Sweet Dreams Are Made Of Cheese

When milk and microbes come together, there’s no doubt something wonderful happens. We asked a food scientist how a choreography of chemistry, biology, and psychology make cheese the ultimate food

- Dr Stuart Farrimond

Who would have thought that a congealed lump of curdled milk could be so delicious? For seven thousand years, cheese has titillated the taste buds of humanity. Animal milk has been used to create the stuff in almost every corner of the world, culminating in over 1,700 distinct varieties today: creamy Brie, buttery Gouda, crumbly parmesan, stringy mozzarella, sharp Cheddar, holey Swiss, mild paneer, smoky Bavarian Emmentaler and the like. The staggering variety of cheeses is testimony to the creativity of cheesemakers throughout the ages, but their ingenuity plays second fiddle to the real stars of the show: the microbes. The several-hundred-strong ensemble cast of bacteria, fungi, and yeasts bring life to a bland, salty lump of off-white curd. By digesting (or ‘fermenting’) the fats, proteins, and milk sugars, they spew forth an elaborate selection of flavourful – sometimes smelly – molecules. Never has second-hand food tasted so good! But what is it that makes cheese so devilishly moreish?

THE MILKY WAY