TK25 History of cheese - Exam task

HISTORY OF CHEESE: reading exam task

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CHEESE=dairy product

• Calcium is very important for your health.

• In fact, you have more calcium in your body than any other mineral.

• It makes up much of your bones and teeth and plays a role in heart health, muscle function and nerve signaling.

CHEESY means... smth of bad/low quality or in bad taste; cheap.

• cheesy hotel music

• cheesy adverts

• "The tourist shops had nothing but cheesy souvenirs."

• cheesy feet! =unpleasant smell

• cheesy aroma / taste

• CHEESY=SENTIMENTAL (think of Celine Dion, the "Titanic"...)

Glossary 1

• subtle foods - izsmalcināts

• sustain - uzturēt

• quench his thirst - remdēt slāpes

• whey - sūkalas

• nomad - klaidonis

• ripening process - rūgšanas

Glossary 2

• stamped - apzīmogots

• flavour = aroma

• collapse - sabrukums

• military service - kara dienests

• precursor - priekštecis

• solid lumps - cieti gabali

• regain - atgūt

Glossary 3

• nourishing - barojošs

• matured - nobriedis

• terrain - apvidus, teritorija

• treat - apieties

• favour - labvēlība

• rennin - fermenti, enzīmi

• ripe - nobriest, nogatavoties

Read the text and fill in the gaps with the given phrases.

Multiple Choice

Cheese is one of the most varied and subtle foods in the world. Cheese can serve as a perfect companion of ...................., a superbly satisfying finale to a gourmet meal or simply as a basic nourishing foodstuff for family snacks.

• beer

• milkshake

• wine

Multiple Choice

Most authorities consider that cheese was first made in the Middle East. A legendary story has it that cheese was ‘discovered’ by an unknown Arab nomad. He is said to have filled a saddlebag with milk to sustain him on a journey across the desert by horse. After several hours riding he stopped to quench his thirst, only to find that the milk had separated into ...................... .

• intermarried with the local populace

• delicate aroma

• a pale watery liquid and solid white lumps

• to such an extent

• the precursor of today's Parmesan

Multiple Choice

The milk had been effectively separated into curds and whey by the combination of the rennin, ....................... .

• that archaeologists have recently discovered

• the hot sun and the galloping motions of the horse

• a pale watery liquid and solid white lumps

• they were drinkable and the curds edible

• the precursor of today's Parmesan

Multiple Choice

The nomad, unconcerned with technical details, found .................... .

• in remote mountainous areas

• a drop in popularity

• delicate aroma

• they were drinkable and the curds edible

• that archaeologists have recently discovered

Multiple Choice

Learning these techniques, the Romans with their characteristic efficiency were quick to develop cheesemaking to a fine art. Cheesemaking was done with skill and knowledge and .......................... . By this time, the ripening process had been developed and it was known that various treatments and conditions under storage resulted in different flavours and characteristics. The larger Roman houses had a separate cheese kitchen and also special areas where cheese could be matured. In large towns home-made cheese could be taken to a special centre to be smoked.

• we owe many of the classic varieties of cheese marketed today

• in remote mountainous areas

• reached a high standard

• delicate aroma

Multiple Choice

By AD 300, cheese was being regularly exported to countries along the Mediterranean seaboard. Trade had developed ............................ that the emperor Diocletian had to fix maximum prices for a range of cheeses, including an apple-smoked cheese highly popular with Romans.

• that archaeologists have recently discovered

• the precursor of today's Parmesan

• we owe many of the classic varieties of cheese marketed today

• to such an extent

Multiple Choice

Yet another cheese was stamped and sold under the brand name of ‘La Luna’, and is said to have been ..............................., which was first reported as an individual make of cheese in AD 1579.

• the precursor of today's Parmesan

• the hot sun and the galloping motions of the horse

• they were drinkable and the curds edible

• that archaeologists have recently discovered

Multiple Choice

Thus, Roman expertise spread throughout Europe wherever their empire extended. The skills remained at first with landowners and Roman farmers. Roman soldiers, who had completed their military service and ................................, set up their ‘coloniae’ farms in retirement, and may well have passed on their skills in cheesemaking.

• we owe many of the classic varieties of cheese marketed today

• a pale watery liquid and solid white lumps

• intermarried with the local populace

Multiple Choice

With the collapse of the Roman Empire around AD 410, cheesemaking spread slowly via the Mediterranean, Aegean and Adriatic seas to Southern and Central Europe. The river valleys provided easy access and methods adopted for production were adapted to suit the different terrain and climatic conditions. Cheese makers ............................... naturally used the milk of goats and sheep. In Central and Eastern Europe the displacement of people through centuries of war and invasion inevitably slowed down developments in cheese making until the Middle Ages.

• that archaeologists have recently discovered

• in remote mountainous areas

• they were drinkable and the curds edible

Multiple Choice

During the Middle Ages, monks became innovators and developers and it is to them ............................. .

• the precursor of today's Parmesan

• we owe many of the classic varieties of cheese marketed today

• that archaeologists have recently discovered

Multiple Choice

During the Renaissance period cheese suffered ............................, being considered unhealthy, but it regained favour by the nineteenth century, the period that saw the start of the move from farm to factory production.

• the hot sun and the galloping motions of the horse

• a pale watery liquid and solid white lumps

• a drop in popularity