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Humans Have Been Eating Cheese For At Least 7,500 Years

An anonymous reader writes "Researchers have found conclusive evidence for the first time that humans have been making cheese since the 6th millennium BC."

214 comments

  1. Wow. by roc97007 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Thanks. That question has been keeping me up nights.

    --
    Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
    1. Re:Wow. by Rik+Sweeney · · Score: 4, Funny

      It kept early man up too, but that's because the cheese gave them nightmares.

    2. Re:Wow. by anagama · · Score: 4, Funny

      Thanks. I had thought slashdot a place for people who had an interest in the world and science. Glad I've been disabused of that notion.

      Soooo, what's your favorite episode of Jersey Shore?

      --
      What changed under Obama? Nothing Good
    3. Re:Wow. by Holladon · · Score: 5, Funny

      What are you, some kind of anti-cheesite?

      Talking about cheese is ALWAYS appropriate, in ANY context, and EATING cheese is even more appropriate. Anyone who says otherwise is an unrepetant philistine utterly lacking in taste and sophistication.

      Good DAY.

    4. Re:Wow. by UnknownSoldier · · Score: 2

      Except if it is toe-cheese. ;-)

    5. Re:Wow. by roc97007 · · Score: 2

      Welllll, I freely admit I'm not the most brilliant of conversationalists, but I'm pretty sure there's a fairly wide range of topics that aren't cheese or puerile reality shows.

      But if you want to talk about how Jersey Shore could be merged with Final Destination, I might be interested.

      --
      Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
    6. Re:Wow. by Antipater · · Score: 1

      -1 Eww.

      --
      Everything is better with chainsaws.
    7. Re:Wow. by NeoMorphy · · Score: 1

      But if you want to talk about how Jersey Shore could be merged with Final Destination, I might be interested.

      Sounds like a kickstarter project! Someone should start it up. Use the current cast of "Jersey Shore" and arrange elaborate accidents and film them!

    8. Re:Wow. by roc97007 · · Score: 1

      Tell the cast that the survivor will be Ultimate Ruler of all New Jersey and have a fragrance named after them. That should work. (You may have to explain what "ultimate" means, or use simpler words.) Of course, the twist at the end is that there are no survivors.

      --
      Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
    9. Re:Wow. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'd kick some cash into the kickstarter if you guys can figure out how to integrate(grate?) cheese into the process (but not processed cheese)...

    10. Re:Wow. by HairyNevus · · Score: 0

      Talking about cheese is ALWAYS appropriate, in ANY context, and EATING cheese is even more appropriate.

      Smegma discussion in 3...2...1...

      --
      You were critically hit for no damage. The bruise will look nice, and maybe the scars will make good party talk.
    11. Re:Wow. by roc97007 · · Score: 2

      "Processed cheese" is not cheese. I think it's a petroleum product.

      --
      Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
    12. Re:Wow. by Genda · · Score: 1

      Actually its a petroleum by-product closely related to vinyl.

    13. Re:Wow. by ByOhTek · · Score: 1

      Was it real cheese, or did they decide to broaden the spectrum to include toe cheese, for RMS? That could alter the time frame significantly.

      --
      Self proclaimed typo king, and inventor of the bear destroying coffee table (patent not pending).
  2. And cutting the cheese by colin_faber · · Score: 5, Funny

    for many many eons. :)

  3. Obvious geek question by MrEricSir · · Score: 1

    Okay, but when did they figure out how to make pizza?

    --
    There's no -1 for "I don't get it."
    1. Re:Obvious geek question by colin_faber · · Score: 1

      With Cheese? 1889

    2. Re:Obvious geek question by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Wikipedia knows not all. According to this history, a flat bread baked with cheese on top goes back as far as the 6th century BC and the "modern" pizza goes back as far as the early 1500s.

    3. Re:Obvious geek question by SomePgmr · · Score: 1

      I guess I shouldn't be surprised but wikipedia has it covered, well in excess of Linda Stradley's history and legends post, there.

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_pizza

      Yes, there's a whole separate entry for the history bits.

  4. Ob... by mrsquid0 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Blessed are the cheese makers.

    --
    Just because you are paranoid does not mean that no-one is out to get you.
    1. Re:Ob... by oneiros27 · · Score: 5, Funny

      It's not meant to be taken literally. It refers to any manufacturer of dairy products

      --
      Build it, and they will come^Hplain.
    2. Re:Ob... by timeOday · · Score: 1

      Since you are paraphrasing Jesus, just think, anything he said was already 3/4 of the way from 7500 years ago until now. I find it hard to wrap my mind around how long people were sentient beings with fully developed social interactions (and cheese!) before they figured out writing and "history" began.

    3. Re:Ob... by hairyfeet · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Oh I wouldn't be surprised if some day they trip over a cave in the middle of nowhere and find proto-writing that dates a hell of a lot farther back. The problem is what was most likely used was red ochre which was the first easily gathered pigment. We know this because we have found red ochre dust in ancient graves. Problem is that red ochre chips and flakes off quite easily so if you want writing to last thousands of years that ain't the stuff to be using for the paint.

      But you can take a little kid, barely able to walk and talk, hand him some finger paints and he is gonna start drawing showing that the creative spark to express is about as natural as breathing to the human animal. Since all proto-writing started off as crude shapes that represented real world objects that simply got more abstract as time went on and it was used more then if humans have a natural desire to create and express it is logical to think they would have started as soon as they had paint. Even the cave drawings we have found seem to be depicting stories, such as hunts or great battles, so who is to say there isn't some cave we haven't found yet with the first primitive writing going back long before when we thought it started?

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      ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
    4. Re:Ob... by timeOday · · Score: 3, Interesting
      You just reminded me of a relevant anecdote about cave paintings:

      The work of other artists didn't often reduce Pablo Picasso to a state of utter humility, but that's exactly what happened just after World War II, when he was mucking about in a cave in southwestern France. This wasn't just any cave, however -- its walls were festooned with striking pictures of horses and bulls that date from the Ice Age, all rendered with exquisite sophistication and symbolic force. Upon exiting the cave, an awed Picasso declared, "We have learned nothing in twelve thousand years."

    5. Re:Ob... by iluvcapra · · Score: 1

      Counting or not counting the Twelve Colonies of Kobol?

      --
      Don't blame me, I voted for Baltar.
    6. Re:Ob... by somersault · · Score: 5, Funny

      This bit is pretty funny

      The art in this cave -- called Lascaux, the Sistine Chapel of cave art -- and in many others that dot parts of France and Spain deservedly ranks with the greatest masterworks of Western art. Yet these paintings have provoked as much vexed speculation as they have wonder and awe: What was their purpose? Why are there so many pictures of animals? The painters had many colors at their disposal, but why do black and red dominate? Why are there no pictures of sky, moon or trees? What are the strange geometric signs found in many of the caves? Why are there few images of people? Just what does it all mean? Such questions have kept generations of scholars and archaeologists busy trying to find a definitive if ever elusive explanation.

      Just imagine if in 6000 years all they can find of our current generation is a memes site. Why are there all these images of cats? Why is the same image repeated so many time with different symbols over the top? Why are the animations all in 16 colours rather than a 32bit colour palette?

