Cheese is one of the oldest products in the world. It began to be produced around 8,000 years BC, when people learned how to preserve milk and noticed that it naturally curdles. Thus, cheese became a convenient way to preserve nutrients and make milk available even in winter.
Over time, cheese spread across the world and became part of the culture of different peoples — from Mesopotamia and Rome to medieval Europe. It was there that many cheese varieties known today originated, and they are still produced according to similar principles.
In Ukraine, cheese-making traditions were formed over centuries alongside the development of livestock farming. In the Carpathians, bryndza has long been produced; in villages across the country, cheese was a way to process and preserve cow’s milk and later became an important part of everyday diet.
In the 20th century, Ukrainian cheese production moved into an industrial format, and today farmer and artisanal production is actively developing. Ukrainian cheeses are increasingly appearing at international competitions and finding consumers abroad.Despite its millennia-long history, cheese today still begins with something simple — milk, a cow, and the farmer’s work. And this is what makes it a taste proven by time.
