![[ Roman cheese press ]](../images/cheese.jpg)
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This is a Roman ceramic cheese press. The 1st century B.C. agricultural
writer Columella describes cheese-making. Fresh milk (the Roman's did not
use cow's milk) was curdled with rennet from animal or vegetable sources.
Supposedly the proportion of rennet to milk had to be the weight of
a silver denarius for every bucket of milk.
The milk was kept at a steady temperature and then the curd would be transferred
to the mould and the whey forced to drain away by the application of pressure
(probably in the form of a weight). The cheese would be removed and stored
in a cool place before being salted and compressed again.
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This page last updated June 29th 1997