      --
      which is totally what she said
    7. Re:Ob... by Genda · · Score: 1

      Cursed are the cheese breakers!!!

    8. Re:Ob... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Since you are paraphrasing Jesus

      Watch it, big nose!

    9. Re:Ob... by phorm · · Score: 1

      why do black and red dominate

      How do we know what colours the painters had available? Further to that, did all the paint supplies in different colours last as long. Perhaps the blues and greens have long faded.

      Or perhaps our ancestors were mostly colour-blind.

    10. Re:Ob... by hairyfeet · · Score: 2

      Its actually quite simple if one thinks about it. Red ochre was plentiful and black can be made with the carbon from any fire, so there ya go. I'm sure the other colors were much harder to gather and were a bigger pain to deal with so they were most likely only used for very special things, such as painting the corpse of a fallen king. After all this is why royalty back in the middle ages had royal blue and purple, those dyes were very hard to make so only royalty could afford to buy it, simple as that.

      But if your greens and blues costs 3 slaves an ounce you sure as hell ain't gonna waste it painting on a wall, are ya?

      --
      ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
  5. ...well, that explains a few things by MindPrison · · Score: 2

    ...that people back in those days actually believed that the moon was one BIG ball of cheese
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Moon_is_made_of_green_cheese

    --
    What this world is coming to - is for you and me to decide.
  6. I keep thinking about milking the first cow... by ackthpt · · Score: 4, Funny

    People must have looked on and though, "What they heck is he/she doing there?!? Oh my!"

    --

    A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
    1. Re:I keep thinking about milking the first cow... by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 2

      People must have looked on and though, "What they heck is he/she doing there?!? Oh my!"

      Oh, come on, that was a cheesy joke.

      --
      Ezekiel 23:20
    2. Re:I keep thinking about milking the first cow... by N0Man74 · · Score: 4, Funny

      People must have looked on and though, "What they heck is he/she doing there?!? Oh my!"

      Oh, come on, that was a cheesy joke.

      Are you intolerant of lactose humor?

    3. Re:I keep thinking about milking the first cow... by Holladon · · Score: 1

      People must have looked on and though, "What they heck is he/she doing there?!? Oh my!"

      Oh, come on, that was a cheesy joke.

      Are you intolerant of lactose humor?

      Stop it. Stop it right this instant, before I moorder you all.

    4. Re:I keep thinking about milking the first cow... by Convector · · Score: 1

      It wouldn't have been that remarkable, because people had been already been milking sheep and possibly goats for millenia by the time the cow was domesticated.

    5. Re:I keep thinking about milking the first cow... by abarrow · · Score: 4, Funny

      I've always wondered how to first guy to drink milk from a cow was able to get the second guy to do it.

    6. Re:I keep thinking about milking the first cow... by Specter · · Score: 1

      Triple dog dare...duh.

    7. Re:I keep thinking about milking the first cow... by X0563511 · · Score: 2

      It probably wasn't a cow. Anyways, why not? Our own offspring would have been nursing, not to mention any other mammals observed.

      --
      For large sets, this will be our guide even unto death, for the LORD will work for each type of data it is applied to...
    8. Re:I keep thinking about milking the first cow... by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 4, Funny

      It probably wasn't a cow.

      You may be right, but I personally think that the idea of it being a bull is too creepy to consider.

      --
      Ezekiel 23:20
    9. Re:I keep thinking about milking the first cow... by X0563511 · · Score: 1

      Honestly it was probably something like a goat.

      --
      For large sets, this will be our guide even unto death, for the LORD will work for each type of data it is applied to...
    10. Re:I keep thinking about milking the first cow... by oodaloop · · Score: 1

      So that just pushes the joke back further. The first person to milk a sheep or goat would have drawn those weird looks.

      --
      Tic-Tac-Toe, Global Thermonuclear War, and relationships all have the same winning move.
    11. Re:I keep thinking about milking the first cow... by oodaloop · · Score: 1

      I've wondered the same about the first guy to eat a wild hot pepper. Who ate a screaming burning hot pepper and thought it was a great idea?

      --
      Tic-Tac-Toe, Global Thermonuclear War, and relationships all have the same winning move.
    12. Re:I keep thinking about milking the first cow... by Cruciform · · Score: 1

      The Masai have been tapping the blood of bulls to drink for millennia, so it probably wouldn't have been a big stretch to drink the milk of the cows too.

    13. Re:I keep thinking about milking the first cow... by Rufty · · Score: 1

      Moorder? After a joke like that an air strike is called for. then there'll be nothing left but de-brie.

      --
      Red to red, black to black. Switch it on, but stand well back.
    14. Re:I keep thinking about milking the first cow... by hey! · · Score: 1

      They've been drinking *human* milk even longer.

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    15. Re:I keep thinking about milking the first cow... by tonyx12 · · Score: 1

      Its not as odd, if you realize they got it from looking at the calves :-)

    16. Re:I keep thinking about milking the first cow... by preflex · · Score: 1

      Such things havarti happened many times in history, like when Maasdam Hussein bombed the Curds.

    17. Re:I keep thinking about milking the first cow... by ElderKorean · · Score: 1

      I've wondered the same about the first guy to eat a wild hot pepper. Who ate a screaming burning hot pepper and thought it was a great idea?

      Probably related to the first person to look at an oyster and think - that thing that looks like a huge piece of snot - I'm gonna try that one.

  7. Sharp by AG+the+other · · Score: 1

    Now that would be some well aged sharp cheese.

    --
    Non bene pro toto libertas venditur auro
    1. Re:Sharp by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The Apple cheese has a sleeker UI.

  8. More research needed by charlesbakerharris · · Score: 1

    Are we sure this just isn't a grilled cheese sandwich that looks like it has Noah's face on it?

  9. Next up on Mythbusters by BLToday · · Score: 1

    Can we make cheese like our ancestors did 7,500 years ago? Then we'll blow it up with some C4.

  10. Humans have been eating cheese... by CosaNostra+Pizza+Inc · · Score: 0

    and they've been cutting it for much longer.

  11. I need new glasses. by JustAnotherIdiot · · Score: 1

    I read this as "humans have been eating chinese"

    --
    What do I know, I'm just an idiot, right?
    1. Re:I need new glasses. by cvtan · · Score: 1

      Silly human. There is no Chinese cheese. (And if there is, I want to hear about it.)

      --
      Sorry, but gray text on gray background is making my eyes bleed.
    2. Re:I need new glasses. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hurr hurr. Can we please just ban anyone trying to make these "Herp derp! I read this as [insert lame attempt at being funny be changing one of the words in the title]" posts?

    3. Re:I need new glasses. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They've been eating Chinese for 7500 years... still hungry 30 mins later.

    4. Re:I need new glasses. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I read this as "humans have been eating chinese"

      Well, what do you think the Yangshao were eating? Italian?

    5. Re:I need new glasses. by CastrTroy · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I worked at a cheese shop when I was in University and we sold cheese from all over the world. I always thought it odd that there was no cheese from China. There's Cheese from India, the middle east, europe, south america. Just about everywhere. I can't recall any cheese coming from the far east, and I've never seen cheese a chinese restaurant (except the big buffet ones that server everything from french fries to kraft dinner to General Tao's chicken to tripe) I don't recall any cheese from Africa either. I wonder why some cultures developed cheese while others didn't. Why, even if they hadn't invented it on their own, why they didn't start making it once the cultures mixed.

