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Cheese and Culture: A History of Cheese and its Place in Western Civilization
Behind every traditional type of cheese there is a fascinating story. By examining the role of the cheesemaker throughout world history and by understanding a few basic principles of cheese science and technology, we can see how different cheeses have been shaped by and tailored to their surrounding environment, as well as defined by their social and cultural context. Cheese and Culture endeavors to advance our appreciation of cheese origins by viewing human history through the eyes of a cheese scientist. There is also a larger story to be told, a grand narrative that binds all cheeses together into a single history that started with the discovery of cheese making and that is still unfolding to this day. This book reconstructs that 9000-year story based on the often fragmentary information that we have available. Cheese and Culture embarks on a journey that begins in the Neolithic Age and winds its way through the ensuing centuries to the present. This tour through cheese history intersects with some of the pivotal periods in human prehistory and ancient, classical, medieval, renaissance, and modern history that have shaped western civilization, for these periods also shaped the lives of cheesemakers and the diverse cheeses that they developed. The book offers a useful lens through which to view our twenty-first century attitudes toward cheese that we have inherited from our past, and our attitudes about the food system more broadly. This refreshingly original book will appeal to anyone who loves history, food, and especially good cheese.
272 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2012
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September 13, 2013
Wisconsin is famous for a few things: Beer, brats, Green Bay Packers, the birthplace of Dungeons & Dragons, UW Badgers, Happy Days and, most of all, CHEESE! I'm a transplant to Wisconsin, having moved here in 1996 for graduate school. We love it here. We raised our children here. I became a cheese snob here.
So when I saw Cheese and Culture at the local library, I knew that I had to read it.
To say it wasn't the most fun of reads is an understatement.
You see, I have a Master's degree in History from University of Wisconsin-Madison, which is known for it's academic rigor in the field of history. I take my history books pretty seriously. I expect a lot. Maybe I expected too much.
After all, the first 147 pages were a series of tenuous connections between economic development and the role that cheese played in that development. But, really, the historical and archaeological sources related to cheese up until the 9th-century A.D. are quite scant. There is a lot of supposition with very little evidence for over half the book. I don't know that it could be helped, but the fact that the work went on and on with stretched speculation didn't give me much confidence that the book would end well.
Thankfully, on page 148, the author, Paul S. Kindstedt, hit his stride. There, the recruitment of new settlers to the Lake Lucerne area by Monks at the Abbey of St. Martin at Muri, heralds the first instance (in this book, at least) of culture and cheese directly affecting each other in a clearly-documented way. Peasants were given incentives, such as farming implements, some livestock, and seeds, to develop the area surrounding the Abbey. In exchange, the settlers were required to pay tithes and work the land around the Abbey. Tithing records show that tithes were often paid with cheese and wool. The settlers gathered themselves and governed themselves by rules set around the production and exchange of these commodities.
From here on out, Kindstedt's research is solid. He traces the development of various artisan cheeses throughout Europe and the later industrialization of cheese production, particularly in England and the United States. After the rise of "factory" cheese through the mid-nineteenth through most of the twentieth-centuries, artisan cheeses made a comeback, starting in the 1970s. This artisan movement is particularly strong here in Wisconsin, where local farms make highly-distinctive cheeses in low volume, which, of course, means that it is more expensive than factory cheese. For a variety of legal and historical reasons, the two "arms" of the cheese industry (artisan and factory) have come to loggerheads in the international courtrooms, primarily over safety concerns about the use of "raw" (i.e., unpasteurized) cheese production. This is complicated by differing views on the exclusive use of place-names (such as "Roquefort") for cheese branding. Those countries that have retained a more artisinal bent (France, Spain, Italy, and Greece) argue for the exclusive use of such cheese names as Roquefort and Parmigiano-Reggiano, while those that developed industrialized cheese making (England, the Netherlands, and Denmark) argue that some cheeses whose names originated as place-names, such as Cheddar and Gouda, are so ubiquitous as to make it impossible to monitor their use. The United States seems to fall into the latter camp, as well (can you imagine having to rename all brands of Cheddar cheese as, for instance, "Wisconsin Gold" or "Vermont Delight"?).
The book ends, as many good history books do, with a question that is much bigger than the subject of the cheese industry. The question is this: with the slow, ongoing change in public opinion from the "least cost model" of food production to a more varied, localized, and environmentally-friendly paradigm, who gets to pay the cost? The switch from least-cost processing and production to more specialized methods costs money. If the consumer pays the cost, without the benefit of government subsidy, does this create a sort of class-based cheese consumption reality? Note that this isn't just about cheese - the rise in the demand for organic foods in general has not been fast enough to outpace the rising cost of these foods. The balance of supply versus demand just hasn't "swung" yet. At the moment, there is a growing divide between "haves" and "have-nots". Those who want more healthy foods must pay the price. Those who cannot afford to pay the price don't have access to the more healthy foods, with long-term consequences for society in general (mainly through the public costs of obesity, diabetes, and heart disease). The further question that Kindstedt implies, but does not broach directly, is this: Should the government subsidize the costs of healthy foods in order to reduce long-term medical costs that affect the taxpayer?
Though the book is a bit of a slog, and not particularly entertaining, I still learned a great deal about the interface between economic history and cheese production. I have a problem with the title - the issue of "culture" is not addressed particularly well. "Cheese and economy" might have been a better title. If the first 147 pages were pared down to, say, 50 pages or so, this would have been much more enjoyable. You need some of the background information given in the first sections, but definitely not all of it. From there on out, though, as the author constructs his arguments from the dark ages on, the historiography becomes tighter, the arguments more clearly-stated and cogent, and the narrative becomes much more interesting.
It could have been better had the editor let it age a bit more. Still, Cheese and Culture has a memorable flavor, not too sweet, not too bitter, but just a touch too bland.
