As early as 8000 BCE, the earliest Neolithic farmers living in the Fertile Crescent began a legacy of cheese-making almost as old as civilization itself.

早在西元前八千年，最早居住在肥沃月灣的新石器時代農民開啟了近乎和其文明一樣古老的起司製作傳奇。

The rise of agriculture led to domesticated sheep and goats, which ancient farmers harvested for milk.

農業的興起促成古代農民圈養其賴以汲取乳汁的綿羊及山羊。

But when left in warm conditions for several hours, that fresh milk began to sour.

但當放在溫暖的狀態下數小時後，那新鮮的乳汁開始腐敗。

Its lactic acids caused proteins to coagulate, binding into soft clumps.

它的乳酸導致蛋白質凝結，凝固成柔軟的塊狀物。

Upon discovering this strange transformation, the farmers drained the remaining liquid, later named whey, and found the yellowish globs could be eaten fresh as a soft, spreadable meal.

一發現這個奇特的變化，農民們瀝乾剩餘的液體，這種液體後來被稱為乳清，他們並發覺這淡黃色的團狀物可以被當成如柔軟、可塗抹開的新鮮餐點吃掉。

These clumps, or curds, became the building blocks of cheese, which would eventually be aged, pressed, ripened, and whizzed into a diverse cornucopia of dairy delights.

這些塊狀物，又稱凝乳變成製作起司的原料，它們最後將被熟成、壓製、熟化，然後再製作成各式各樣令人喜愛的奶製品。

The discovery of cheese gave Neolithic people an enormous survival advantage.

起司的發現讓新石器時代的人們有一個巨大的生存優勢。

Milk was rich with essential proteins, fats, and minerals.

牛奶富含必須的蛋白質、脂質及礦物質。

But it also contained high quantities of lactose, a sugar which is difficult to process for many ancient and modern stomachs.

但它也含有很多的乳糖，一種不管是古代或是現代的胃都難以消化的糖。

Cheese, however, could provide all of milk's advantages with much less lactose.

然而，起司可以提供牛奶全部的好處，且比牛奶少很多乳糖。

And since it could be preserved and stockpiled, these essential nutrients could be eaten throughout scarce famines and long winters.

然後因為它可以被保存及貯放，在整個物資缺乏的飢荒期和漫長的冬日都可以吃到這些必需的營養素。

Some 7th millennium BCE pottery fragments found in Turkey still contain telltale residues of the cheese and butter they held.

在一些於土耳其出土，西元前七千年的陶器碎片中，仍含有洩漏蛛絲馬跡的起司和奶油殘渣。

By the end of the Bronze Age, cheese was a standard commodity in maritime trade throughout the eastern Mediterranean.

直到青銅器時代的末期，起司是整個東地中海海上貿易的標準商品。

In the densely populated city-states of Mesopotamia, cheese became a staple of culinary and religious life.

在人口密度高的美索不達米亞各城邦，起司變成烹飪和宗教生活中的必需品。

Some of the earliest known writing includes administrative records of cheese quotas, listing a variety of cheeses for different rituals and populations across Mesopotamia.

一些最早且為人知的紀錄包含起司配額的行政紀錄，它列出各種提供給不同的儀式和美索不達米亞地區群眾的起司。

Records from nearby civilizations in Turkey also reference rennet.

土耳其中鄰近文明的紀錄也提及了凝乳酵素。

This animal byproduct, produced in the stomachs of certain mammals, can accelerate and control coagulation.

這個生成於特定哺乳類動物的胃中的副產品可以加速和控制凝結。

Eventually this sophisticated cheese-making tool spread around the globe, giving way to a wide variety of new, harder cheeses.

最後，這精密的起司製造工具散布到全球，促成一系列新的、更硬的起司的誕生。

And though some conservative food cultures rejected the dairy delicacy, many more embraced cheese, and quickly added their own local flavors.