      --

      Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
    6. Re:I need new glasses. by PlastikMissle · · Score: 1

      Not sure about sub-Saharan Africa, but North Africa produces a lot of cheese.

    7. Re:I need new glasses. by fremsley471 · · Score: 2

      Two big shocks on entering American food/drink culture coming from the UK. A big one was how much a bar != a pub. But bigger was for a nation who consumes so much food, how can its cheese be this bad? 300 million people, surely there's room for a few hundred local decent cheeses? Are there any excellent and widely available varieties?

    8. Re:I need new glasses. by operagost · · Score: 1

      Did you actually go into a supermarket in a decently well populated area? Or into a country store (not a CONVENIENCE store) in a smaller one?

      --

      Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.
    9. Re:I need new glasses. by X0563511 · · Score: 1

      We don't seem to have any livestock here that wasn't already being used elsewhere, and given that the majority of the population comes from immigrants, are you really surprised we just have cheeses from other cultures? (pun intended)

      --
      For large sets, this will be our guide even unto death, for the LORD will work for each type of data it is applied to...
    10. Re:I need new glasses. by H0p313ss · · Score: 1

      Two big shocks on entering American food/drink culture coming from the UK. A big one was how much a bar != a pub. But bigger was for a nation who consumes so much food, how can its cheese be this bad? 300 million people, surely there's room for a few hundred local decent cheeses? Are there any excellent and widely available varieties?

      There are good local cheeses, but they are probably produced in such small quantities and so widely geographically distributed, and the market has been so dominated by mass produced crap that it's hard to find if you don't know where to look. And since I live in Canada I don't know where to look in the US either, I don't have much advice. (Though Wisconsin is supposed to be famous for cheese.)

      The situation is not so different in Canada, if you're in major cities and you don't look to hard all you will find is mass produced crap but being on the Ontario/Quebec border, I'm lucky enough to be virtually surrounded by good cheese producers.

      Canadian cheeses in my region off the top of my head:

      • Black Creek from Prince Edward County, Ontario
      • St-Albert from St-Albert, Ontario
      • Oka from Oka, Quebec
      • Du Village from Warwick, Quebec. (Their Sir Laurier d'Arthabaska is simply devine... and at over 300km away calling it in my region is a bit of a stretch, I thought it was closer until I looked it up.)
      --
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    11. Re:I need new glasses. by fremsley471 · · Score: 2

      First visit was 20 years ago, San Fran and various towns and cities around. Monterey Jack was the most daring on casual display. We found some peppery cheddar in a shop in Sonoma that was interesting, but it reminded us of fruit beers- different taste to the bland, but adding things to the mix ain't the answer.

      We spent 3 months in the US a couple of years back, across about 8 states. So not just checking out the airport transit store cracker-toppings. Instead of shouting at me, CONVENIENCE, FFS, answer the question. What is a good and widely available cheese now? Something with bite, texture, maybe even mould.

    12. Re:I need new glasses. by Zakabog · · Score: 1

      Wisconsin is known for it's cheese. Or if you're in NYC I would visit the Cheese Factory on Bleecker street in the West Village. I'm not a big fan of cheese (except mild cheeses like Mozzarella) but they've got the best cheeses I've ever tried. The also have a cave downstairs for aged cheeses, didn't visit that since I'm not a fan. My roommates loved it (they're big cheese fans, got them some cheddar and gouda.)

    13. Re:I need new glasses. by fremsley471 · · Score: 1

      Not surprised by the cheeses from other cultures, just how uniformly poor they were, e.g., was expecting a cheddar, but they were all so incredibly bland; pretty much how fussy young children think cheese should taste.

      Have seen how much the beer market's changed, with some delicious US local beers on quite wide distribution. Would have hoped something could have happened with another cultured product.

    14. Re:I need new glasses. by fremsley471 · · Score: 1

      The last two look especially mouth-watering. Off to raid the fridge and pop open the Port...

      Is there a general market for these, or are such flavours still a niche? Trying to work out if the hump stopping wider distribution is formed by supply (existing interests) or demand (tastes too exotic)?

    15. Re:I need new glasses. by X0563511 · · Score: 1

      I've no problem getting nice flavorful / strong cheeses - usually you have to get them from the deli though. Either sliced, or they have them in wedges/wheels.

      The stuff you find in little pre-pack things is crap though.

      --
      For large sets, this will be our guide even unto death, for the LORD will work for each type of data it is applied to...
    16. Re:I need new glasses. by H0p313ss · · Score: 1

      Being more Euopean than the rest of America, the market for "exotic" cheese in Quebec is pretty healthy and it seems to be growing.

      It should not be too hard to find Oka in the US and there's at least one US distributor for du Village. In Wisconsin of course.

      --
      XML is a known as a key material required to create SMD: Software of Mass Destruction
    17. Re:I need new glasses. by AdamHaun · · Score: 1

      Vermont is well-known for its cheddar. It's a big deal in the northeastern US.

      Note that if a grocery store is large enough to have a deli, you'll usually find different/better cheeses there. The cheeses in the dairy section are the mass-produced ones. You might also look for a local cheese shop.

      --
      Visit the
    18. Re:I need new glasses. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      One thing many people don't realise is that lactose intolerance is actually the norm in many ethnic groups (including Chinese). This isn't quite my field, but I read a paper on this once and it would seem before the development of agriculture almost all humans lost the ability to digest lactose after infancy. Lactose tolerance is simply an example of a recent, highly advantageous genetic mutation among groups with ready access to dairy animals (it's always good to have more food sources). Wikipedia, and other sites have more information.

    19. Re:I need new glasses. by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      I wonder why some cultures developed cheese while others didn't.

      There's probably an addendum to Guns, Germs and Steel on this very topic. Something to do with climate and the prevalence (or not) of animals which can be bred into good milkers.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    20. Re:I need new glasses. by CastrTroy · · Score: 1

      That's where I live and we get some truly amazing cheese. You can even get some raw milk stuff if you care to shop around. The ones you mention are quite good and can be found easily in grocery stores. St-Albert is awesome because they deliver daily to local stores which means you can get fresh, never refrigerated, curds. This is the way they were meant to be eaten. Also their mild Cheddar is very mild, and almost tastes like they took their fresh curds and packed them together. It's completely unlike any of the mass market stuff you find. There's some more exotic stuff around too if you're willing to look and spend some money. Be careful though, there's a lot of small cheese makers who somehow make cheese completely devoid of flavour and sell it for $10 for 100g.

      --

      Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
    21. Re:I need new glasses. by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      A big one was how much a bar != a pub.

      We do, however, have a smattering of pubs around the country. Most of them are fairly barrish but the pubkeeper will regulate if people prevent civilized behavior in most cases. Except the Irish ones maybe ;)

      But bigger was for a nation who consumes so much food, how can its cheese be this bad?