________
Addendum: Interestingly, in this month's issue of Discover magazine (I'm a subscriber), there is a little article on "Extremely Aged Cheese" in which it is reported that organic geochemist Richard Evershed has done a forensic analysis of 7,000 year old hole-riddled pottery shards from Poland and determined that some milk-derived product had been contained in them. They're not certain it was cheese, but the cheese making process involved straining rennet-coagulated milk and separating the cheese curds from liquid whey, which makes for pretty good indirect evidence that cheese was being made back around 5,000 BC.
So when I saw Cheese and Culture at the local library, I knew that I had to read it.
To say it wasn't the most fun of reads is an understatement.
You see, I have a Master's degree in History from University of Wisconsin-Madison, which is known for it's academic rigor in the field of history. I take my history books pretty seriously. I expect a lot. Maybe I expected too much.
After all, the first 147 pages were a series of tenuous connections between economic development and the role that cheese played in that development. But, really, the historical and archaeological sources related to cheese up until the 9th-century A.D. are quite scant. There is a lot of supposition with very little evidence for over half the book. I don't know that it could be helped, but the fact that the work went on and on with stretched speculation didn't give me much confidence that the book would end well.
Thankfully, on page 148, the author, Paul S. Kindstedt, hit his stride. There, the recruitment of new settlers to the Lake Lucerne area by Monks at the Abbey of St. Martin at Muri, heralds the first instance (in this book, at least) of culture and cheese directly affecting each other in a clearly-documented way. Peasants were given incentives, such as farming implements, some livestock, and seeds, to develop the area surrounding the Abbey. In exchange, the settlers were required to pay tithes and work the land around the Abbey. Tithing records show that tithes were often paid with cheese and wool. The settlers gathered themselves and governed themselves by rules set around the production and exchange of these commodities.
From here on out, Kindstedt's research is solid. He traces the development of various artisan cheeses throughout Europe and the later industrialization of cheese production, particularly in England and the United States. After the rise of "factory" cheese through the mid-nineteenth through most of the twentieth-centuries, artisan cheeses made a comeback, starting in the 1970s. This artisan movement is particularly strong here in Wisconsin, where local farms make highly-distinctive cheeses in low volume, which, of course, means that it is more expensive than factory cheese. For a variety of legal and historical reasons, the two "arms" of the cheese industry (artisan and factory) have come to loggerheads in the international courtrooms, primarily over safety concerns about the use of "raw" (i.e., unpasteurized) cheese production. This is complicated by differing views on the exclusive use of place-names (such as "Roquefort") for cheese branding. Those countries that have retained a more artisinal bent (France, Spain, Italy, and Greece) argue for the exclusive use of such cheese names as Roquefort and Parmigiano-Reggiano, while those that developed industrialized cheese making (England, the Netherlands, and Denmark) argue that some cheeses whose names originated as place-names, such as Cheddar and Gouda, are so ubiquitous as to make it impossible to monitor their use. The United States seems to fall into the latter camp, as well (can you imagine having to rename all brands of Cheddar cheese as, for instance, "Wisconsin Gold" or "Vermont Delight"?).
The book ends, as many good history books do, with a question that is much bigger than the subject of the cheese industry. The question is this: with the slow, ongoing change in public opinion from the "least cost model" of food production to a more varied, localized, and environmentally-friendly paradigm, who gets to pay the cost? The switch from least-cost processing and production to more specialized methods costs money. If the consumer pays the cost, without the benefit of government subsidy, does this create a sort of class-based cheese consumption reality? Note that this isn't just about cheese - the rise in the demand for organic foods in general has not been fast enough to outpace the rising cost of these foods. The balance of supply versus demand just hasn't "swung" yet. At the moment, there is a growing divide between "haves" and "have-nots". Those who want more healthy foods must pay the price. Those who cannot afford to pay the price don't have access to the more healthy foods, with long-term consequences for society in general (mainly through the public costs of obesity, diabetes, and heart disease). The further question that Kindstedt implies, but does not broach directly, is this: Should the government subsidize the costs of healthy foods in order to reduce long-term medical costs that affect the taxpayer?
Though the book is a bit of a slog, and not particularly entertaining, I still learned a great deal about the interface between economic history and cheese production. I have a problem with the title - the issue of "culture" is not addressed particularly well. "Cheese and economy" might have been a better title. If the first 147 pages were pared down to, say, 50 pages or so, this would have been much more enjoyable. You need some of the background information given in the first sections, but definitely not all of it. From there on out, though, as the author constructs his arguments from the dark ages on, the historiography becomes tighter, the arguments more clearly-stated and cogent, and the narrative becomes much more interesting.
It could have been better had the editor let it age a bit more. Still, Cheese and Culture has a memorable flavor, not too sweet, not too bitter, but just a touch too bland.
________
Addendum: Interestingly, in this month's issue of Discover magazine (I'm a subscriber), there is a little article on "Extremely Aged Cheese" in which it is reported that organic geochemist Richard Evershed has done a forensic analysis of 7,000 year old hole-riddled pottery shards from Poland and determined that some milk-derived product had been contained in them. They're not certain it was cheese, but the cheese making process involved straining rennet-coagulated milk and separating the cheese curds from liquid whey, which makes for pretty good indirect evidence that cheese was being made back around 5,000 BC.
August 6, 2017
This book was so insanely boring I couldn't finish it. It wasn't so much a history of cheese and cheese making, but a generic survey of Western Civ, with the occasional mention of cheese. I tried to pick it up again, but just couldn't get into it. I *wanted* to like this book.
February 23, 2021
If you love history and cheese, this is truly a book to geek-out over. Kindstedt discusses what is known about cheese in the ancient world--hey, the gods love a good cheese--but through the Roman era, the rise of the market economy in Europe, and the expansion of cheese into the American colonies. The historical aspect is what really appealed to me: the history of the western world told through its cheeses. I did feel like the very end was bogged down by legalese and arguments over name origins and pasteurization; this seemed to be explained in a drier way than in other cheese books like Mastering Cheese. Overall an excellent book though, and one I'll keep on my shelf for reference.
