where & when did cheese originate?

Answer 1

The origin of cheese appears to be lost in the mists of time. There are, however, records of the Sumerians making and consuming cheese that date to about 3500 B.C. Homer's 9th century B.C. epic, the Odyssey, describes a scene with the Cyclops Polyphemus making cheese and pressing it into wicker baskets.

It took the Romans, as with so many other things, to raise cheese-making to an art. They flavored their cheeses with various herbs and spices and also experimented with vegetable extracts in place of rennet. In 59 B.C., the soldiers of Gaius Julius Caesar took cheese along on their march to what is now France, a country known for some of the finest cheeses made.