      As a nation we have been suckered into "bigger brighter faster". Also, shockingly few Americans can actually cook anything worth eating. Many of them think that taking stuff from out of cans, putting it into a casserole dish in some order which should not be, and putting it in the oven for a while is "cooking". Disturbingly many have not yet progressed beyond taking packages out of boxes, removing some plastic or foil, and baking those. This inability crosses both gender and class lines. I am a better cook than virtually any woman I have been with save for the current one, who is a professional chef, and one a couple jumps back, who was at least an adequate cook. My mother could actually cook, which is probably a big part of how I got to be two meters tall in spite of literally being poorer than people on welfare. Beans and rice will take you far if you combine a bunch of dairy and other hormone-laden ingredients :)

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    22. Re:I need new glasses. by CastrTroy · · Score: 1

      Maybe it's an Americanism, but there seems to be plenty of beef in Chinese food. A lot of the more "authentic" stuff seems to focus on chicken, duck, and seafood, along with tofu. But there is still quite a few beef dishes. Although a lot of the cheese from the old world (especially the good ones) seem to come from sheep or goat, you can get quite a good cheese from cow milk.

      --

      Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
    23. Re:I need new glasses. by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      Although a lot of the cheese from the old world (especially the good ones) seem to come from sheep or goat, you can get quite a good cheese from cow milk.

      Cheddar seems to be the canonical example, I've had sheep cheddar and blergh. And deliver me from goat cheeses, nine times out of ten they've got some goaty funk in them. Sheep cheese, though, I'm interested in that.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    24. Re:I need new glasses. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You just were in the wrong state... My local grocery store in Wisconsin has a sign with the cheese count... Yesterday was 200+ varieties.

    25. Re:I need new glasses. by fifedrum · · Score: 1

      Cheese; Like beer and wine.

      All of the grocery stores around here (upstate NY) have large selections of cheese. Wegmans, a brand from the Rochester, NY area, but spread throughout much of the north east, has had a cheese shop in each store for at least 20 years, and prior to that, had a large selection in the deli case. I remember, quite vividly, a buddy purchasing a wedge of some brie cheese in 1989 and being completely disgusted, before AND after tasting it. But it grew on me, and now I use that cheese in recpies on a regular basis.

      Today, really for the past twenty years, they've expanded the offerings, and the shop carries literally hundreds of different cheese selections, type X aged Y years/months, packaged by the roll, log, slice, wedge, runny, moldy, from just about every variety you can name including local small-batch cheese makers and large name ones, imports and domestics.

      While it's true that the vast majority of "cheese" consumed is garden variety cheddar or worse "American Cheese" whatever the hell that is, or even worse, "Cheese" in quotes, there is a huge selection of actual gourmet cheeses sold each day all over the place.

      Like beer. The shit beer people drink in bulk, Bud or whatever, is generally garbage, but there are thousands upon thousands of craft beer brewers all over that produce some of the finest quality beer in the world, and wines from California, New York and even Utah, win awards the world over. Both these wineries and breweries do very well for themselves, as do the cheese makers.

      In many regions, the last decade has seen even your corner gas station carying craft beer. My local Hess station has as fine a variety of beer as the best beer pubs, complete with growler fill stations. Even the lowest grocer has a wide variety of fine beer today.

    26. Re:I need new glasses. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      no cheese from China. ... and I've never seen cheese a chinese restaurant

      Lactose intolerance is much more common in the US among those of Asian ancestry than Caucasian ancestry. (90% vs. 15%) It could be due to cultural or diet issues one supposes. Perhaps there is some sort of genetic thing going on here.

    27. Re:I need new glasses. by jonadab · · Score: 1

      We have excellent cheese in America.

      We also have some of the _worst_ cheese in the world, granted. If it comes in a spray can or as individually wrapped slices, you should AVOID it. Also, if it doesn't say what _kind_ of cheese it is, you should avoid it. Also, Velveeta is not something that you should eat directly. It's meant to be used together with other cheeses in baking (e.g., in macaroni and cheese), to facilitate creaminess. Good cheese comes from behind a deli counter (which can be in a grocery store) and is priced by the pound. You tell the person behind the counter that you want half a pound of this or that kind of cheese, and they ask you how thick you want it sliced, and you say "thick", "medium", or "thin". (You can also just buy a big chunk, if you're not making sandwiches.)

      You can also get shredded cheese in the frozen foods section, which is alright for baking, but the number of varieties available this way is more limited -- typically just mozzarella, a couple of kinds of cheddar, and maybe "pizza cheese" (which is mostly mozzarella with a few shreds of something else mixed in, e.g, smoked provolone).

      > Are there any excellent and widely available varieties?

      My personal favorite is colby. Other good ones that are readily available everywhere (or at least throughout the Midwest) include mozzarella (particularly good for pasta), provolone (good on turkey sandwiches), several varieties of cheddar (mild, sharp, extra-sharp, white), monterrey jack and its various derivatives (cojack, pepper jack, jalapeno jack, lightning jack), swiss, baby swiss, muenster, brick, longhorn, and grated parmesan. Other good cheeses are available regionally, e.g., here in Galion I can easily get havarti, either with or without embedded dill. If I wanted to drive over to Holmes County (about an hour east of here) I could get all kinds of specialty cheeses. The community where I went to college, about three hours west of here, has a couple of good Latin-American cheeses readily available. When I lived in western Michigan for three years, the grocery stores there always had grated romano.

      Note too that the light yellow-orange stuff you'll see that's specifically labeled "American cheese" (assuming you get the real stuff) isn't _bad_ so much as _bland_, which is actually useful in certain situations. Among other things, it's great for feeding to gradeschool children, who often don't like strong flavors yet. Admittedly, it's not what I generally want on MY sandwich, and if Europeans get this stuff imported and think it's the main kind of cheese we have in America, that would explain their low opinion of our cheeses.

      If you want to visit a place that doesn't have good cheeses, try Korea. I think cheese may actually be against the law or a violation of popular religious beliefs there, or something.

      --
      Cut that out, or I will ship you to Norilsk in a box.
  12. Cheese by Ossifer · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Cheese is made from milk.

  13. aka by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Hey! See that thing over there with the legs? Let's make stuff from the stuff that comes out of it.

    1. Re:aka by anagama · · Score: 1

      Its thinking like that enabled your forebears to survive and produce you. As for you, what will you do now that Twinkies are gone?

      --
      What changed under Obama? Nothing Good
    2. Re:aka by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hey! See that thing over there with the legs? Let's hack it up and eat certain parts of it.
      Hey! Se that thing over there? Let's dry it out, grind up the seeds, heat it, and make stuff out of that.
      Hey! See that thing over there? Let's take the seeds, add water, add yeast, and drink it!

      They didn't have the convenience of buying Twinkies you fat fuck.

    3. Re:aka by Holladon · · Score: 2

      Hey! See that thing over there with the legs? Let's make stuff from the stuff that comes out of it.

      This is technically descriptive of the male contribution to sexual reproduction.

    4. Re:aka by geekoid · · Score: 1

      You are aware most things under that list you link to are incorrect, or not logical comparisons, right?

      Of course you don't. thinking about them would go against your hate.

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
    5. Re:aka by X0563511 · · Score: 1

      It's also kind of disturbing when you consider nursing.

      Human cheese? That sounds wrong.

