Homer's "Odyssey" recounts the making of cheese by the mythological monster Cyclops 800 years before the birth of Christ. The Romans then took cheese-making to new levels and transported it to the vast expanses of their empire.
Unlike milk and other fresh dairy products, cheese better survived the long and arduous travels to the distant lands of the empire. It was also in Roman times that we start to get the first writings on the synergistic relationship between cheese and wines. Young lovers during the Roman Empire were described as feeding each other bits of creamy cheese by hand while bathing in - and drinking - wines.
In the Middle Ages, the nobility disparaged the consumption of cheese as well as many common vegetables, instead centering their diet on meats and items sweetened with honey. Medical historians are quick to point out that the vegetable and cheese-based diets of many peasants were in fact far more healthy that the protein and honey diets of the nobility.
The upper classes of Europe rediscovered the joys of cheese during the Renaissance and this was also the time that many of the most popular cheeses of the modern day were discovered.
Mentions of cheddar cheese are first recorded in England in 1500, while Parmesan made its appearance in Italy in 1597, followed by other European favorites Gouda in 1697 and Camembert in 1791. If the history of these cheeses doesn't tickle your palate, then their modern-day descendants enjoyed with the appropriate wines certainly will.
Wine and cheese pairing
There are nearly as many styles of cheese as there are styles of wine. The British Cheese Board defines 700 distinct cheeses, while Italy is said to have more than 500 and France approximately 400 cheese styles. Considering that the diversity of wine varieties and styles easily numbers in the thousands, pairing these two epicurean may seem a daunting task. In fact, it need not be.
'Sister House' case urges efforts in combating corruption in affordable housing
Feedback
RSS