December 14, 2012
An enthusiastic attempt to chart the entire world's history of cheese, by a cheeseologist who became interested in history (as opposed to a historian who is interested in cheese). It's a tertiary-source sort of book -- everything's footnoted, but all his sources are academic papers and books and so on. I'm not complaining, I'm just saying that he doesn't come off as a careful historian sort of person. He's eager to speculate where evidence is lacking, and evidence is pretty well lacking when you're talking about ancient Hittite cheese-making recipes. Sad but true.
The book tracks what we *do* know about cheese in history, from those Bronze-Age civilizations up through Classical times, the Middle Ages, industrialization, and the modern artisan cheese movement, and caps off with a quick look at current legal issues. (The ongoing tussle about cheese-name protection -- who can call their cheese "Roquefort", e.g. -- and the equally ongoing wrangle about raw-milk cheese in the US.)
Rather than try to analyze the book further, I'll just tell you what I learned, which will either enflame your interest further or save you from having to read the book at all.
- Pretty much every civilization invents cheese. It's what happens as soon as you have a surplus of milk and need to do something with it.
- However, inventing a storable, shippable, durable cheese is trickier. (Most of the author's speculation is about who started using coagulants such as rennet, and when.) (Anatolia, 1400-ish BC, looks like the earliest definite date.)
- "Transhumance" is an awfully impressive word for having separate winter and summer grazing fields for your herd.
- Cheese is an important food throughout European history. (Not so much in China, etc.) The author falls short of making it a crucial part of every stage of Western civilization, but he does turn up a lot of interesting relevancies.
- The great enemy of the cheese industry turns out to be the butter industry. You generally want to skim off some of the cream before you start making cheese, and then you sell that as butter. But butter is more profitable, so it is tempting to skim off more and more cream. Pretty soon all your profit is coming from butter, and your cheese is this nasty low-fat stuff which is boring when fresh and turns into a rock if you try to age it. Give up and feed the whey to your pigs.
- Unless you are a Dutch cheese genius and figure out how to make an interesting spiced skim-milk cheese that doesn't suck, and then you sell that. Holland had a lot of cheese geniuses in the late Middle Ages; this is when Gouda and Edam and so on got popular.
- Most importantly, "cheese" is a funny word, and the more you read it the funnier it gets. Particularly in a book like this which goes on about cheese factors and cheese innovators and cheese technology. The author tries to keep the tone serious by throwing in a "transhumance" now and then, but it's no good against the tidal wave of "cheese". Cheese cheese cheese.
The book tracks what we *do* know about cheese in history, from those Bronze-Age civilizations up through Classical times, the Middle Ages, industrialization, and the modern artisan cheese movement, and caps off with a quick look at current legal issues. (The ongoing tussle about cheese-name protection -- who can call their cheese "Roquefort", e.g. -- and the equally ongoing wrangle about raw-milk cheese in the US.)
Rather than try to analyze the book further, I'll just tell you what I learned, which will either enflame your interest further or save you from having to read the book at all.
- Pretty much every civilization invents cheese. It's what happens as soon as you have a surplus of milk and need to do something with it.
- However, inventing a storable, shippable, durable cheese is trickier. (Most of the author's speculation is about who started using coagulants such as rennet, and when.) (Anatolia, 1400-ish BC, looks like the earliest definite date.)
- "Transhumance" is an awfully impressive word for having separate winter and summer grazing fields for your herd.
- Cheese is an important food throughout European history. (Not so much in China, etc.) The author falls short of making it a crucial part of every stage of Western civilization, but he does turn up a lot of interesting relevancies.
- The great enemy of the cheese industry turns out to be the butter industry. You generally want to skim off some of the cream before you start making cheese, and then you sell that as butter. But butter is more profitable, so it is tempting to skim off more and more cream. Pretty soon all your profit is coming from butter, and your cheese is this nasty low-fat stuff which is boring when fresh and turns into a rock if you try to age it. Give up and feed the whey to your pigs.
- Unless you are a Dutch cheese genius and figure out how to make an interesting spiced skim-milk cheese that doesn't suck, and then you sell that. Holland had a lot of cheese geniuses in the late Middle Ages; this is when Gouda and Edam and so on got popular.
- Most importantly, "cheese" is a funny word, and the more you read it the funnier it gets. Particularly in a book like this which goes on about cheese factors and cheese innovators and cheese technology. The author tries to keep the tone serious by throwing in a "transhumance" now and then, but it's no good against the tidal wave of "cheese". Cheese cheese cheese.
April 16, 2022
A thoughtful, thorough and though dense, incredibly revealing book about the rise of cheese through western human history. The author takes a deep dive into many aspects of cheese production, history, and the physical, geographical, ideological, cultural and political influences of world events on the history of western cheese-making. A fantastic resource for any cheese enthusiast. I would love to see another book in this style for the rest of the world!
August 8, 2017
My favorite parts of the book were the explorations of broader economic trends and developments. The portions that went deeply into the flavors and traits of cheeses, however, got a little dry for someone, like me, who doesn't already know cheeses; I wanted to try everything he mentioned!
August 26, 2012
Reading this reminded me of reading EXTRA VIRGINITY: THE SUBLIME AND SCANDALOUS WORLD OF OLIVE OIL. This time I learned more than I ever hoped to know about cheese. Painstakingly researched by a professor at the University of Vermont, Kindstedt points out the strong connection between religion and cheese production. The monastery was Europe's premier economic engine of the Middle Ages. Thanks to the ingenuity of the Benedictines and Cistercians, cheeses of great diversity were produced during the Middle Ages. Even earlier than the Middle Ages milk coagulation through the use of rennet may have been practiced as a rite of religious healing. Cheese vats were actually discovered in the sanctuary of Asklepias, god of healing and the son of Apollo.