      --
      For large sets, this will be our guide even unto death, for the LORD will work for each type of data it is applied to...
  14. In Soviet Russia... by dryriver · · Score: 1

    ...cheese has been eating humans since 1917!!!

    --
    Why did the chicken cross the road? Because Elon Musk put an AI chip in its head.
    1. Re:In Soviet Russia... by freaker_TuC · · Score: 1

      ...cheese has been eating humans since 1917!!!

      In the rest of the world .. they call these Fungus ..

      --
      --- I am known for the ones who want to find me on the net. Is that a privacy risk or a privilege? One might wonder..
  15. Hovmästarsås by KiloByte · · Score: 2

    Try to put a sauce named "hovmästarsås" on your cheese. So good it becomes hard to eat cheese without it. Those ignorant Swedes waste it entirely on salmon (hence its second name, "gravlaxsås") which is a profanation. Can be often bought in IKEAs, or made on your own.

    --
    The creatures outside looked from Alt-Right to Antifa; but already it was impossible to say which was which.
    1. Re:Hovmästarsås by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      250 ml vegatable oil
      6ml white wine vinegar
      10g white sugar
      50g Dijon mustard
      Pinch of salt
      Chopped dill

      -- iggymanz

    2. Re:Hovmästarsås by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I already find it hard to eat cheese without it. And with it. Cheese is fucking nasty.

    3. Re:Hovmästarsås by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Try to put a sauce named "hovmästarsås" on your cheese. So good it becomes hard to eat cheese without it. Those ignorant Swedes waste it entirely on salmon (hence its second name, "gravlaxsås") which is a profanation. Can be often bought in IKEAs, or made on your own.

      How difficult is the assembly?

  16. Evidence for eating? by maxwell+demon · · Score: 1

    OK, so they have evidence of humans making cheese back then. But where is the evidence that they were eating that cheese? :-)

    --
    The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
    1. Re:Evidence for eating? by Holladon · · Score: 1

      OK, so they have evidence of humans making cheese back then. But where is the evidence that they were eating that cheese? :-)

      1. They were alive, capable of eating, and in possession of taste buds.

      2. THEREFORE THEY ATE THE CHEESE.

      Boom, easiest proof ever.

    2. Re:Evidence for eating? by maxwell+demon · · Score: 1

      Sorry, but we don't know what the ancient cheese tasted like. So being in possession of taste buds may have been a reason to not eat that cheese ...

      --
      The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
  17. Cheese is spoiled milk by mspohr · · Score: 1

    Cheese is just spoiled milk just like wine is spoiled grapes and beer is spoiled grain.
    This has been going on as long as these things have existed.
    Hungry people will try to eat anything even if it has spoiled. Fortunately, sometimes when things spoil, they get better (but don't try this with meat).

    --
    I don't read your sig. Why are you reading mine?
    1. Re:Cheese is spoiled milk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      Fermentation is not the same thing as spoiling.

    2. Re:Cheese is spoiled milk by demonlapin · · Score: 2

      You've never heard of aged beef?

    3. Re:Cheese is spoiled milk by mspohr · · Score: 1

      I've heard of it but I don't think it's "spoiled"... i.e. it's not infected with bacteria or yeast.
      Good old Wikipedia gives an answer:
      "The process changes beef by two means. Firstly, moisture is evaporated from the muscle. This creates a greater concentration of beef flavour and taste. Secondly, the beef’s natural enzymes break down the connective tissue in the muscle, which leads to more tender beef."

      --
      I don't read your sig. Why are you reading mine?
    4. Re:Cheese is spoiled milk by geekoid · · Score: 1

      No, it isn't spoiled milk.. or spoiled grain.

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
    5. Re:Cheese is spoiled milk by geekoid · · Score: 1

      ". it's not infected with bacteria or yeast."
      wha? that's not what spoiled means.

      Spoiled: To become unfit for use or consumption,

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
    6. Re:Cheese is spoiled milk by Holladon · · Score: 1

      No, but spoiling is probably how they learned about fermentation.

    7. Re:Cheese is spoiled milk by operagost · · Score: 1

      Chefs know the difference between something that is spoiled and something that is aged or curdled. Cheese is the latter.

      Really old recipes that predate the general availability of pasteurization sometimes specify curdled milk. Pasteurized mild doesn't usually curdle-- it SPOILS first-- so to push it along you have to increase the acidity with some lemon juice. So saith the great one, Fannie Farmer.

      --

      Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.
    8. Re:Cheese is spoiled milk by OneAhead · · Score: 1

      (but don't try this with meat).

      Too late.
      And the process is very safe - so safe in fact that at least one company in the Country of Germophobia has FDA approval for doing it.

    9. Re:Cheese is spoiled milk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Fermentation is not the same thing as spoiling.

      It's a matter of perspective. We call it "spoiled" when the result is undesirable but "fermented" when it is desirable. The terms don't say much about what the chemical processes were.

    10. Re:Cheese is spoiled milk by mspohr · · Score: 1

      Sounds disgusting .

      --
      I don't read your sig. Why are you reading mine?
    11. Re:Cheese is spoiled milk by OneAhead · · Score: 1

      Yummy actually. If you've never eaten a real salami (ie. one that has been subjected to controlled fermentation), then you simply don't know what salami is supposed to taste like.

  18. But the Earth is only 6000 years old by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Something smells fishy

    1. Re:But the Earth is only 6000 years old by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Something smells fishy

      must be the cheese

  19. Re:Yes, because cheese is.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This may come as a shock to you, but some of us find our history interesting and want to learn something other than the difference between the GPL 2.0 and GPL 3.0 or how much skin some "genius" chews off his foot in public places. This is interesting because it represented a huge leap forward for humans. It meant a greater variety of food sources were available which makes eating a much more stable proposition. It also meant that people could start making longer term plans.

    When those sorts of things happen the result is time to pursue things like "knowledge" and a greater understanding of the world around us. The reason that dweebs like us are free to enrich ourselves (i.e. browse pr0n on the web) is because it takes fewer people to produce the food that we eat. Obtaining sustenance is kinda high up on the list of priorities and is something everybody either does or thinks about multiple times per day.

    So yeah, this is kind of big news. This is a case where the information is in the main stream media because it is interesting for us as well as for the normals. Rather than complain that other people are interested in nerdy shit we should be happy that other people still have enough of a sense of curiosity to learn about this instead of simply trying to reach for the remote why spilling their cheetos all over themselves as they try to turn to the cartoon channel to get away from intesmegmalectual crap like this.

    Oh yeah, and next time you see something that is not interesting to you, you might want to try not complaining about it rather than trying to belittle anyone around you who might find it interesting. You know, kinda like the assholes who are always scoffing at your interest in the latest developments in the Python code base and how it impacts the postgrsql connector class.

  20. Mod Parent Up by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    +1 Insightful.

  21. That explains why... by kc67 · · Score: 1

    my first word as a baby was cheese.

    1. Re:That explains why... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      no. that means you're a packers fan.. even if you bleed vikings purple you're still genetically a packers fan.

  22. Archealogical Evidence by Sigvatr · · Score: 1

    Further credence has been given to the theory after a seven thousand year old can of Cheez Whiz was discovered at an archaeological dig in present day Chicago.

