Warrington adds the following: " This prejudice extended to the days of Pope, whose country mouse entertained his courtly guest with: 'Cheese such as men in Suffolk make, But wished it Stilton for his sake' (Imitations of Horace, Bk ii, Sat 6) See also Shadwell's 'Worls' vol. iv, p.350.
Cheshire cheese is one of the oldest-recorded named cheeses in British history: it was first mentioned, along with a Shropshire cheese, by Thomas Muffet in Health's Improvement (c. 1580).
There is no earlier specific mention of a cheese from Cheshire, but the importance of Cheshire as a main dairy region of England is made by William of Malmesbury in the Chester part of the Gesta pontificum Anglorum ("History of the bishops of England": c. 1125).
In 1758 the Royal Navy ordered all ships be stocked with Cheshire and Gloucester cheeses There are three varieties, a white, a 'red' (actually yellow) which is dyed with annatto, and a blue-veined variety (considered undesirable when it occurred accidentally).
The Dutch navy, which in the 16th century was becoming a formidable force, issued to each sailor a weekly ration of half a pound of cheese, half a pound of butter, and a five-pound loaf of bread.
Historian Simon Schama calculated that a Dutch ship with a crew of 100 in 1636 would need among their provisions 450 pounds of cheese and one and a quarter tons of butter.
We think of cheese as being standardized today. We go to the supermarket and order Cheddar, Stilton or Edam and know exactly what it'll look and taste like, and what we can do with it.
Not so in Pepys' time, as explained in this article about the rebirth of Cornish Yarg cheese, inspired by The English Huswife written by Gervase Markham, a 17th-century Englishman, which contains — in addition to dozens of cheese recipes — expert advice on banqueting, brewing, baking, distillation, and preparing perfumes, wool, hemp, and flax. All the 17th-century household essentials we have forgotten.
The original cheese recipe they used was vague, but it was never intended to produce consistent results. Each 17th-century household had access to different cows and different milk, and had their own cheesemaking techniques and traditions that would influence how they interpreted The English Huswife recipes.
How a 400-Year-Old Cheese Got Its Groove Back -- The secret ingredient? Stinging nettles:
A forgotten cheese manuscript from the 1580s - A pamflyt compiled of Cheese - has been discovered and fully transcribed, offering a delicious slice of early British food history.
It's possibly the first English work dedicated solely to cheese, and it ranks cheeses (cow’s milk = best, mare’s milk = “very naughte”), praises Cheshire’s curds, and rejects Aristotle’s dairy theories. The anonymous author gathered information from country folk and ancient texts alike, defending cheese as a healthy staple and warning against Welsh mixes of horse and goat milk.
"A surfyte of cheese doth bringe payne," the book warns.
With the exception of occasional short passages in Latin, the pamphlet was written in English in a flowing, legible script known as secretary hand. It reveals a learned yet open-minded author who was more than happy to “diligently inquyred of countrey folke” their opinions on cheese.
Newly accessible, thanks to Kentwell Hall and the University of Leeds, this 400-year-old guide is a feast for culinary historians.
A brick of bright orange cheddar cheese is a household staple for many, but real cheddar wasn’t originally orange at all. The color we now associate with the cheese began as a marketing trick in 17th-century England, when cheesemakers started adding plant-based dyes.
At the time, farmers were skimming fatty cream off the top of milk to sell separately, leaving behind lower-fat milk that produced paler cheese. The golden hue of traditional cheddar came from the beta-carotene in the grass the cows ate; because that was carried in the milk’s fat, the color disappeared when the fat was skimmed off.
Adding color with saffron, marigold, annatto, and even carrot juice helped mask the difference. The practice made its way to North America and in some cases became even more exaggerated.
By the 19th century, some producers were even adding lead chromate to intensify cheddar’s orange color and make lower-quality cheese look more desirable. This was part of a broader era of food adulteration, when appearance mattered more than safety.
Today, most orange cheddar still gets its color from annatto and not from aging or flavor — but, thankfully, not from lead either.
11 Annotations
First Reading
cindy • Link
An interesting history of British cheesemaking
www.cheeseboard.co.uk/new/cheese/…
Glyn • Link
Cheese and the Royal Navy:
www.hms.org.uk/nelsonsnavycheese.…
Pauline • Link
Suffolk Cheese
(three Google hits)
vicente • Link
Suffolk cheese sounds better than the mousetrap cheese [even the poor mice refused to nibble]that was available during WWII.
