Say ‘Cheese’
“Bread and cheese is medicine for the well” - a French proverb.
‘Cheese and bread make the cheeks red’, holds a German proverb. Cheese is a healthy food but during my early years, like most other Asian kids, I was not very familiar with it, at least not the way I am now. My mother sometimes served us home made cheese, prepared from the milk that had gone sour and that was all. The word cheese, however, echoed in our ears whenever we posed for a photograph. The person behind the lens would utter the words ‘say cheese’ and capture our ‘Mona Lisa’ smile in the black box. My other school days’ impression of the item was a reflection from the story books where the mice were shown biting on a large triangle of cheese.
Cheese became a house hold item in Pakistan with a large variety of imports from the European countries that flooded the supermarket shelves in great quantity. With the growing demand, local dairy industry also geared up its production with a myriad of varieties. Having lived abroad for nearly a decade I got familiar with different forms of cheese and developed a taste for the item but it was during my recent trip to the Netherlands that I got to know more about it. The trip to the famous Dutch cheese markets and a cheese factory in the north of the country was very informative.
While in the Netherlands, we were staying in Purmerend, a serene suburb of Amsterdam and it was from there that we planned a trip to Edam, a town the traditional Dutch cheese with the same name is produced in. A Pakistani Dutch host drove all the way from the south of Holland to take us further north to the famous Dutch cheese markets and the Zaanse Schans cheese factory. The day long trip started with a visit to a small cheese market near Purmerend, where we got a good idea about the production and marketing of cheese. Traditional ways of making the product were displayed there for educating the visitors through video shows as well as live action using the conventional equipment. A large variety of cheese was displayed for sale in the market shop and the sales woman offered us samples of the exhibits which were a real treat to the taste buds.
Cheese is considered to be a major agricultural produce of which Netherlands is the largest exporter. It is said that Dutch culture is entrenched in cheese. The Dutch are still maintaining the traditional cheese markets where the farmers bring their produce on horse drawn carts and canal boats and old methods of weighing, packing and preserving the the item are practiced there. Cheese is now produced in bulk in the state of the art modern factories but the Dutch are maintaining the time-honored methodology just to keep the traditions alive.
There are different versions about the origin of cheese but there is no conclusive evidence about its parentage, as it predates recorded history. According to some historians it was discovered when the sheep were first domesticated some 8000 years ago. Others attribute its origin to nomadic Turks of Central Asia who stored milk and other food stuff in containers made from the stomach of animals. But the widely accepted theory is that it was accidentally discovered by an Arab merchant who traveled across the desert, carrying a supply of milk in a pouch. The pouch lining, made of calf’s stomach containing natural rennet, plus the heat of the scorching mid day desert sun, caused the milk to sour, separating it into curd and whey. The Arab traveler drank the whey and ate the curd and the cheese was born. This happened some 4000 years ago. Some evidence supporting this theory was also found in the Egyptian tombs of 2000 BC.
Hundreds of types of this commodity are available in the supermarkets to cater to different tastes and needs. It can be categorized according to texture, flavor, content of fat and consistency. Source of milk, animal diet, methods of processing and length of aging also affect its final outcome. Aging or ripening period, for example, may take from a few days to several years. Nutrition wise cheese is essentially concentrated milk, its 30 gram serving providing nutrition equivalent to that supplied by 200 gram of milk. It is a rich source of calcium, proteins and phosphorus and the hard variety is also rich in vitamins A, B12, iodine and selenium. Low fat cheese is also in vogue these days and is preferred by the medics over the one high in saturated fat that can be injurious to heart.
Cheese is very useful for the bones and teeth. It helps prevent tooth decay, fortifies dental enamel, increases the flow of saliva washing away the acids and sugars and has an overall antibacterial effect in the mouth. According to British researchers it promotes good sleep though it may cause dreams that are specific to the type of cheese used.
Cheese is extremely popular and extensively used in Europe and Middle East. I remember my Turkish and Syrian colleagues bringing cheese and olives as a gift when they returned to work from their respective countries after the annual vacations. A French guest who stayed with us on her trip to Pakistan a year ago also brought cheese alongwith Swiss chocolates as a souvenir.
There are hundreds of varieties of cheese that are country specific. UK boasts of over 700 varieties while France and Italy have nearly 400 each. A French proverb holds ‘there is a different French cheese for every day of the year’. Charles de Gaulle once asked “how can you govern a country in which there are 246 varieties of cheese?”
Cheese, which was virtually unheard of in the orient in the olden days, came to live here with a bang with the spread of European culture in the shape of continental cuisine. The growing number of pizza outlets in the country is a testimony to the increase in its consumption by many folds. A number of local culinary delights also have cheese as an important ingredient in their recipes. The word ‘say cheese’ has proliferated beyond photo sessions and portrait studios and invaded the dining tables of the epicureans of western cuisine. Saying ‘cheese’ brings smiles to the faces, so does eating it.
Written by Dr. Shahid Qayyum
The author is a dental surgeon and can be reached at dsq006@gmail.com
