Say Cheese!

Cheese is the chameleon of the food world, as well as one of its
greatest delights. Fresh and light or funky and earthy, creamy and
melty or crystalline and crumbly—no other food offers such a
variety of flavors and textures. But cheese is not just a treat for
the palate: its discovery changed the course of Western
civilization, and, today, cheese rinds are helping scientists
conduct cutting-edge research into microbial ecology. In this
episode of Gastropod, we investigate cheese in all stinking glory,
from ancient Mesopotamia to medieval France, from the origins of
cheese factories and Velveeta to the growing artisanal cheese
movement in the U.S. Along the way, we search for the answer to a
surprisingly complex question: what is cheese? Join us as we bust
cheese myths, solve cheese mysteries, and put together the ultimate
cheese plate. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit
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