The history of Italian cheese is very interesting to discuss because mozzarella cheese has a lot of fans. The taste is very interesting which makes many people want to try this homemade mozzarella for pizza. They also want to find online mozzarella cheese training places in Jakarta and its surroundings.
Love it or hate it, cheese remains king of the Italian table. Many people eat it every day with bread, pasta or just cheese and no other accompaniments. Cheese can be eaten anytime, at a party or while on a diet. Cheese can be used to make anything and everything, from an appetizer to a dessert.
In this article, we will look at the medieval history of cheese in Italy. Cheese has a long and ancient history just like humans. Experts believe that prehistoric humans discovered how to produce it by chance and that way has not stopped since then. The Egyptians were very fond of goat cheese and mention of cheese is also found in the Bible. The Greeks and Romans loved it and produced it in large quantities.
History of Cheese in Italy
Italians really got serious about cheese back in the Middle ages when some of their most beloved cheeses were made, and it truly became a staple food. This is a story about monks, hermits and taxes. A story that began at the humblest Italian table, rose to royal popularity, and continues today. So what do we need to know about medieval cheeses and the history of cheese in Italy?
Medieval Italian Cheese
The story of Italian cheese, about the monks and their cows
Even the Italian word for cheese, formaggio, has medieval roots. Linguists point out that it became common in the 13th century and that it comes from the Old French “fromage,” which was borrowed from the late Latin “formaticum,” meaning formed. In those days, every rural household produced cheese. Sheep, goats and cows are a priceless legacy to farmers, who very rarely killed them for their meat, preferring to capitalize on their almost endless milk production. In fact, in the Middle Ages, milk was barely consumed, but almost entirely used to make cheese, which was a nutritious, cheap and easily available source of protein. Cheese is very popular in the north of Italy, but it is also popular in the south.
The famous Salerno medical school, the world’s most ancient medical school, has discussed the benefits of cheese and the dangers of consuming too much of it between meals. In the 12th and 13th centuries, it was recommended to eat cheese in small quantities. It’s hard to follow their lead, though, for hundreds of thousands of people who don’t have the money to put meat on their tables on a regular basis. Medieval scholar and food historian Massimo Montanari, quoted in a very interesting article from the Italian history monthly Focus Storia, emphasizes how cheese is mentioned so frequently in medieval documents, attesting to how common the food was and how tied it is to the country’s socio-cultural structure. already in those centuries. What else do we need to know about the history of cheese in Italy during the Middle Ages?
Gorgonzola Cheese and Homemade Mozzarella for Pizza
History of cheese in Italy (gorgonzola, grana padano)
Cheese would still be the food of the peasants, were it not for the ingenious ways of the Italian monks in the north, the emperor’s discoverer of cheese; grana. Ideally one should travel to the fertile plains south of Milan, sometime after 1135, when the Chiaravalle Abbey was founded.
Here, the Cistercian monks began an extensive process of deforestation to turn the forest around the monastery into agricultural land, which they supplied with plenty of water thanks to a sophisticated irrigation system. With so much space and fodder at their disposal, the monks increased their herd and produced large amounts of milk. But what to do with it, how to preserve it? They do what everyone else around them is doing, you might think making cheese.
You are right, but everything is not so simple. Until then, production was limited to fresh cheeses, although they last longer than milk, they still have a very limited shelf life. Mind, not that medieval cheese was a bad idea: Legend has it that the emergence of gorgonzola, Italy’s most famous blue, sometime occurred by chance between the 10th and 12th centuries when a bunch of stracchino wheels went moldy.
As cheese makers they had the idea to cook the curd longer in order to get a thicker cheese that could be ripened and cured longer. Cheese is the food for monks and farmers or so it started. Before long, though, even the richest royals end up with a sliver of cheesy goodness in his broca.
Farmers almost never owned the land on which they worked and had to pay rent. More often than not, this is not done with money, but with products and food. Thanks to that, cheese made its way onto the tables of Italy’s rich and famous royalty, who never had enough of anything tasty and tangy. It was in the Middle Ages that the Italian custom of eating cheese at the end of a meal developed. Apparently, it was advised by the doctors of that time to do so. According to food historians, more than 20 types of cheese that we still eat regularly today were made in medieval times. Apart from grana and gorgonzola we must mention also Friuli’s Montasio, although it acquired its name only at the end of the 18th century, its production has started at Udinese Moggio Monastery, since the 1200s.
What Do You Know about Homemade Mozzarella for Pizza ?
Homemade mozzarella for pizza was already known to the Greeks who inhabited southern Italy in the 6th and 5th centuries BC, but got its name in the Middle Ages when people began to associate the cheese with the action of “mozzare” (to cut), which is needed to make a single mozzarella. of larger curd pieces.
More about mozzarella, which is also produced at the Monastery of San Lorenzo in Capua, in the province of Campania, Caserta. According to 12th century documents, the monks offered it to all the pilgrims who passed by. The patron saint of cheese makers is Saint Lucius; he lived in the 13th century when he would make cheese to feed the poor from his milk.
Conclusion on the history of cheese in Italy
While the history of cheese in Italy can be traced back to ancient times, the Middle Ages marked a turning point for the development of Italian cheese traditions, to the point that we can actually talk about the medieval history of Italian cheese. During those centuries, especially in quiet and peaceful monastic communities, many of the formaggi we love, including grana, parmigiano, and mozzarella, were created. All hail medieval monks for their enduring contributions to Italian cuisine. It can be concluded that the role of monks in the development of cheese in Italy is very high, so you also need to know where online homemade mozzarella for pizza cheese training is so that you can improve your ability to create export quality cheese.