We Americans have missed out on the diversity of cheeses due to our country's pasteurization requirements. Although I can't afford some of the more exotic imports that go for as much as thirty dollars per pound, I will make a point of trying small quantities of Dutch Gouda, French Roquefort, and Swiss Gruyere now that I have attained a greater understanding of the impact of cheese on culture.
We Americans have missed out on the diversity of cheeses due to our country's pasteurization requirements. Although I can't afford some of the more exotic imports that go for as much as thirty dollars per pound, I will make a point of trying small quantities of Dutch Gouda, French Roquefort, and Swiss Gruyere now that I have attained a greater understanding of the impact of cheese on culture.
January 18, 2013
Some favorite quotes:
Every time he uses the word "transhumance"
..."with grave consequences to cheese quality"
"lactage police" - a phrase which, after Googling, I realize is not a really cool, bizarrely specific term, but is totally made up by the author
I thought the book was really interesting, especially as he got into more modern history (i.e. 1600, 1700s). In the beginning, there's a lot of willingness to speculate about cheese history because the evidence simply isn't there. I think, as a cheese scientist type person, he also got a little too caught up in the history part of his book at times. I found myself skimming some pages that seemed all history and no cheese. However, I learned a whole lot about how cheese played a role in historical events that I already knew about - the birth of Christianity, the growth of monasteries, the colonization of the Americas, slavery, etc.
Every time he uses the word "transhumance"
..."with grave consequences to cheese quality"
"lactage police" - a phrase which, after Googling, I realize is not a really cool, bizarrely specific term, but is totally made up by the author
I thought the book was really interesting, especially as he got into more modern history (i.e. 1600, 1700s). In the beginning, there's a lot of willingness to speculate about cheese history because the evidence simply isn't there. I think, as a cheese scientist type person, he also got a little too caught up in the history part of his book at times. I found myself skimming some pages that seemed all history and no cheese. However, I learned a whole lot about how cheese played a role in historical events that I already knew about - the birth of Christianity, the growth of monasteries, the colonization of the Americas, slavery, etc.
February 1, 2024
This book was a bit of a roller coaster for me. Chapters would be alternatingly fascinating, if overly-technical, and overly broad to the point of no longer making sense. The organization of this book didn’t make a whole lot of sense to me- it seemed like it was halfway between a strict chronology and a regional breakdown, which meant that, in every chapter there was a lot of repetition of the previous chapters. There were many times I found myself thinking I was literally re-reading a page because whole paragraphs were repeated. There were also times when it seemed like it was going to be a profile of different cheeses- half of one whole chapter is on Cheddar cheese and another on Gouda, for example, but this was also inconsistent. After discussions of the Medieval period, France and Italy and the cheeses which were invented there were hardly mentioned again.
Overall, I was left with the impression that the author is really knowledgeable about cheese science, but less skilled with historical research and writing (which, to be fair- he fully admits to in the introduction). For this reason, the discussion of actual cheese history (how it was made, the likely evolution of flavors and experimentation, etc) worked a lot better than the arguments which seemed to suggest that cheese had a unique place in early Western culture, which to me weren’t totally convincing. I don’t think the author ever successfully argued that cheese was more significant than any other food like bread, wine, oil, etc. I just think early humans just didn’t have a lot of different types of food, and cheese was one of them.
That being said, this book is littered with interesting moments in cheese history and its links to the development of religion in Europe and its seemingly inevitable relationship with economics and the rise of capitalism (really I almost wish the author had just stuck with religion and economics, it seemed to be what he was most interested in and “culture” is much too broad a subject to fully explore in one book anyway- it left the discussions of art, food, and literature feeling like afterthoughts). For example, the chapter linking the spread of cheese with its religious significance in the Sumarian empire was fascinating. The goddess Inanana having a fondness for cheese, which meant that the ruling elite had to make daily offerings to her, which meant that they had to take control of the sheep population, coincidentally also giving them control over the production of wool textiles, which was one of the most profitable industries at the time. Of course, read a different way, this is the story of the importance of wool rather than cheese, but it is still interesting that it led to the creation of writing in order to keep records of production! Also, I was very prepared to be bored during the discussion of early Christianity, but somehow the idea that the bread in the Eucarist being replaced with cheese became so vital. Like, it makes total sense once its explained that the idea likely came from an incorporation of Pagan offerings of cheese to the goddess Cybele (though ironic considering how many pagan traditions ended up as accepted and even important aspects of Christian religious holidays), but it fascinating to think about how such a seemingly small change could cause not only so much internal debate (though, again, maybe not so surprising given that debate over the Eucharist was a major reason for the second Great Schism), but also greatly increased Roman Imperial persecution of early Christians. That being said, I didn’t like how much economic growth was attributed to Protestant (Calvinist) work ethic. To be fair, this isn’t brought up alot, but I find it very telling that religion is only seen as a contributing factor when talking about Protestant countries (England, Holland, and the U.S), and not, say, France, Italy, or Greece- arguably the most significant cheese-making countries in the West.
All of THAT being said, I appreciate the acknowledgement that, in most of Europe, cheesemaking was traditionally a woman’s craft, and it was only after the Scientific Revolution, during which time cheesemaking was becoming increasingly profitable, that men began to take over the practice and make it more “efficient” (re: profitable)- taking the traditional farm practice and moving it into automated factories. There was a lot of romanticizing of pastoralism throughout the book and critiques of modernity for modernity’s sake. At times it felt more like a personal grudge than anything, but the conclusion that factory food production means that most people are now very disconnected from the food and ignorant of where it comes from and how it is produced, was well made. Again, the moments when religion and economics were overlapping with cheese history were the most effective parts and really should have been the sole focus.
All in all, a very interesting book, but one that could have used more editing and fine-tuning in the writing style.
