Long ago and far away, a nomad living in a vast Middle East desert decided to go on a far journey. So he saddled up his camel and poured a lot of milk in his saddlebag to drink along the way. It was a very hot day, even by Gobi standards, and the milk curdled after several hours of riding. When he opened up the bag, instead of milk, he found white curds with liquid! Yet another "Aha" moment in history.

But why did the milk curdle? His saddlebag had the enzyme called "rennin" in it because the bag was made from the stomach of a young cow. How this happened is a whole 'nother story, but the point is rennin causes coagulation or curdling. Hence the curds.

Another history spin speaks to vast geological change and mass migrations. Nature set the stage for America's Dairyland during the last Ice Age, when glaciers cut through what is now Wisconsin. As they receded, the massive mountains of ice left behind a countryside of rolling hills and lush pastureland. Millions of years later, when European immigrants migrated west, Wisconsin reminded many of their homelands, but without the royalty and oppression to deal with. Perfect!

Soon they were producing an abundance of top-quality milk and cheese. These men and women arrived with the tradition of making favorite cheeses from the old country. And so it was that the fame of their curds and other cheeses quickly spread throughout the land.