  23. Give me a break... by reve_etrange · · Score: 1

    It was the first time that researchers had discovered that the ancient civilization used bowls for specific purposes.

    Honestly, I'm at a loss for words.

    --
    .: Semper Absurda :.
    1. Re:Give me a break... by geekoid · · Score: 1

      Why? It's a specific type of bowl that has a single purpose. Unless you have evidence of an older one?

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
    2. Re:Give me a break... by reve_etrange · · Score: 1

      TFA makes it sound like they were surprised to find that individual bowls were ever used for a specific item. In other words, that the ancient people were capable of using multiple bowls to prevent their ingredients from mixing...

      --
      .: Semper Absurda :.
  24. No, by Andy+Prough · · Score: 2, Funny

    it gave the guy that walked behind him nightmares.

    1. Re:No, by mjwx · · Score: 1

      it gave the guy that walked behind him nightmares.

      So you gave him cheese.

      That was nice of you.

      --
      Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
    2. Re:No, by Genda · · Score: 1

      So you're saying man's been eating cheese for 7,500 years and subsequently cutting it ever since.

  25. Yes there is Chinese cheese. by Andy+Prough · · Score: 2

    There are many different minority groups in China. Groups such as the Mongols have made cheese for thousands of years. The majority Han population make and use cheese, but it seems to be more of an imported idea from other cultures.

    1. Re:Yes there is Chinese cheese. by geekoid · · Score: 2

      No, there is very little cheese. Not a lot of Diary in the history of China, that's why 95% are lactose intolerant.

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
    2. Re:Yes there is Chinese cheese. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Mongols aren't really Chinese, are they? That's why people call them Mongols. Although obviously these labels are very fuzzy and context dependent.

      The Chinese analog to Western cheese is stinky tofu. It's culinary niche is similar---providing pungent, "milky", earthy flavors---though obviously not a substitute. Most importantly, stinky tofu doesn't linger in the mouth the way cheese does; it's "milky" the way soy milk is milky.

    3. Re:Yes there is Chinese cheese. by Andy+Prough · · Score: 1

      They lived in China and were ruled by (or ruled) Chinese for many many years. And there are other minority groups that have been living in the mountainous regions and herding milk-producing mammals.

    4. Re:Yes there is Chinese cheese. by NFN_NLN · · Score: 1

      No, there is very little cheese. Not a lot of Diary in the history of China, that's why 95% are lactose intolerant.

      From the article:

      "In addition, because most humans could not tolerate lactose well, cheese was more easily digestible than milk. Cheese would have been the perfect way to receive the nutritional benefits of milk without much of the lactose intolerance."

      Read more at http://www.medicaldaily.com/articles/13493/20121213/humans-eating-cheese-7500-years.htm#GEzfA3bkMaVooLME.99

    5. Re:Yes there is Chinese cheese. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      that may not be true. my wife is chinese and when she and her relatives first came here butter made her ill. now she and they can eat butter, milk, cheese, etc. Their bodies just had to learn how to digest diary, and I'm wondering if the oft repeated bit about "lactose intolerant asians" isn't really true, that most could have their bodies adapt to digest it. --iggymanz

  26. To eat cheese is to be human. by goodmanj · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Making and eating cheese, beer, and bread define what it is to be fully human. Any dirty ape can go club a mammoth and bring it back to its den, but to domesticate two different kinds of creatures (a mammal and a bacterium, or a grass and a yeast) and use one to rot the other and come out with something even tastier than the original? That requires massive intelligence, communication, tool use, planning, and social structure.

    (PS: if any modern cultures exist that don't eat cheese, beer, or bread, I don't mean to imply that they're not fully human. Their current environment might not have the resources to do these things, but you can bet their ancestors knew how.)

    1. Re:To eat cheese is to be human. by geekoid · · Score: 0

      SO humans before those were invented where human?

      Lactose persistence is a recent evolutionary development. So most people eating this cheese had a bad reaction to it... unless it was invented as a type of baby food? hmmm.

      Another note, the vast majority of adult human being can not digest cheese, or diary.

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
    2. Re:To eat cheese is to be human. by Holladon · · Score: 3, Insightful

      (PS: if any modern cultures exist that don't eat cheese, beer, or bread, I don't mean to imply that they're not fully human.

      Maybe not, but with no cheese, no bread, and no beer, WHAT IS THE DAMN POINT.

    3. Re:To eat cheese is to be human. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yup, even now most humans are not lactose tolerant -- it is mainly a peculiarity of people of European descent.

      Interestingly, European domestic cats are also usually lactose tolerant, whereas other types of domestic usually are not.

    4. Re:To eat cheese is to be human. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Beer and Bread? I have celiacs your insensitive clod!

    5. Re:To eat cheese is to be human. by AK+Marc · · Score: 3, Informative

      All the lactose intolerant people I know can eat hard cheeses because the levels or lacose are reduced by the fermentation process. This doesn't apply to softer cheeses (especially mozzarella), so pizza is out, but swiss on a subway sandwich is fine..

    6. Re:To eat cheese is to be human. by Too+Much+Noise · · Score: 4, Informative

      Lactose intolerant people can digest cheese just fine (for the most part). Milk lactose is largely drained with the liquid in the process of curdling, so cheese has little lactose left. That's likely why people used cheese before having developed lactose tolerance - because they discovered it was safe to digest.

    7. Re:To eat cheese is to be human. by Alomex · · Score: 1

      beer

      I agree with the other two, but when it comes to beer more civilized societies skipped the rotten grains part and went straight to "tea" (boiling water) when trying to obtain a cleaner source of drinking water.

    8. Re:To eat cheese is to be human. by Cruciform · · Score: 1

      I got shafted on that. I'm intolerant to most fats as well. So cheese, yogurt, anything cooked with vegetable oils...
      Odd thing is I can have bacon and lard, but hamburger fat is like poison to me.

    9. Re:To eat cheese is to be human. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      add tea and wine and you have a what it takes to be a civilzed human

    10. Re:To eat cheese is to be human. by goodmanj · · Score: 1

      Sake, sato, and choujiu... those cultures didn't exactly skip the rotten grains. And clean water is only part of the point of booze: the other goal is to put some calories from perishable foods into long-term storage, which tea doesn't really do.

    11. Re:To eat cheese is to be human. by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      That's likely why people used cheese before having developed lactose tolerance - because they discovered it was safe to digest.

      I suspect you're half right. They discovered it was safe to eat. The same is probably responsible for the discovery of all foods which improve with age but look like ass (or at least very different) when they do.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    12. Re:To eat cheese is to be human. by Jason+Levine · · Score: 1

      Interesting. When my oldest son was very young, he was allergic to milk. If we fed him it, he'd break out in a rash and eventually began having breathing problems. He could eat cheese, yogurt, etc all day with no problems, however. I wonder if he had a lactose allergy at the time. (We stopped giving him milk for a few months and the allergy went away on its own.)

      --
      My sci-fi novel, Ghost Thief, is now available from Amazon.com.
    13. Re:To eat cheese is to be human. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Don't forget the Bacon.