Overall, I was left with the impression that the author is really knowledgeable about cheese science, but less skilled with historical research and writing (which, to be fair- he fully admits to in the introduction). For this reason, the discussion of actual cheese history (how it was made, the likely evolution of flavors and experimentation, etc) worked a lot better than the arguments which seemed to suggest that cheese had a unique place in early Western culture, which to me weren’t totally convincing. I don’t think the author ever successfully argued that cheese was more significant than any other food like bread, wine, oil, etc. I just think early humans just didn’t have a lot of different types of food, and cheese was one of them.
That being said, this book is littered with interesting moments in cheese history and its links to the development of religion in Europe and its seemingly inevitable relationship with economics and the rise of capitalism (really I almost wish the author had just stuck with religion and economics, it seemed to be what he was most interested in and “culture” is much too broad a subject to fully explore in one book anyway- it left the discussions of art, food, and literature feeling like afterthoughts). For example, the chapter linking the spread of cheese with its religious significance in the Sumarian empire was fascinating. The goddess Inanana having a fondness for cheese, which meant that the ruling elite had to make daily offerings to her, which meant that they had to take control of the sheep population, coincidentally also giving them control over the production of wool textiles, which was one of the most profitable industries at the time. Of course, read a different way, this is the story of the importance of wool rather than cheese, but it is still interesting that it led to the creation of writing in order to keep records of production! Also, I was very prepared to be bored during the discussion of early Christianity, but somehow the idea that the bread in the Eucarist being replaced with cheese became so vital. Like, it makes total sense once its explained that the idea likely came from an incorporation of Pagan offerings of cheese to the goddess Cybele (though ironic considering how many pagan traditions ended up as accepted and even important aspects of Christian religious holidays), but it fascinating to think about how such a seemingly small change could cause not only so much internal debate (though, again, maybe not so surprising given that debate over the Eucharist was a major reason for the second Great Schism), but also greatly increased Roman Imperial persecution of early Christians. That being said, I didn’t like how much economic growth was attributed to Protestant (Calvinist) work ethic. To be fair, this isn’t brought up alot, but I find it very telling that religion is only seen as a contributing factor when talking about Protestant countries (England, Holland, and the U.S), and not, say, France, Italy, or Greece- arguably the most significant cheese-making countries in the West.
All of THAT being said, I appreciate the acknowledgement that, in most of Europe, cheesemaking was traditionally a woman’s craft, and it was only after the Scientific Revolution, during which time cheesemaking was becoming increasingly profitable, that men began to take over the practice and make it more “efficient” (re: profitable)- taking the traditional farm practice and moving it into automated factories. There was a lot of romanticizing of pastoralism throughout the book and critiques of modernity for modernity’s sake. At times it felt more like a personal grudge than anything, but the conclusion that factory food production means that most people are now very disconnected from the food and ignorant of where it comes from and how it is produced, was well made. Again, the moments when religion and economics were overlapping with cheese history were the most effective parts and really should have been the sole focus.
All in all, a very interesting book, but one that could have used more editing and fine-tuning in the writing style.
Read
March 27, 2021I picked up “Cheese and Culture – A History of Cheese and its Place in Western Civilization” because I’ve been taking a series of online courses at George Brown College Continuing Studies and wanted to learn more about cheese.
While I’ve always loved cheese, I’ve been somewhat lost in knowing what to buy when visiting a high-end cheese shop. Where do you start? I hate to say that it’s intimidating but it’s confusing at best. So I selected this book to help solve a problem.
The book “Cheese and Culture” does provide an excellent global perspective on cheese. It lives us to its promise to be a grand narrative of how cheese has been shaped by history, and in turn how history has been shaped by cheese. To give the reader this perspective, author Paul Kindstedt pulls together a broad tapestry about thinking on cheese. (Yes, there have been many people who have thought about this). The book carefully weaves the overlapping threads of history, archaeology, anthropology, geography, religion, science and innovation and technology to provide a high-level perspective.
Cheese and Culture also highlights that every traditional cheese – from Cantal to Cheddar and Ricotta to Roquefort - has its own mini-story. And the author tells many of these short stories, very well.
As a student of history I enjoyed the way the author traced the chronological expansion of cheese from the foundations of agricultural societies, animal husbandry and crop cultivation in the Fertile Crescent to the Indus Valley in the East and Europe, and ultimately the Americas in the West. He tied in how cheese thrived in some regions but not say in China, perhaps because dairy was considered “foreign”.
I appreciate the insight he gave into the cultural factors involved in the spread of cheese including the way cheese was intertwined with religion – temples and gods required daily offerings of cheese to “ensure” favourable conditions for the next harvest and to entrench the elite in their positions – to the systematic advances in agriculture first started by the Romans and then added to by the Brits, Dutch and ultimately Americans in mechanizing the cheese making and marketing processes.
But the thing that interested and impressed me most was the technologies involved in both managing the livestock and perfecting the cheese process. For livestock it was interesting to see the rise of goats and sheep be replaced with cows as sheep were soon used more for wool, and cows generated larger quantities of milk. I was fascinated by the use of salt, cooking curds, pressing cheeses to reduce moisture and adding spices to specific cheeses.
As I progress through my cheese courses I know I’ll turn back to this book as reference to why and how Alpine cheeses were made, how huge cheeses such as Parmigiano-Reggiano and Cheddar are created and the roles that history had on cheese and indeed how cheese helped shape world history and the market we now enjoy today.
I give this book high marks for accomplishing its mission to provide a grand narrative on this most interesting food. It could have used a bit more levity but it was a good read for anyone wanting to know more about cheese!
Thank you.
While I’ve always loved cheese, I’ve been somewhat lost in knowing what to buy when visiting a high-end cheese shop. Where do you start? I hate to say that it’s intimidating but it’s confusing at best. So I selected this book to help solve a problem.
