Rex Trulove
Do you like and eat cheese? Here are some trivia facts about cheese that might just astound you. It is very goulda to be astounded, right?
How long have people been making cheese? Let’s put it this way; the remnants of cheese have been found inside Egyptian tombs, placed there 2,000 years before the birth of Jesus. It is believed that the Chinese were making cheese 6,000 years earlier; 10,000 years ago.
Roughly one-third of all the milk produced in the United States is used to produce cheese.
By volume, every gallon of milk used to make cheese produces a tenth of a gallon of cheese. That isn’t very much; about a cup and a half or a third of a pound.
All cheese is made from milk, regardless of the kind of milk it is. The biggest difference between cheeses is in the processing methods and such things as aging. Thus, cheddar and Leicester cheese tastes quite similar, but because of differences in processing, cheddar is soft and great for slicing. Leicester is dry and crumbly, but well suited for cooking.
More cheese is made in the US than in any other country and the state that leads the nation in cheese making is Wisconsin, followed by California. Wisconsin produces over two and a half billion pounds of cheese per year. Greeks eat the most cheese in the world, though. They consume about 60 pounds of cheese per person per year. Americans consume about half as much cheese as the Greeks.
The most popular recipe in the US that uses cheese is Macaroni and Cheese.
As a marriage gift, British Queen Victoria was given a wheel of cheddar cheese that weighed in excess of half a ton. The normal size of a wheel of cheddar is about 70 pounds.
The term “big wheel” is applied to the very wealthy people because at the time the idiom came into being, only the very wealthy could afford to buy an entire or ‘big’ wheel of cheese.
According to the British Center of Retail Research, cheese is the most stolen food in the world. According to them, four pounds of cheese out of every 100 pounds that is sold, is stolen. Apparently, cheese is still in high demand today.
If you can’t help yourself when cheese is offered, it may not be your imagination. As cheese is digested, it produces an opiod. Cheese is actually addictive!
It is illegal to sell American Cheese as cheese in the US. It must legally be sold as a cheese product because it is so different than typical cheeses.
Be honest. Do you know any more about cheese now than you did before you started reading this? (I’m not trying to be cheesy with that question. )
Wow! I never knew so much about cheese until now. But I do love to eat cheese.
Thanks for sharing.
I love your post, even though it’s old. I am a cheese addict and I enjoy trying new types of cheese
We’ve tapered back quite a bit. We now go through about 4-5 pounds of cheese per month. At one point, we were eating about twice that much.
That is amazing, the most stolen food in the world. Learned a lot as always.
Yes, that is amazing. I’d think that if a person was going to steal food, it would be food with more substance. I guess that it just shows that a lot of people think highly of cheese.
Yes like steak or seafood.
Thanks for the informative article.
You are very welcome!
I’m on a diet that doesn’t allow me to eat cheese, but I have really craved it for the past couple of weeks. Then about three days ago I had to complete change my diet temporarily and cheese is one form of protein I can eat. I’ve been making the most of it. Now I know why I might have been craving it so much.
LOL…everything in moderation. Still, if I knew that I could only eat cheese temporarily, I’d probably also have a tendency to over-do it. We go through at least several pounds of cheese per month and I cook with it very often.
I used to cook with it all the time, too. Usually I eat high fiber and lots of fruits and veggies. I normally have to avoid gluten, dairy, pork, and refined flours. I eat tangerines like candy and have raw oatmeal with chopped apples, chopped prunes, fresh blueberries when in season, and chopped walnuts with a bit of goat’s milk for breakfast. Now I have to avoid nuts, seeds (even in tomatoes and cukes), anything with pulp or skin, whole grains, or much fiber. I get to eat the normally forbidden white potatoes, white bread, mac and cheese, and ham and cheese sandwiches. I put cheese on my scrambled egg this morning. But I couldn’t eat the tangerine I normally would eat with it. I think I miss nuts and dried fruit, which I snack on constantly, most.
You should be able to eat watermelon, lettuce, zucchinis, and chard. All of them are quite high in fiber. It isn’t too hard to remove the seed from cukes, though.
I’d have to peel everything. Doesn’t a lot of the nutrition in cucumbers come from the seeds?
Barbara, some of the nutrition in cucumbers is in the seeds, but not all of it. The flesh still has a lot of nutrition and flavor. The same is true of potatoes, incidentally. A large amount of the nutrition is in the potato skins.
And I do so have a tendency to nibble like a little mouse whenever I see a piece of cheese. Now this explains it. It’s addictive! Entertaining and informative piece 🙂
Now you know. Of course, this is one addition that tends to be healthy. Cheese is a good source of calcium.
Thank you for sharing these facts about cheese. No wonder Green Bay Packers fans are nicknamed “Cheese Heads”.
Wisconsin takes its cheese industry seriously. In fact, from 1935 to 1937, there was a law in Wisconsin that required all restaurants to serve Wisconsin cheese and Wisconsin milk with every meal.
Yep, Packers fans are known as Cheese Heads. :))
New Orleans Saints fans are known as the “Who Dat Nation.”
I had learned something today. Thanks for the informative article. c”,)
You are very welcome!
I am looking forward to reading more articles from you.
I truly appreciate that.
No problem, my dear friend. c”,)