10 Cheese Facts We Bet You Never Knew!

Happy International Cheese Day!

Here’s some interesting facts:

Europe celebrates this occasion today! Since 2001, retailers open up their shops for tastings and lunches. Apart from the feasting fun, countries take this day to highlight their local cheese traditions such as raw and artisan milk cheeses
While no one knows the origins of cheese, it was said to be discovered as early as 4000 – 5000BC! Early dairy farmers stored milk in animal stomach pouches, where natural enzymes caused it to curdle and thus forming cheese
There are over 1,800 types of cheese worldwide and they are categorised by: texture (soft, semi-soft, hard), aging process, milk type (cow, goat, sheep, buffalo) & production methods
Some famous cheese fusion dishes around the world include: Cheese Naan (India), Queso Fundido (Mexico), Cheese Ramyeon (Korea), Rubing (China) and Cheese Tonkatsu (Japan)
If you’re a blue cheese lover, visit the limestone cheese caves of Roquefort-sur-Soulzon in France, which is famous for its blue cheese. Aged for three to five months, its flavour fuses a naturally sweet, burnt caramel taste from sheep’s milk, together with the sharp, tangy taste of blue mould.
Pule, also known as magareći sir, is the world’s most expensive cheese. This Serbian cheese is priced at USD1,300/kg (approx SGD1,744.27)
Chhurpi is the hardest cheese in the world and can be eaten for up to 20 years! Fermented from yak milk, it is consumed in Tibet, Nepal, and Bhutan as a snack, or dissolved in soups
Casu Marzu, a type of sheep’s milk cheese, is known to be the most dangerous cheese in the world. This Sardinian cheese is banned in some countries because of health concerns regarding its fermentation process, which uses ‘live’ maggots!
In the 14th century, ossau-iraty, a type of sheep’s milk cheese, was used as a trading currency in Europe
The average French polishes off at least 20kg of cheese per year!