The book “Cheese and Culture” does provide an excellent global perspective on cheese. It lives us to its promise to be a grand narrative of how cheese has been shaped by history, and in turn how history has been shaped by cheese. To give the reader this perspective, author Paul Kindstedt pulls together a broad tapestry about thinking on cheese. (Yes, there have been many people who have thought about this). The book carefully weaves the overlapping threads of history, archaeology, anthropology, geography, religion, science and innovation and technology to provide a high-level perspective.
Cheese and Culture also highlights that every traditional cheese – from Cantal to Cheddar and Ricotta to Roquefort - has its own mini-story. And the author tells many of these short stories, very well.
As a student of history I enjoyed the way the author traced the chronological expansion of cheese from the foundations of agricultural societies, animal husbandry and crop cultivation in the Fertile Crescent to the Indus Valley in the East and Europe, and ultimately the Americas in the West. He tied in how cheese thrived in some regions but not say in China, perhaps because dairy was considered “foreign”.
I appreciate the insight he gave into the cultural factors involved in the spread of cheese including the way cheese was intertwined with religion – temples and gods required daily offerings of cheese to “ensure” favourable conditions for the next harvest and to entrench the elite in their positions – to the systematic advances in agriculture first started by the Romans and then added to by the Brits, Dutch and ultimately Americans in mechanizing the cheese making and marketing processes.
But the thing that interested and impressed me most was the technologies involved in both managing the livestock and perfecting the cheese process. For livestock it was interesting to see the rise of goats and sheep be replaced with cows as sheep were soon used more for wool, and cows generated larger quantities of milk. I was fascinated by the use of salt, cooking curds, pressing cheeses to reduce moisture and adding spices to specific cheeses.
As I progress through my cheese courses I know I’ll turn back to this book as reference to why and how Alpine cheeses were made, how huge cheeses such as Parmigiano-Reggiano and Cheddar are created and the roles that history had on cheese and indeed how cheese helped shape world history and the market we now enjoy today.
I give this book high marks for accomplishing its mission to provide a grand narrative on this most interesting food. It could have used a bit more levity but it was a good read for anyone wanting to know more about cheese!
Thank you.
June 8, 2017
Proof that books about anything exist if you look hard enough.
Cheese and Culture is a book about the history of cheese in the West. The overall tone of the book is a little dry (I know) and it reads like someones thesis. However, I like cheese so I stuck it out.
The first part has a bizarre amount of biblical references. Probably because there weren’t many written texts from that time so that’s all Kindstedt had. It’s one step up from guessing.
It starts to pick up around the Roman period when. more people knew how to read and write. Cheese was often made with figs and olive leaves. They used sheep for milk. Large villas developed for the production of cheese and wool. Most of the labor was performed by slaves from the empires the Romans overthrew.
Cheese development became much more diverse in the Middle Ages. Cheese was often part of a tribute to the owners of leased lands. These owners being churchmen and aristocrats. Milk changed sources during this time. Sheep were kept almost primarily for wool while cows began to be used for milk.
It touches on the Americas briefly, but spends most of the time describing the industrialization of the cheese markets of England and Holland from the 1700’s on up.
I’m going to look for another book on cheese. Maybe there are better ones.
Cheese and Culture is a book about the history of cheese in the West. The overall tone of the book is a little dry (I know) and it reads like someones thesis. However, I like cheese so I stuck it out.
The first part has a bizarre amount of biblical references. Probably because there weren’t many written texts from that time so that’s all Kindstedt had. It’s one step up from guessing.
It starts to pick up around the Roman period when. more people knew how to read and write. Cheese was often made with figs and olive leaves. They used sheep for milk. Large villas developed for the production of cheese and wool. Most of the labor was performed by slaves from the empires the Romans overthrew.
Cheese development became much more diverse in the Middle Ages. Cheese was often part of a tribute to the owners of leased lands. These owners being churchmen and aristocrats. Milk changed sources during this time. Sheep were kept almost primarily for wool while cows began to be used for milk.
It touches on the Americas briefly, but spends most of the time describing the industrialization of the cheese markets of England and Holland from the 1700’s on up.
I’m going to look for another book on cheese. Maybe there are better ones.
December 2, 2019
This book is absolutely brilliant and often hilarious, as when the Punic Wars and Jesus Christ are defined entirely in terms of their impact on cheesemakers. Kindstedt is fascinated by cheese as part of spiritual practice, and a large section of the first part of the book focuses on exactly how the Sumerians appeased the gods via dairy. He does an amazing job of making sense of how the constraints of climate and economics shaped the characteristics of different traditional cheeses. Particularly interesting are the discussions of how the flavors of Alpine cheeses came to develop and how Gouda was designed by Dutch merchants for maximum portability and marketability in the 18th century.
This is also one of the first highly-focused subject histories I've read where the intricate ways in which slavery is threaded through every aspect of modern American history is acknowledged -- he spends a lot of time tracing how not only how slaves in New England made cheese, but how many New Englander fortunes were built on provisioning plantations in the West Indies and the South with dairy products.
This is also one of the first highly-focused subject histories I've read where the intricate ways in which slavery is threaded through every aspect of modern American history is acknowledged -- he spends a lot of time tracing how not only how slaves in New England made cheese, but how many New Englander fortunes were built on provisioning plantations in the West Indies and the South with dairy products.
April 26, 2018
Cheese and Culture is a well written history that addresses exactly that which its title indicates. Starting with the origins of cheese making in the ancient world and continuing until the present, Kindstedt explains the evolution of cheese brought about by advancing technologies and societal pressures. I felt like this book was more than a history of cheese, but also included a brief history of the world. As the story of cheese making unfolded, so too did the story of western civilization. I enjoyed reading about how each culture and society was established and how their economies influenced the story of cheese. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn more about the history of cheese and its associated technologies. It built up to the present time as factories and international regulations are heavily controlling the situation of cheese and its place in western markets. I was not a fan of the final chapter, as it seemed rushed and concluded somewhat abruptly. I guess that is because the story of cheese is still transpiring.
