By KaraCheese is made from milk, and perhaps some other things. It's somehow related to mold, maybe, and can be "aged" to different degrees of desirability. It goes well with fruit, wine, nuts, crackers, bread, and, according to my grandfather, apple pie.
Adjectives that can be used to describe cheese include, but must certainly not be limited to, the following: sharp, mild, soft, hard, stinky, salty, and nutty. These qualities most likely arise from some part of the process that occurs between "made from milk" and "aged to different degrees."
I love cheese, I really do. I ate grated parmesan by the spoonful as a kid, and before writing this post I polished off the first of two huge hunks of cheddar (Wisconsin-made!) I bought at the grocery store last week. My love of cheeses, however, far eclipses my actual understanding. I guess I used to have some latent theory that various kinds of cheese got their distinctive tastes from the types of milk that were used in their production. Upon recent reflection, I've come to realize that there aren't possibly enough milkable mammals to produce all the varieties of cheese out there in the world... or, at least, it seems very unlikely that the difference between swiss and gouda and taleggio is that one of them is made from cow's milk, while the others originated in the teats of lions or alpacas.
So what goes on between your Bovine Bessie, Shirley Sheep, Goatrude, or whomever, and that cheddar I just ate? I can't explain, or even accurately describe, the distinctive brie flavor I've grown to love so much, or what it is about string cheese that makes it stringy. Of course, let's not forget the ultimate Wisconsin mystery: why do cheese curds squeak? (And what exactly are "curds," anyway?)
It should be fairly obvious that at this point my cheese-knowledge is really just cheese-appreciation. With any luck, we'll soon observe it developing into a true cheese-passion.
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