然而雖然一些保守的食物文化拒吃這樣美味的奶製品，很多其他的文化熱愛起司且加入他們自身本土的風味。

Nomadic Mongolians used yaks' milk to create hard, sundried wedges of Byaslag.

游牧的蒙古族人利用犛牛的牛奶來製造一種利用陽光曬乾的硬式蒙古起司。

Egyptians enjoyed goats' milk cottage cheese, straining the whey with reed mats.

埃及人喜愛山羊奶做成的白乾酪，把乳清用蘆葦蓆榨乾。

In South Asia, milk was coagulated with a variety of food acids, such as lemon juice, vinegar, or yogurt and then hung to dry into loafs of paneer.

在南亞，牛奶被加入許多酸性食品，像是檸檬汁、醋或是優格來凝固，並被吊起來直到乾燥，成為一塊塊南亞獨有的起司。

This soft mild cheese could be added to curries and sauces, or simply fried as a quick vegetarian dish.

這鬆軟溫和的起司可以加在咖哩、醬汁，或只是作為一道快速的素食料理去煎。

The Greeks produced bricks of salty, brined feta cheese, alongside a harder variety similar to today's pecorino romano.

希臘人製作一塊一塊用鹽水浸泡的鹹希臘白色軟乳酪及一種較硬的起司，近似於今日的義式硬乳酪。

This grating cheese was produced in Sicily and used in dishes all across the Mediterranean.

這種用格柵製成的起司生產於西西里，並在地中海地區的料理中被廣泛使用。

Under Roman rule, "dry cheese" or "caseus aridus," became an essential ration for the nearly 500,000 soldiers guarding the vast borders of the Roman Empire.

在羅馬規矩中，「乾乳酪」或者又稱「caseus aridus」，成為近五十萬名守衛羅馬帝國廣大邊疆的士兵的必須口糧。

And when the Western Roman Empire collapsed, cheese-making continued to evolve in the manors that dotted the medieval European countryside.

而當西羅馬帝國瓦解時，起司製作持續在散布於中世紀歐洲鄉間的莊園中演進。

In the hundreds of Benedictine monasteries scattered across Europe, medieval monks experimented endlessly with different types of milk, cheesemaking practices, and aging processes that led to many of today's popular cheeses.

在歐洲廣布的數百個聖本篤修道院中，中世紀的修道士們不停地實驗各式各樣的牛奶、起司製程及熟成程序，進而產出許多今日熱門的起司。

Parmesan, Roquefort, Munster and several Swiss types were all refined and perfected by these cheese-making clergymen.

帕瑪森、羊乳乾酪、曼恩斯特乾酪和一些瑞士種類的起司都是被這些製作起司的教士們所精製。

In the Alps, Swiss cheesemaking was particularly successful, producing a myriad of cow's milk cheeses.

在阿爾卑斯山，瑞士製的起司尤其成功，並生產了由許多不同種乳牛牛奶所製成的起司。

By the end of the 14th century, Alpine cheese from the Gruyere region of Switzerland had become so profitable that a neighboring state invaded the Gruyere highlands to take control of the growing cheese trade.

直到十四世紀的末期，來自瑞士格魯耶爾的阿爾卑斯乾酪變得非常賺錢，以至於鄰國侵略格魯耶爾高原，為了掌控起司蒸蒸日上的貿易。

Cheese remained popular through the Renaissance, and the Industrial Revolution took production out of the monastery and into machinery.

起司在文藝復興時期仍十分受歡迎，而工業革命將其製程從修道院轉移到機械製造。

Today, the world produces roughly 22 billion kilograms of cheese a year, shipped and consumed around the globe.

今日，全世界一年生產大約兩百二十億公斤的起司，並被運送至全球食用。

But 10,000 years after its invention, local farms are still following in the footsteps of their Neolithic ancestors, hand crafting one of humanity's oldest and favorite foods.

但自它被發明一萬年後，當地的農民仍遵循其新石器時代祖先的方法，手工製造這人類史中最古老，也備受喜愛的食物中的其中一樣。