September 5, 2020
I loved this book. As a layman fan of cheese(re: eating it), and as a total outsider to the academic world it inhabits I was blown away by the history and power contained therein. There is definitely loads of speculation since we can never really be sure of the evolution of a such a perishable product before writings on the subject really started. But the nods to cheese in classical literature and certain anthropological information is enough to start extrapolating.
Particularly fascinating to me is the evolution of cheese as a result of cultural mixing and as a product of the institutions that surround the people who make it. Seeing how the United States fits into the long tradition of cheese making is exciting and even the chapter on current events and shadow cheese wars between the US and the EU is eye opening. Definitely not a book for everyone but it was perfect for my interests.
Particularly fascinating to me is the evolution of cheese as a result of cultural mixing and as a product of the institutions that surround the people who make it. Seeing how the United States fits into the long tradition of cheese making is exciting and even the chapter on current events and shadow cheese wars between the US and the EU is eye opening. Definitely not a book for everyone but it was perfect for my interests.
August 16, 2017
This book is so insightful! I never imagined that I'd have so much fun reading about cheese. Who knew that cheese originated from Asia? My favorite type of cheese is gouda! I never considered reading a book about cheese until I started playing quizzes on Sporcle. I played this quiz called RC Words, and this book popped up as an ad while I was playing. I thought it seemed kind of dumb, so I just went on my way. Then, I played a second quiz called Barbie's Jobs, and the ad for this book came up a second time! I figured it was fate's way of telling me to read this book. By the way, you should play one of those two quizzes and then PM me your time! I bet I'm faster than you! Oh, and then you should check out my comments on whichever quiz you play! I make wonderful comments. ^_^
January 30, 2018
It can be fun to look at history from the perspective of one rather specialized object. In this case, that object is cheese. Though this book goes off the rails a bit in its general history, it is nice to see how important cheese has been in the development of human culture. Cheese allows milk products to be consumed by people who can't process lactose, and it lets milk be stored and transported without spoiling immediately. Herding wouldn't have been all that much use if the milk mostly went to waste. And it was interesting to see the connection between the medieval wool trade -- a vitally important economic factor -- and cheese. Mind you, it's best to have some cheese around while reading this thing, as you'll find yourself wanting some.
November 27, 2025
Around 7000 BCE the components for making cheese were in place: milk, and equipment for collection, storage, curdling, and separation of curds from whey. Sheep and goats would have been milked to feed lactose tolerant infants, but non-tolerant adults needed to make cheese and butter to make use of left-overs. Early cheeses were either acid or heat/acid coagulated soft fresh cheese that needed to be consumed promptly.
The first reference to rennet coagulation in Cuneiform tablets occurred around 1400 BCE. Thus hard rind durable cheeses became possible.
And so it goes until today with a discussion of raw versus pasteurized milk. It is my hope that an explosion of craft cheese making follows the similar explosion of craft brewers and distillers.
The first reference to rennet coagulation in Cuneiform tablets occurred around 1400 BCE. Thus hard rind durable cheeses became possible.
And so it goes until today with a discussion of raw versus pasteurized milk. It is my hope that an explosion of craft cheese making follows the similar explosion of craft brewers and distillers.
February 19, 2018
Is this a book an attention-grabbing story about the life of cheese? No. Is it a thought-provoking informative textbook-like read? Yes. Don’t be deterred. I love that this book is what it is. It weaves anthropology, sociology, history, politics, and of course, food science, together. History doesn’t always happen rapidly or in a very interesting way, and I believe that is why some may classify this book as boring. I also think the author made a fair attempt and putting what little pieces we have of the archaeological puzzle together.I may be a bit biased due to my extreme obsession of cheese, but this book is definitely on my list of books to read again (I may even take notes next time).
October 10, 2018
Yes, the book is about cheese but it is much more fascinating for the history is presents. From a wide angle lens, the author walks you through pre-history through the 21st Century while trying to squeeze cheese in as much as possible. At one point he discusses Jesus Christ as “one whose influence on western civilization and cheese history would soon be unleashed.” A little dramatic but I enjoyed learning some basics of cheese making and the differences behind the cheeses.
I skimmed over some of the chapters that got a little to ‘cheesy’ for me but I really enjoyed his discussion of the ancient empires of Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Greece.
I skimmed over some of the chapters that got a little to ‘cheesy’ for me but I really enjoyed his discussion of the ancient empires of Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Greece.
May 20, 2023
The first 3/4 of the book is more like the history of socioeconomic development in the Near East, Medditeranean, and finally Europe proper, while occasionally mentioning that cheese and butter were involved. For someone like me who's ignorant of this topic I found it to be a really interesting, digestible history of the West.
It didn't get in to cheese much until it reached the 1400s or so. The descriptions of how small changes in method led to huge diversity of cheese was fascinating. All in all would recommend
It didn't get in to cheese much until it reached the 1400s or so. The descriptions of how small changes in method led to huge diversity of cheese was fascinating. All in all would recommend
November 14, 2020
This book had a lot of really great information; who knew the history of cheese would be so closely paralleled with other important historical events. That said, I found myself overloaded with information at times. Some sections of the book became dry, and I struggled to concentrate at times. I’d like to see this novel as a documentary rather than a long read. 3/5 for the great information and easily understood descriptions of cheese making, but it sometimes was long and drawn out.
October 22, 2017
A good introductory review. Strong when sticking to facts.
I quibble with the presumed historical authenticity of the kingdom of David.
There could have been much more detail about monastic cheeses. However, it makes a good contribution to understanding the historical importance of cheese and cheese making.
Little information about factory cheese.
I quibble with the presumed historical authenticity of the kingdom of David.
There could have been much more detail about monastic cheeses. However, it makes a good contribution to understanding the historical importance of cheese and cheese making.
Little information about factory cheese.
May 15, 2019
Fascinating, easy reading. Ties together ancient and modern history of cheesemaking with a variety of cultural, economic, and political threads leading to divergent traditions in the US and Europe. It concludes by showing how that divergence is playing out currently and may affect the future of international cheese trade.
