there has been some push back from skeptics who allege the fat traces may have just been from a meat mixture and not dairy.
Ancient Polish cheese
In 2012, a scientific paper was released discussing the discovery of what is believed to be some of the earliest evidence of cheese making.
Tests were done on 7,000 year old pottery shards from Poland which have holes in them that look very similar to modern cheese strainers. As in the case of the ancient Mediterranean cheese, researchers also tested the residue around the holes and discovered trace amounts of fats that are present in dairy products.
They also analyzed other pottery shards from the site and found fats from cow carcasses, concluding that the ancient people in the area probably used the non-perforated bowls to store their curds and whey.
Ancient Chinese cheese
Chunks of yellowish substance found with mummies from China’s Taklamakan Desert are among the oldest pieces of cheese ever discovered.
According to researchers, the cheese was probably buried with the mummies to be used as a snack for the afterlife and was found in several tombs tied around the necks and chests of the mummies.
Scientist established that this cheese was derived from yeast found in kefir, a fermented dairy drink. The presence of this early kefir dairy may explain why herding and milking spread through Eurasia even though the people from this area are largely lactose intolerant.
Oldest edible cheddar
In 2012, news reports surfaced that Ed Zahn, a man from Wisconsin, USA, was selling 40 year old cheddar he had found in the back of the cooler at his cheese shop in the town of Oconto.
He did not know the cheddar existed until he was cleaning out his shop, which has now been closed.
Zahn also found 34 year old and 28 year old cheddar he had forgot about. After his discovery, Zahn quietly sold pieces of the old cheese to locals. He then contacted Ken McNulty, the owner of the Wisconsin Cheese Mart in Milwaukee and asked if he was interested in buying the rest of the cheese.
The 40 year old cheese eventually sold out and the people who tried it said it was actually delicious. Pieces of the remaining 28 year old cheese were put up for sale on Cheese Mart’s website.
Bitto Storico
It may not be an ancient cheese like the others on this list, but bitto storico is promoted as being the world’s oldest edible cheese.
These cheese from the Valtellina Valley in Italy can be aged for up to 18 years, which is significantly longer than any other cheese on the market. However, most bitto storico for sale is aged between 5 and 10 years.
A 15 year-old bitto was sold in China for $6,400.
Since bitto storico is made with a combination of cow and goat milk, it is able to be aged for much longer. Bitto typically contains about 10-20% goat milk. There are only 12 producers of bitto storico in Italy today.
