# What's the oldest type/style of cheese that we can buy today? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 31, 2015, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-type-style-of-cheese-that-we-can-buy-today/711470 "2015-01-31T22:53:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Deeg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/deeg/32/2955_2.png) [@Deeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deeg)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2015, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-type-style-of-cheese-that-we-can-buy-today/711470/1 "2015-01-31T22:53:23Z")
The Wiki article on cheddar cheese says that cheddar has been produced since at least the 12th century. The article on the history of cheese says it’s hard to know if the versions of today’s cheese match those of more ancient times. What’s the oldest style of cheese that we can buy today that would be, to the best of our knowledge, made in a similar fashion as the original? The candidate at the moment is cheddar. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2015, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-type-style-of-cheese-that-we-can-buy-today/711470/2 "2015-01-31T22:55:35Z")
I’m guessing Greek feta. ---
**Author:** ![Elemenopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b5e925/32.png) [@Elemenopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elemenopy)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2015, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-type-style-of-cheese-that-we-can-buy-today/711470/3 "2015-02-01T00:46:20Z")
I believe “cheddaring” was a novel process when it comes to cheese. The first two old cheeses off the top of my head are Roquefort and Fourme D’Ambert (yum!)both of which likely date back to the Roman Empire (Wiki). But my real guess is something like cottage cheese, which you can make without hardly trying. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2015, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-type-style-of-cheese-that-we-can-buy-today/711470/4 "2015-02-01T01:30:20Z")
Evidence of people making hard salted cheese dates back to 4000 BCE in the middle east. I would imagine some type of cheese like this has been produced in that regions since then. There are lots of cheeses like this in this list. > **[List of Syrian cheeses](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syrian_cheese)** > > This is a list of Syrian cheeses. There are numerous varieties of Syrian cheese found throughout the Levant including kenafa, surke, baladi, and tresse. > Some of the most common types of cheese from Syria are: > Ackawi (also Akawi and Akawieh) is a white cheese with a complex flavor. It is an Arab Palestinian cheese originating from the Palestinian town of Akka, today Acre, Israel (Akka in Arabic), commonly made using pasteurized cow's milk but can be made with goat or sheep's milk. It is produ... > **[History of cheese](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_cheese)** > > The production of cheese predates recorded history, beginning well over 7,000 years ago. Humans likely developed cheese and other dairy foods by accident, as a result of storing and transporting milk in bladders made of ruminants' stomachs, as their inherent supply of rennet would encourage curdling. There is no conclusive evidence indicating where cheese-making originated, possibly Europe, or Central Asia, the Middle East, or the Sahara. > No one knows when cheese was first made. The earliest dir... ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2015, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-type-style-of-cheese-that-we-can-buy-today/711470/5 "2015-02-02T03:59:13Z")
Wouldn’t it be a soft cheese? Like curds and whey? The folklore I know is that some dude rode across the desert carrying milk in a cow’s stomach, and the rennet turned it into a soft white cheese. So I’m thinking…cottage cheese…farmer’s cheese…pot cheese. I did no research for this. This is my actual brain speaking. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2015, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-type-style-of-cheese-that-we-can-buy-today/711470/6 "2015-02-02T04:45:28Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > Wouldn’t it be a soft cheese? Like curds and whey? > > The folklore I know is that some dude rode across the desert carrying milk in a cow’s stomach, and the rennet turned it into a soft white cheese. > > So I’m thinking…cottage cheese…farmer’s cheese…pot cheese. > > I did no research for this. This is my actual brain speaking. The Wikipedia cites above would say otherwise. And, if you disappear for another two years, we’ll be the poorer for it. ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2015, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-oldest-type-style-of-cheese-that-we-can-buy-today/711470/7 "2015-02-02T05:11:30Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > Wouldn’t it be a soft cheese? Like curds and whey? > > The folklore I know is that some dude rode across the desert carrying milk in a cow’s stomach, and the rennet turned it into a soft white cheese. > > So I’m thinking…cottage cheese…farmer’s cheese…pot cheese. > > I did no research for this. This is my actual brain speaking. > [@samclem](#): > > The Wikipedia cites above would say otherwise. > > And, if you disappear for another two years, we’ll be the poorer for it. Actually, I think Wiki supports that, although the cites are not clear: > [@](#): > > Since animal skins and inflated internal organs have provided storage vessels since ancient times for a range of foodstuffs, it is probable that the process of cheese making was discovered accidentally by storing milk in a container made from the stomach of a ruminant, resulting in the milk being turned to curd and whey by the rennet remaining in the stomach. > > The earliest cheeses were likely to have been quite sour and salty, similar in texture either to rustic cottage cheese or to present-day feta.