You probably know that cheese and burgers naturally go together, but what else do you know about the dairy delight?
Next to French fries and ketchup of course, cheese is one of a hamburger’s best friends. It is the favorite topping of choice for 82% of us, according to a hamburger survey conducted by Zagat. As you might know, May is National Hamburger Month. We hope that you’ll be celebrating this month with a few delicious burgers at Gunther Toody’s in Denver and Colorado Springs. Let’s also honor the burger with some fun trivia about its faithful companion, cheese!
- The average American eats 32 pounds of cheese a year!
- The root of the English word cheese is from the Latin word caseus, which also gives us the word casein, the milk protein that is the building block.
- The making and eating of cheese pre-dates history! Historians believe it began around 8000 BC with the domestication of sheep.
- In 2012 nearly 11 million pounds of cheese was produced in the U.S.
- 33.2% of the total amount produced in 2012 was mozzarella.
- All cheese is made from milk, typically cow, sheep, or goat. There is a farm in Bjurholm, Switzerland actually makes it from moose milk!
- Cheddar was invented 400 years ago in the English town of Cheddar Gorge.
- The term “big cheese” was originally used to describe people who were so wealthy they could afford to purchase an entire wheel.
- A turophile is a connoisseur or lover of cheese.
- Wisconsin is known for cheese. From 1935 to 1937 the state had a law that required restaurants to serve 2/3 of an ounce each of Wisconsin cheese and butter in every meal it served.