  27. You blaspheme! by Andy+Prough · · Score: 1

    Everyone knows that the Earth is exactly 6016 years old: "Most conservative groups within Christianity still follow the estimate of Dr. John Lightfoot, a 17th century Anglican clergyman. He estimated that creation occurred during 4004 BCE. Bishop James Ussher in the 17th century made the same estimate a decade later, and ended up with almost all the credit." http://www.religioustolerance.org/ev_date.htm

    1. Re:You blaspheme! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So, we've been eating cheese since the Creation, right?

  28. Re:Yes, because cheese is.. by N0Man74 · · Score: 2

    I remember seeing a scientific magazine discussing the history and chemistry of bread and beer, and how it was unclear which came first in history or whether or not one helped lead to the other.

    That article was 20 years ago, and it is probably only one of 3 articles I can even remember specifically from the history of that magazine.

    The interests of "nerds" are varied, and honestly I think you are an idiot and don't really understand "nerd" culture (no pun intended) if you are so narrow-minded that you think that the history of cheese isn't something that would not be interesting to a significant number of nerds.

  29. We've eaten cheese a lot longer than that by puppetman · · Score: 2

    The stomach of a young mammal naturally turns milk into curds and when. It solidifies the milk so that it digests more slowly, and the young mammal gets more out of it. Our ancestors turned breast milk into a primitive cheese, in their stomachs.

    When a baby spits up milk, think about what it looks like - it's curds. Our ability to make curds from milk disappears about the same time our so-called milk-teeth start falling out.

    As a result, to make cheese, you need the stomach lining of a young mammal to turn your milk to curds. Old mammals have lost the ability.

    1. Re:We've eaten cheese a lot longer than that by geekoid · · Score: 0

      No, it is not primitive cheese. where do you people get this stuff? oh right, out your ass.

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
    2. Re:We've eaten cheese a lot longer than that by Holladon · · Score: 1

      Sounds like a clever way to put that stillborn baby carcass to good use! Must've been one of Martha Stewart's ancestors who came up with it.

    3. Re:We've eaten cheese a lot longer than that by idontgno · · Score: 1

      Rennet. It's a good thing.

      --
      Welcome to the Panopticon. Used to be a prison, now it's your home.
    4. Re:We've eaten cheese a lot longer than that by puppetman · · Score: 1

      I make cheese, including paneer, which is just pressed cheese curds. In fact, several types of cheeses are made from simple curds, including cottage cheese and quark.

      The only ass in this thread is you.

    5. Re:We've eaten cheese a lot longer than that by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      No, it is not primitive cheese. where do you people get this stuff? oh right, out your ass.

      I see what you did there. Nice job.

      For those who don't, ponder this story... Beard Beer

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  30. Is that... by theonesandtwos · · Score: 1

    more or less than the amount of time people have been drinking Kool-aid? Does it depend on which calendar you choose to use?

  31. WooHoo Chees!! by Nov8tr · · Score: 1

    Well of course they have been eating cheese for 7,500 years. Cheese is awesome. Love the stuff. I literally eat it everyday, always have. Havarti, colby, jack, cheddar, so many kinds of cheese. And they all taste different. Have different textures. Some kinds of cheese keep for years. The Roman army lived off hard cheese and a kind of hard biscuit. Many armies did. Cheese has been the back bone of many races. To the inventors of cheese. I SALUTE YOU!! Thank you!

    --
    I'm old, not dead. Well that's my 2 cents worth, your mileage may vary. I say what I think, not what you want to hear.
  32. Re:Cheese by mcgrew · · Score: 0

    Wow, we sure have some ignorant moderators. Who doesn't know that cheese is made from milk? And since someone earlier made a joke about milking a cow, it's both overrated AND redundant.

    Please, slashdot, bring back the old style metamoderation, at least two moderators are so uninformed that they think "cheese is made of milk" is insightful.

    BTW, I'm offtopic. Waste your mod points on me.

  33. nope by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    apple now has a patent on that , rounded edges right
    well a circle is definatly rounded...PWNED

  34. good news for christians... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    strange , some time ago a christian told me that god had creat the world ~4000 years ago... I love science ]=D

  35. Re:Cheese by multicoregeneral · · Score: 1

    Well, you know... you can make cheese with any number of things that don't involve milk, or even dairy products at all, for that matter. Figure that's worth some mod points? I do. And might I add that anyone who mods this up is both brilliant and good looking?

    --
    This signature intentionally left blank.
  36. A Good Read by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales
    http://www.amazon.com/Stinky-Cheese-Other-Fairly-Stupid/dp/067084487X/

  37. Re:Cheese by TheSkepticalOptimist · · Score: 1

    Wow, an after all these years basic humor still escapes some readers.

    There is SERIOUS need for a "Woosh" moderation.

    --
    I haven't thought of anything clever to put here, but then again most of you haven't either.
  38. Re:Obvious geek question, answered by WebManWalking · · Score: 5, Interesting

    It was prophesied somewhere in the first 6 books of the Aeneid that Aeneas and his men would someday be so hungry, they would eat their plates.

    Somewhere in the second 6 books, there came a time, after a battle or something, when they had broken all their dinnerware. Someone had the idea to flatten out some dough, put the food on top of it and cook them all together, baking the bread and cooking the food at the same time. While they were eating, Aeneas' son Iulus said hey look everybody, we're eating our plates! Most thought it was just a joke and laughed, but the elders didn't laugh. They were amazed and recognized it as the fulfillment of prophesy made before Iulus was born.

    So when you're in Italy and you hear of some restaurant claiming to have invented pizza in medieval times, be sure to ask them, really? How was it that Virgil was able to discuss something that your restaurant hadn't invented yet? Or something similarly snarky.

  39. Followed closely by.... by erp_consultant · · Score: 1, Funny

    The earliest known case of lactose intolerance. Cause and effect.

  40. Re:Cheese by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    What? Don't tell me milk comes from cow...

  41. What a bunch of cheeseheads! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What I need to know is: what type are they, why they're so holy and what makes them smell so wretched? I mean, cheesus christ!

  42. Birthplace of Cheese by tehlinux · · Score: 1

    I honestly have never been more proud of my Polish ancestry than I am now!

    --
    Most linux users don't know this, but the man pages were named after Chuck Norris. Chuck Norris fsck'ing hates noobs!
  43. Rather quickly by Kergan · · Score: 2

    Pretty much every culture has its version of the pancake, and has had it or variations of it for millennia. Pancakes in its various iterations is one of the oldest recipes out there (sorry I couldn't find the reference off two minutes of googling, but it's basically contemporary with agriculture itself if memory serves). Thus, you can be pretty sure someone tried pancakes with cheese in an oh-so-unmodern way. It's not exactly pizza, but it's pretty close.

  44. Calm Down Folks by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Remember, blessed are the cheese makers for they shall inherit the earth (which they apparently did)

  45. Cheese by Alioth · · Score: 1

    So the next time someone complains when I cannon rush them in Stacraft 2, I can tell them not to be so mad, cheesing has been going on for 7500 years already...

  46. Re:Cheese by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Who doesn't know that cheese is made from milk?

    Americans?

    *Ducks*

    Seriously, what do you expect in a country that considers pizza to be a vegetable?

  47. Re:Cheese by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Cheese is made from nasty genitals.

  48. Re:Cheese by Antipater · · Score: 1

    Cheese is made from milk.

