Cheese, derived from the Latin word caseus, is an ancient food whose origins predate recorded history. One of the earliest literary references to cheese has been made in Homer's Odyssey, where the eponymous hero and his crew land on the Island of cyclops and see him rearing sheep to make cheese. “We soon reached his cave, but he was out shepherding, so we went inside and took stock of all that we could see. His cheese-racks were loaded with cheeses, and he had more lambs and kids than his pens could hold...” There is no conclusive evidence indicating where cheese-making originated, although we can be sure that it was either in Europe, Central Asia or the Middle East. Until its modern spread along with European culture, cheese was nearly unheard of in oriental cultures, uninvented in the pre-Columbian Americas, of limited use in sub-mediterranean Africa, mainly being widespread and popular only in Europe and areas influenced strongly by its cultures.

Eventually, with the spread, first of European imperialism, and later of Euro-American culture and food, cheese has gradually become known and increasingly popular worldwide, although it is still rarely considered a part of local ethnic cuisines outside Europe, the Middle East, and the Americas.

Not taking into account the McDonald culture in post-liberalization India, cheese here have mainly been Paneer, an un-aged, acid-set, non-melting farmer cheese that is similar to acid-set fresh mozzarella and queso blanco, (except that it does not have salt in it, much like hoop cheese) and Khoa, ricotta cheese, which is used to make gulabjamun. Having said this, my first memory of cheese is the yellow many holed cheeses that make Jerry abandon the safety of his hole and risk Tom's wrath! Even in elementary school, kids can hardly wait for the tiffin bell to ring so they can open their boxes and subject themselves to the pleasures of white bread slices glued together by cheese spread. However, bread and cheese for lunch and dinner or elegant wine and cheese parties have always been, for most of us, nothing more than a scene from a Hollywood flick or a sitcom.

This consistency, prevailing in India for so many years has suddenly been broken by the European cheese culture that has managed to make strong inroads into the upper crust of urban India. The elaborate wine-cheese pairing parties that are so much in vogue in the west have finally found favour here. Today, for every traditionalist, who creases his brow and tut tuts it with the what-to-do-we-are-hell-bent-on-aping-the-west routine, there is a modernist, ready with the comeback quote “it may be bland, it may smell funny, it may even be over-hyped, but cheese is Milk's leap towards immortality!”

As of now, most Indians would love to swear by the bipolarity of taste in Indian cheese. Viva la paneer! Oops!