June 7, 2024
This book provides a fascinating look at how culture, the environment, trade, climate, and even religion have influenced the production and role of cheese throughout history. There are some dry sections, but plenty of interesting insights that make it well worth reading whether you’re a fan of feta, a champion of cheddar, or a guru of Gouda. (I will not be apologizing for the dumb alliteration.)
December 14, 2016
An absolute must for any cheese enthusiast. I found the early chapters a bit tough going as I was personally less interested in the very early history. But the rest of the book is excellent. Well researched and written, and very interesting.
May 15, 2020
Subject Appeal: 5/5.
Research Depth: 4/5.
Research Breadth: 3/5.
Narrative Flow: 3/5.
Verdict: 4/5. Filling like its topic, Kindstedt's research makes a convincing case for cheese's hallowed place in the human diet.
Research Depth: 4/5.
Research Breadth: 3/5.
Narrative Flow: 3/5.
Verdict: 4/5. Filling like its topic, Kindstedt's research makes a convincing case for cheese's hallowed place in the human diet.
January 8, 2021
SUPER interesting and well researched but EXTREMELY dry (think textbook).
November 4, 2024
Insufferable to read.
May 25, 2025
slightly too intellectually to be truly enjoyable and easy to read
September 13, 2015
This book starts out a bit slow, covering irrelevant bits of human history, but before it gets a dozen pages in, it has managed to reach the relevant portion: the Neolithic era, where the changing composition of bones from domestic animals points to their being dairy, not meat, producers, and the milk fat on pottery shards. Approximately a thousand years before adult lactose tolerance appeared, so they were making butter and cheese even then, to make it digestible by adults.
Discussing the techniques, both acid (probably the earlier) and rennet methods of making cheese. Rennet-based is only definitely identified among the Hittites.
Before then we have the Sumerian goddess Inanna persuaded to change whom she'll marry based on the shepherd's argument that he can provide her with all these milk products, and the temples had enormous sheep flocks to provide the necessary cheese and butter offerings; the constant ration pointed at the way they made butter first and then cheese from the buttermilk and the whey.
The arrival of cheese in India in the form which it remained for centuries; a combination of prohibitions against impure food and killing beasts, and the tropical weather, probably kept it that way.
How the increase in trade changed cheese, and the need for rinded cheese for it to keep.
How climate changes in Europe produced alpine transhumance -- moving the large flock to alpine pasture (opened up by the cooling that lowered the tree line) in the summer and back in the winter, when feeding was actually more difficult, often relying on leaves -- and the effects of that on cheese-making.
Greek cheese, used as sacrificial offerings and as ingredients in sacrificial cakes, and exported -- the priests of Athena in Athens could not eat local cheese, only imported -- the temple of Artemis in Sparta was famed for its cheese partly because that was a favorite raiding location for Spartan boys, deliberately underfed and punished if caught stealing. The time that Athens sacrificed a deliberately simple meal to Castor and Pollux, to remind Athenians of the good old ways; it included cheese.
How the conquest of Sicily made it the breadbasket of Rome and so had many Roman farmers switching to cheese -- a process not exactly hurt by the ecological damage caused by farming the hillside and denuding them of trees for their navies.
Demesne and peasant techniques of making cheese in the medieval times, and how the cooler climate let you pool milk over several days, which produced much more acid cheeses, and also let you ripen it with mold growing on it.
The balance of butter and cheese -- some counties in England lost the cheese trade entirely when they skimmed off too much of the fat for the butter and made a cheap cheese that soon lost favor even among the poorer classes. (Holland managed by making "spice cheese" and favoring the low-fat stuff.)
Cheese to America and the rise of the factory made cheese.
The current fights over designated names and the impact on cheese.
Full of wonderful stuff.
Discussing the techniques, both acid (probably the earlier) and rennet methods of making cheese. Rennet-based is only definitely identified among the Hittites.
Before then we have the Sumerian goddess Inanna persuaded to change whom she'll marry based on the shepherd's argument that he can provide her with all these milk products, and the temples had enormous sheep flocks to provide the necessary cheese and butter offerings; the constant ration pointed at the way they made butter first and then cheese from the buttermilk and the whey.
The arrival of cheese in India in the form which it remained for centuries; a combination of prohibitions against impure food and killing beasts, and the tropical weather, probably kept it that way.
How the increase in trade changed cheese, and the need for rinded cheese for it to keep.
How climate changes in Europe produced alpine transhumance -- moving the large flock to alpine pasture (opened up by the cooling that lowered the tree line) in the summer and back in the winter, when feeding was actually more difficult, often relying on leaves -- and the effects of that on cheese-making.
Greek cheese, used as sacrificial offerings and as ingredients in sacrificial cakes, and exported -- the priests of Athena in Athens could not eat local cheese, only imported -- the temple of Artemis in Sparta was famed for its cheese partly because that was a favorite raiding location for Spartan boys, deliberately underfed and punished if caught stealing. The time that Athens sacrificed a deliberately simple meal to Castor and Pollux, to remind Athenians of the good old ways; it included cheese.
How the conquest of Sicily made it the breadbasket of Rome and so had many Roman farmers switching to cheese -- a process not exactly hurt by the ecological damage caused by farming the hillside and denuding them of trees for their navies.
Demesne and peasant techniques of making cheese in the medieval times, and how the cooler climate let you pool milk over several days, which produced much more acid cheeses, and also let you ripen it with mold growing on it.
The balance of butter and cheese -- some counties in England lost the cheese trade entirely when they skimmed off too much of the fat for the butter and made a cheap cheese that soon lost favor even among the poorer classes. (Holland managed by making "spice cheese" and favoring the low-fat stuff.)
Cheese to America and the rise of the factory made cheese.
The current fights over designated names and the impact on cheese.
Full of wonderful stuff.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 46 reviews