List of cheeses invented over 300 years ago

[Maciamo]

I recently finished reading Alberto Angela's I tre giorni di Pompei (The [last] three days of Pompeii), in which he mentions that mozzarella didn't exist at the time, but was invented in the 5th century, at the end of the Roman empire. Wikipedia disagrees and says that the earliest buffalo milk cheese in southern Italy dates from the 12th century and that the name Mozzarella doesn't appear until the 16th century. That made me wonder how old various types of European cheese actually were. So here is what I found.


[TABLE="class: outer_border, width: 700"]
[TR]
[TD]Cheese name[/TD]
[TD]Region, country[/TD]
[TD]When was it invented?[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Ricotta[/TD]
[TD]Italy[/TD]
[TD]Bronze Age (2nd millennium BCE)[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Salers[/TD]
[TD]Auvergne, France[/TD]
[TD]Possibly as early as 2000 years ago[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Pecorino Romano[/TD]
[TD]Lazio, Italy[/TD]
[TD]Possibly from the 1st century CE[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Sbrinz[/TD]
[TD]Switzerland[/TD]
[TD]70 CE according to their website[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Banon[/TD]
[TD]Provence, France[/TD]
[TD]At least since 2nd century CE[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Mozzarella[/TD]
[TD]South Italy[/TD]
[TD]5th or 12th century[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Chabichou[/TD]
[TD]Poitou, France[/TD]
[TD]732[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Brie De Meaux[/TD]
[TD]Île-de-France[/TD]
[TD]774[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Pecorino sardo[/TD]
[TD]Sardinia, Italy[/TD]
[TD]Late 8th century[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Gorgonzola[/TD]
[TD]Lombardy, Italy[/TD]
[TD]879[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Munster[/TD]
[TD]Alsace & Lorraine, France[/TD]
[TD]9th century[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Maroilles[/TD]
[TD]Picardy, France[/TD]
[TD]962[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Feta[/TD]
[TD]Greece[/TD]
[TD]At least since the 11th century[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Gouda[/TD]
[TD]Holland, Netherlands[/TD]
[TD]First recorded in 1184[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Cheddar[/TD]
[TD]Somerset, England[/TD]
[TD]12th century[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Pont-l'Évêque[/TD]
[TD]Normandy, France[/TD]
[TD]12th century[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Parmigiano-Reggiano[/TD]
[TD]Emilia, Italy[/TD]
[TD]First recorded in 1254[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Emmental [/TD]
[TD]Switzerland[/TD]
[TD]First recorded in 1293[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Cantal[/TD]
[TD]Auvergne, France[/TD]
[TD]First recorded in 1298[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Appenzeller[/TD]
[TD]Switzerland[/TD]
[TD]13th century[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Edam[/TD]
[TD]Holland, Netherlands[/TD]
[TD]14th century[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Herve[/TD]
[TD]Liège, Belgium[/TD]
[TD]15th century[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Rocamadour[/TD]
[TD]Occitanie, France[/TD]
[TD]15th century[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Époisses[/TD]
[TD]Burgundy, France[/TD]
[TD]16th century[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Reblochon[/TD]
[TD]Savoy, France[/TD]
[TD]16th century[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Cancoillotte[/TD]
[TD]Franche-Comté, Lorraine[/TD]
[TD]16th century[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Gruyère[/TD]
[TD]Switzerland[/TD]
[TD]First recorded in 1655[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Saint-nectaire[/TD]
[TD]Auvergne, France[/TD]
[TD]17th century[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Tomme vaudoise[/TD]
[TD]Switzerland[/TD]
[TD]17th century[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]

 

[Archetype0ne]

Very interesting Maciamo.

If I was to guess some kind of white cheese(akin to Feta but not limited to sheep/goat milk mixtures) has to be among the oldest, due to the nature and simplicity of production, no need for aging, and simple preservation in salt and water.

Did a little googling, and not sure about the reliability of source but here is an interesting list: https://www.oldest.org/food/cheese/

This video on cheese is also very informative, don't be fooled by the title, that cheese expert gives a lot of info on some of the most popular cheeses.

My personal favorites are hard cheeses Grana/Parmigiano, Alpine. And my absolute favorite Gorgonzola.

I suspect there have been much older cheeses than the ones on the list I provided in the link, but it was probably made by nomad herders in the steppes inside animal skins, hence no way to prove they even existed, the method of making/storing doesn't fare well the test of time.

 

[Oldfarmer]

Oscypki- Poland 12th 13th Century

 

[kureandealen]

I suspect there have been much older cheeses than the ones on the list I provided in the link, but it was probably made by nomad herders in the steppes inside animal skins, hence no way to prove they even existed, the method of making/storing doesn't fare well the test of time.

 

[Angela]

Parmigiano is the kind of Cheeses, imo, but I like many of them, even if most of them don't particularly like me if I eat too much of them: Grana Padana, fontina, bel paese, brie, camembert, munster, cheddar, gruyere, mozzarella, burrata, ricotta, mascarpone etc. I could go on and on.

I also like blue cheeses, but of them all I prefer Italian sweet gorgonzola. Just slathered on a slice of crusty, Italian bread and I'm in heaven. My mother also used to mix gorgonzola and ricotta, and stuff the mixture into celery stalks. Gorgonzola sauce is also wonderful on pasta.