As a backgrounder, one must look into several legendary stories in tracing the origin of cheese. In this retrospect, a reviewer—recommended for a patissier-wannabe—is bound to absorb the idea, that it was discovered by the time primitive men learned how to get milk from animals.

The Old Testament mentions about cheese several times, and states in Psalm 17:27-29 that it was given to King David. This shows that cheese was already used as early as 1000 B.C.

More so, a type of cheese was discovered through the shepherds in Southwestern Asia, who carried milk with them, and placed in a pouch made out of a sheep’s stomach. After several hours, the milk was mixed with the "rennet," from the stomach lining, and formed into cheese.

In some sources, it is believed that Asian traders were the ones who introduced cheese to Europe as early as 1400 B.C., and during the ancient times, the Greeks, Egyptians and Romans used to prepare their cheeses by using milk from goat, sheep and mares.

However, the epistographical point of cheese’s culinary purpose was when "farm cheese making" came to the knowledge of the people of United States through their European colonizers. Of course one should not forget how France, Switzerland, Morocco, and Italy (just a few among the countless,) contributed to the popularization of this favorite material.

Though, the factory system of making cheddar cheese was only introduced in New York in 1850’s, it was in the late 19th Century, when the state became the center of commercial cheese production in America.

As mentioned earlier, it was believed that cheese making originated when man first took milk from animals.

There are some factors considered in the process to come out with a specific kind of cheese. There are the considerations of temperature, time, kind of milk, and the amount of moisture pressed out of the curd. Milk—cheese’s fundamental base—as we know it, spoils easily and forms two components that we call "curd" and "whey."

The best cheese is made with whole milk, but partly or fully skimmed is also widely used. The procedure in making a cheese starts with the separation of whey, which is the liquid part of the milk, from the solid portion called, curd.

People in the earlier times obtained this needed separation by placing the milk over a very low heat for hours.

Today, manufacturers (1) include lactic-acid-producing bacteria into the milk, or (2) a combination of both procedures (adding extract of rennet and heat) are used for the process of curd-whey separation.

The next step is removing the moisture by pressing the curds, which will, by culinary distinction, determine the texture of the cheese. The less moisture extracted, the softer the cheese, obtained.

In the case of "fresh cheeses" like "Cottage" cheese, the curd is simply drained, pressed, molded and seasoned.

"Ripened" or "cured cheese" undergoes a process of fermentation and stored in cellars, caves or controlled temperature and humidity chambers for a certain period of time—depending on the type. Cheeses of this process will acquire distinctive flavors and characteristics. Molds and microorganisms—that are either injected directly into the cheese or absorbed from the walls and floors of the caves—will affect, not just the texture, but also the taste.

In the later phase of the process, the cheese is frequently turned and salted through dry salting, or immersing in brine, its exterior to give a good seasoning. At times, it is also rubbed with olive oil and added with flavorings during the ripening period. In modern times, home-cheese-making even includes chopped basil, and peppering the exterior during its ripening stage, as a signature produce of different dairy chateaus.

There are more than 2,000 names of cheeses, recorded, and still continues to count. It is a very common practice that the cheeses are named after the place where they originated, but, sometimes the same kind of cheese is known with more than one name. However, there are the fundamental-types that are considered as the principal classifications of cheese.

American – it is a natural cheddar cheese produced in the United States

Bel Paese - a soft Italian table cheese with mild-sweet flavor

Blue – a mold-ripened cheese from the United States, Denmark and other countries with a soft body that is creamy in colored with scattered blue-green Penicillium mold.

Brick – shaped like a brick, medium-hard texture and reddish in color.

Brie – a pie-shaped cheese with creamy texture and soft whitish crust.

Camembert – a soft, pale yellow cheese with white crust.

Cheddar – a hard-ripened cheese named after the village in England with a white to orange and smooth texture obtained by "cheddaring" (turning the curd frequently)

Cheshire – also known as Chester, similar to cheddar but less compact with deep yellow color.

Colby – a type of cheddar but softer in texture and milder in flavor

Cottage – also known as pot cheese with a soft texture made from skim milk.

Cream – an unripe cheese that is smooth in texture

Edam – a sweet-curd ripened cheese that originated in Netherlands that is usually shaped as round balls with bright red coating.

Emmentaler – also known as Swiss cheese that originated in Emmen Valley in Switzerland, with smooth texture and shiny holes.

Farmer’s Cheese – a type of cottage cheese originated from the farms of France that is pressed and molded in different shapes.

Feta – a white, ripe cheese from Greece.

Fontina – a semi-soft textured cheese that is yellow in color with a nutty flavor and delightful flavor made from sheep’s milk.

Gorgonzola – a blue-veined cheese originated in Italy.

Gouda – semi-soft to hard texture similar to Edam but contains more fat.

Gruyere – similar to Emmentaler or Swiss but smaller holes. It has smooth texture with a very sweet, nutty flavor.

Liederkranz – aromatic surface-ripened cheese from New York State.

Limburger – a semi-soft creamy cheese from Belgium with strong flavor and pungent odor.

Monterey Jack – a high-moisturized, cheddar-type cheese originated from Monterey California.

Mozzarella – usually used for pizza and Italian dishes. It stretches when heated.

Muenster – a surface-ripened cheese, salted in brine, similar to Limburger but not so strongly flavored.

Neufchatel – soft, unripened cheese from France that is similar to cream cheese.

Parmesan - a very hard, dry, ripened for 2 years cheese that originated in Italy where it is known as grana.

Pont l’Eveque – soft, surface-ripened cheese from Normandy, France, with smooth texture and nutty flavor.

Port du Salut - a semisoft cheese with mild flavor made by Trappist monks in France

Provolone - a hard cheese made in pear, sausage and ball shapes and usually smoked.

Ricotta – soft, unripened cheese that is slightly salted. Some of it are made of mixture of acid whey and skim milk and then dried.

Romano - a very hard ripened cheese used for grating, that originated in Rome

Roquefort – a blue-veined cheese made from sheep’s milk. It is with "Pencillium Roqueforti mold," and is stored in caves for 6 months.

Swiss - It means any cheese made in Switzerland. It is block-shaped cheese with softer texture than Emmentaler cheese.

Stilton - a mild blue-veined English cheese with rich and mellow characteristic with a piquant flavor.