10 Interesting Facts About Cheese

American scientists from the University of Michigan have concluded that cheese is a drug-like substance and can be addictive. Let's learn a little more about this ancient and beloved food. Then even an ordinary cheese sandwich will seem like something more.

1. To make a kilogram of cheese, you'll need about 10 liters of cow's or goat's milk. But it's not only made from milk: there are cheeses made from soy, peas, veal or pork liver, sour cream, and even sugar and ice.

2. Traces of cheese have been found in Egyptian pyramids dating back to the First Dynasty (3000–2800 BC). Homer mentions cheese production in The Odyssey. Cheese was an important trade commodity for the ancient Greeks and Romans.

3. The Dutch were the first to embrace commerce and began producing huge wheels of hard cheese in the 14th century. It remains an important product to this day.

4. Among some Caucasian peoples, cheese, which has a strong odor, is considered an aphrodisiac. Therefore, it is always present at weddings.

5. In the UK, an annual cheese rolling championship is held - the Gloucester Cheese Race.

6. Cheddar cheese has been colored with annatto seeds for over 200 years. Carrot juice and calendula petals are also used for coloring cheeses.

7. British Queen Victoria (1837-1901) was given a huge wheel of Cheddar cheese weighing just over 500 kg as a wedding gift.

8. According to legend, when the philosopher Zarathustra withdrew from the vanity of the world and settled in the desert, for more than 20 years his diet consisted almost entirely of cheese.

9. When cheese is cooked, the movement of bacteria creates gas. When the gas is released, the gas bubbles leave holes in the cheese. Experts call these "eyes."

10. It is said that it was soft Camembert cheese that inspired Salvador Dalí's famous painting, "Flowing Hours." One day, after tasting the cheese at dinner, the artist sat down in front of the unfinished painting, dimmed the lights, and began to contemplate the wonderful taste of Camembert. It was then that he had a wondrous vision of time flowing.