Wim van der Meij • Link
Warrington adds the following: " This prejudice extended to the days of Pope, whose country mouse entertained his courtly guest with:
'Cheese such as men in Suffolk make,
But wished it Stilton for his sake'
(Imitations of Horace, Bk ii, Sat 6)
See also Shadwell's 'Worls' vol. iv, p.350.
in Aqua Scripto • Link
Dutch cheeses : Still life with cheese Floris Van Dijck 1615 20 apples ,fruit and two wheels of cheese .
www.vincent.nl/?/gallery/oilrepro…
Second Reading
San Diego Sarah • Link
Cheshire cheese is one of the oldest-recorded named cheeses in British history: it was first mentioned, along with a Shropshire cheese, by Thomas Muffet in Health's Improvement (c. 1580).
There is no earlier specific mention of a cheese from Cheshire, but the importance of Cheshire as a main dairy region of England is made by William of Malmesbury in the Chester part of the Gesta pontificum Anglorum ("History of the bishops of England": c. 1125).
In 1758 the Royal Navy ordered all ships be stocked with Cheshire and Gloucester cheeses
There are three varieties, a white, a 'red' (actually yellow) which is dyed with annatto, and a blue-veined variety (considered undesirable when it occurred accidentally).
For more information see en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheshire_ch…
San Diego Sarah • Link
The Dutch navy, which in the 16th century was becoming a formidable force, issued to each sailor a weekly ration of half a pound of cheese, half a pound of butter, and a five-pound loaf of bread.
Historian Simon Schama calculated that a Dutch ship with a crew of 100 in 1636 would need among their provisions 450 pounds of cheese and one and a quarter tons of butter.
For more information about the economics of cows and dairy in general, I recommend: www.atlasobscura.com/articles/his…...
San Diego Sarah • Link
We think of cheese as being standardized today. We go to the supermarket and order Cheddar, Stilton or Edam and know exactly what it'll look and taste like, and what we can do with it.
Not so in Pepys' time, as explained in this article about the rebirth of Cornish Yarg cheese, inspired by The English Huswife written by Gervase Markham, a 17th-century Englishman, which contains — in addition to dozens of cheese recipes — expert advice on banqueting, brewing, baking, distillation, and preparing perfumes, wool, hemp, and flax. All the 17th-century household essentials we have forgotten.
The original cheese recipe they used was vague, but it was never intended to produce consistent results. Each 17th-century household had access to different cows and different milk, and had their own cheesemaking techniques and traditions that would influence how they interpreted The English Huswife recipes.
How a 400-Year-Old Cheese Got Its Groove Back -- The secret ingredient? Stinging nettles:
www.atlasobscura.com/articles/yar…
Third Reading
San Diego Sarah • Link
A forgotten cheese manuscript from the 1580s - A pamflyt compiled of Cheese - has been discovered and fully transcribed, offering a delicious slice of early British food history.
It's possibly the first English work dedicated solely to cheese, and it ranks cheeses (cow’s milk = best, mare’s milk = “very naughte”), praises Cheshire’s curds, and rejects Aristotle’s dairy theories.
The anonymous author gathered information from country folk and ancient texts alike, defending cheese as a healthy staple and warning against Welsh mixes of horse and goat milk.
"A surfyte of cheese doth bringe payne," the book warns.
With the exception of occasional short passages in Latin, the pamphlet was written in English in a flowing, legible script known as secretary hand. It reveals a learned yet open-minded author who was more than happy to “diligently inquyred of countrey folke” their opinions on cheese.
Newly accessible, thanks to Kentwell Hall and the University of Leeds, this 400-year-old guide is a feast for culinary historians.
Read the
news.artnet.com/art-world/oldest-…
San Diego Sarah • Link
A brick of bright orange cheddar cheese is a household staple for many, but real cheddar wasn’t originally orange at all. The color we now associate with the cheese began as a marketing trick in 17th-century England, when cheesemakers started adding plant-based dyes.
At the time, farmers were skimming fatty cream off the top of milk to sell separately, leaving behind lower-fat milk that produced paler cheese. The golden hue of traditional cheddar came from the beta-carotene in the grass the cows ate; because that was carried in the milk’s fat, the color disappeared when the fat was skimmed off.
Adding color with saffron, marigold, annatto, and even carrot juice helped mask the difference.
The practice made its way to North America and in some cases became even more exaggerated.
By the 19th century, some producers were even adding lead chromate to intensify cheddar’s orange color and make lower-quality cheese look more desirable. This was part of a broader era of food adulteration, when appearance mattered more than safety.
Today, most orange cheddar still gets its color from annatto and not from aging or flavor — but, thankfully, not from lead either.
FROM historyfacts.com/world-history/ar…