Tag cheese

Discovered alongside mummies in the Tarim Basin, an arid desert region in northwestern China, dating back to around 1,500 BCE, were remnants of what was once considered a luxury item—cheese. This cheese, made long before the age of refrigeration or sophisticated dairy technology, was found in solid, dehydrated form on the bodies of the deceased, likely part of funerary offerings meant to provide sustenance in the afterlife. What the world’s oldest cheese teaches us about our ability to create food?