On food and cooking the science and lore of the kitchen ( PDFDrive ) 109

southern France, and the French and Dalmatian Alps The Growth of Diversity During the 10 or 12 centuries after Rome’s strong rule, the art of cheesemaking progressed in the feudal estates and monasteries, which worked steadily at settling in forested areas or mountain meadows and clearing the land for grazing These widely dispersed communities developed their cheesemaking techniques independently to suit their local landscape, climate, materials, and markets Small, perishable soft cheeses, often made from the milk of a few household animals, were consumed locally and quickly and could only be sent to nearby towns Large hard cheeses required the milk of many animals and were often made by cooperatives (the Gruyère fruiteries began around 1200); they kept indefinitely and could be transported to market from distant regions The result was a remarkable diversity of traditional cheeses, which number from 20 to 50 in most countries and several hundred in France alone, thanks to its size and range of climates Cheeses as Artifacts Behind every cheese there is a pasture of a different green under a different sky: meadows encrusted with salt that the tides of Normandy deposit every evening; meadows perfumed with aromas in the windy sunlight of Provence; there are different herds, with their shelters and their movements across the countryside; there are secret methods handed down over the centuries This shop is a museum: Mr Palomar, visiting it, feels as he does in the Louvre, behind every displayed object the presence of the civilization that gave it form and takes form from it — Italo Calvino, Palomar, 1983 ... different herds, with their shelters and their movements across the countryside; there are secret methods handed down over the centuries This shop is a museum: Mr Palomar, visiting it, feels as he does in the. .. Behind every cheese there is a pasture of a different green under a different sky: meadows encrusted with salt that the tides of Normandy deposit every evening; meadows perfumed with aromas in the windy sunlight of Provence; there... diversity of traditional cheeses, which number from 20 to 50 in most countries and several hundred in France alone, thanks to its size and range of climates Cheeses as Artifacts Behind every cheese there is a pasture of a