    Possibly. I hear that Kraft cheese is made from a liquid that is almost, but not quite, entirely unlike milk.

    --
    Everything is better with chainsaws.
  49. Re:Cheese by AK+Marc · · Score: 1

    I thought the fist cheese was not cow-made.

  50. Re:Cheese by idontgno · · Score: 2

    The phrase "fist cheese" is completely nonsensical by any literal reading, and yet evokes such images of horror and disgust that I am searching around right now for my mind bleach.

    Thank you. Thank you very much.

    --
    Welcome to the Panopticon. Used to be a prison, now it's your home.
  51. No Monty Python reference yet? by pbjones · · Score: 1

    Sorry but this would not be /. without a Monty Python Cheese reference. So do you actually have any Cheese, Cleese?

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheese_Shop_sketch

    --
    There was an unknown error in the submission.
    1. Re:No Monty Python reference yet? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There was a Life of Brian quote at least two and a half hours before your comment.

    2. Re:No Monty Python reference yet? by oldmac31310 · · Score: 1

      John Cleese's actual family name was originally Cheese. His father changed it.

      --
      http://www.acetonestudio.com
  52. Ugh... Medical Daily again by Crimey+McBiggles · · Score: 1

    Dear Medical Daily: Please stop playing two videos at once immediately when I visit articles on your website. Dear Slashdot: Please stop posting articles from Medical Daily until they've worked out this issue. Seriously. It's annoying.

    --
    Crimey
  53. I suggest by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    cheese was one of the earlier uses of milk - rotten in a specific way. I wouldn't be surprised if cheese was the even the first use of milk other than breast-feeding your own child. Just hunt down a calf and open it's craw.

  54. One caveat by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    For the first few thousand years, they didn't know it.

  55. Not in China by fufufang · · Score: 2

    You don't actually see any cheese in China, unless you go to posh restaurant which provides foreign food.

  56. Re:Yes, because cheese is.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Not only a greater variety food but cheese has a number of qualities that make it useful and as you said a leap forward. It keeps well, it's high energy food for its volume and weight*, it's a way to preserve excess milk for later and it tastes good. Pretty valuable stuff I'd say.

    * Which makes it good take along food for traveling.
    ACtpm

  57. Re:Cheese by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Well, to be strictly precise milk comes from any mammal. It's kinda part of the definition.

  58. naturally by DSS11Q13 · · Score: 1

    and man pondered shortly thereafter, "I can has cheezburger?"

  59. What I want to know is... by Jane+Q.+Public · · Score: 0

    ... who was the first to discover it?

    "Hey Ogg!!! This milk is kind of... old. And hard. And it's got some kind of mold on it. Let's eat it."

    For that matter, how many erstwhile cow milkers got their heads kicked in until someone finally got t right?

  60. Larry King by uvajed_ekil · · Score: 1

    If you want details on the cheese available back then, why not just ask Larry King?

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    This is a hacked account, for which the owner can not be held responsible.
  61. Re:Obvious geek question, answered by noobermin · · Score: 1

    Damn slashdot, cool facts in almost every thread.

    Except the political ones, of course.

  62. Human cheese? That sounds wrong. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Not nearly as wrong as breast milk ice cream ewww

  63. Re:Obvious geek question, answered by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It was prophesied somewhere in the first 6 books of the Aeneid that Aeneas and his men would someday be so hungry, they would eat their plates.

    Shows what you know! Everyone knows that Ada Lovelace invented pizza and coke when she became the first programmer.

  64. What about dick cheese? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I'm sure people have been eating that for a lot longer.

  65. What I'd like to know is by n6kuy · · Score: 1

    ... who was the first guy to think to himself, "I wonder if I can make something tasty by mixing an animal's milk with its stomach secretions and maintain it a a particular temperature for a while?"

    --
    If you disagree with me on social issues, then it's pretty clear that you are a narrow-minded bigot.
    1. Re:What I'd like to know is by Jason+Levine · · Score: 1

      It probably wasn't that set a process at first. They might have used the stomach as a food storage pouch and kept some milk in there. It "went bad", but the person decided to consume it anyway. That's when they ate the first "proto-cheese." Over time, they refined how to turn milk into cheese, but the first cheese was likely an accident.

      --
      My sci-fi novel, Ghost Thief, is now available from Amazon.com.
  66. Re:Cheese by rishistar · · Score: 3, Funny

    Cheese is made from milk.

    Unless it's Edam, which is made backwards....

    .

    --
    Professor Karmadillo Songs of Science
  67. Re:Yes, because cheese is.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I remember seeing a scientific magazine discussing the history and chemistry of bread and beer, and how it was unclear which came first in history or whether or not one helped lead to the other.

    That article was 20 years ago, and it is probably only one of 3 articles I can even remember specifically from the history of that magazine.

    "New Scientist", Christmas Double issue, I think...

  68. Future digital archeologist has bad day.... by rts008 · · Score: 3

    I'm more enamored with the imagined scenario when they encounter goatse, inadvertently rickroll themselves, then, stumbling away in terror, falling into the pits of 4chan, crawling out of that, only to fall of the cliff into youtube comments.

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  69. Re:Cheese by rts008 · · Score: 1

    Duh!
    Just turn it the other way, and won't be backwards!

    --
    Down With Slashdot BETA!!! I've been around the corner and seen the oliphant; you can only abuse me from your perspecti
  70. Re:Cheese by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

    So the next time someone complains when I cannon rush them in Stacraft 2, I can tell them not to be so mad, cheesing has been going on for 7500 years already...

    Kids call it cheesing 'cause it's fon to due

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  71. Re:Cheese by mcgrew · · Score: 1

    "Cheese" not made from milk is only cheese if you consider margarine to be butter. Wikipedia: "Cheese is a generic term for a diverse group of milk-based food products." The dictionary:a food consisting of the coagulated, compressed, and usually ripened curd of milk separated from the whey.

    If it isn't made from milk, it isn't cheese.

  72. Re:Cheese by mcgrew · · Score: 1

    Wow, an after all these years basic humor still escapes some readers

    Yeah, well, I didn't think "Dumb and dumber" was funny, either. The GP comment was the same sort of "humor". And notice the moderation on it: 40% Insightful, 30% Overrated, 10% Redundant. Not a single "funny" mod.

  73. Re:Cheese by mcgrew · · Score: 1

    It doesn't have to be cow's milk, you can make cheese from any mammal's milk.

  74. 7,500 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Well, that gives us two things. First, we now know the date when humans first roamed Wisconsin and we also know how far back lactose intolerance dates.

  75. That raises the Question? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    How long have they been cutting the cheese?

  76. Please read... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Why We Get Fat: And What To Do About It
    and
    The Primal Blueprint

    I can tell you this - I loved a great beer... really loved it. I would have a beer every day usually. I stopped drinking them, and it's been 3 weeks now. And I feel fantastic. I may enjoy them again some day, but if not I will be OK with that.

  77. Re:Obvious geek question, answered by Sockatume · · Score: 1

    That would depend on how you define "pizza". Topped flatbreads as known to the Greeks are arguably too generic, the modern tomato-topped pie certainly too specific.

    --
    No kidding!!! What do you say at this point?