History of Cheesecake

In learning about the history of cheesecake, I learned that cheese molds dating back to 2,000 B.C. have been found by anthropologists. This is the earliest indication of when cheeses were made.

In the Oxford Companion to Food, written by Alan Davidson, it is indicated that "cheesecake was mentioned in Marcus Porcius Cato's De re Rustica around 200 B.C. and that cato described making his cheese libum (cake) with results very similar to modern cheesecake."

Regarding the history of cheesecake, it is thought that cheesecake was actually created in ancient Greece and that it was served to the athletes during the first Olympic Games in 776 B.C. It was a popular dish with the ancient Greeks and even then they tried to create the perfect cheesecake.

Eventually the making of cheesecake spread across Europe by the Romans. When the Romans conquered Greece, they also conquered the secret of cheesecake making. They first went to Great Britain and Western Europe and eventually spread throughout Scandinavia and northwestern Europe. It wasn't until centuries later that cheesecake was brought to America by immigrants and we became a part of the history of cheesecake.

The Roman's called cheesecake either "placenta", which is derived from a Greek word or sometimes "libum". The cheesecakes were baked on or in a pastry base and were often offered to their gods in their temples.

According to John J. Sergreto, author of Cheesecake Madness, The basic recipe and ingredients for the first cheesecake were recorded by Athenaeus, a Greek writer, in about A.D. 230:

"Take cheese and pound it till smooth and pasty; put cheese in a brazen sieve; add honey and spring wheat flour. Heat in one mass, cool, and serve"

Today there are hundreds of different cheesecake recipes. The ingredients are what make one cheesecake different from another. The most essential ingredient in any cheesecake is cheese and the most commonly used are cream cheese, Neufchatel, cottage cheese, and ricotta. All of these cheeses have their own place in the history of cheesecakes and how they were used in various recipes.

Neufchatel Cheese is a soft unripened cheese originally from Neufchatel-en-Bray, France. It is thought to be the oldest Norman cheese from around 1035 A.D. It became "official" in 1543 in the ledgers of Saint-Aman Abbey (of Rouen) where a cheese was termed Neufchatel. During that time, cheese was probably matured in the cellars in the country which was naturally covered with penicillium candidum.

Since the Middle Ages, the Neufchatel cheese has had many shapes, depending on fashion or simply on the moulds the producer owned! There is a legend explaining that the heart shape is due to the young Norman women that wanted to express discreetly their feelings to the English soldiers during the wars in the Middle Age ...

The production of Neufchatel increased dramatically during the 19th century and Napoleon III is said to have received a huge basket of Norman cheeses containing lots of Neufchatel cheeses that he appreciated. At that moment it was known as one of the best French cheeses and was consumed all over France. Over some period of time, its production decreased - more specifically, after the Second World War. It was during this time that selling milk to huge dairies was more important than producing cheese.

William Lawrence of Chester, N.Y. invented cream cheese in 1872. He was an American dairyman who accidentally developed a method of producing cream cheese while trying to reproduce Neufchatel. His cheese was even richer and creamier. In 1880 he started manufacturing his brand in foil wrappers under the name of the Empire Company. He called it Philadelphia Brand Cream Cheese which is now a famous trademark.

In 1903, the Phoenix Cheese Company of New York bought the business and with it the Philadelphia trademark. PHILADELPHIA Brand Cream Cheese was bought by the Kraft Cheese Company in 1928. Kraft Foods still owns and produces PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese today.

James L. Kraft invented pasteurized cheese in 1912, and that lead to the development of pasteurized Philadelphia Brand cream cheese, it is now the most popular cheese used for making cheesecake today.

History of Cheesecake-->Home