Which monster kept cheese on racks, and why is cheddar orange? These trivia questions about cheese fill four rounds, with cheddar and mozzarella each given one of their own.
Read the full guide
Four rounds, from caseus to treccia
Origins, legends and the word digs up strainers of 5500 BCE. Curds, whey and ripening explains the holes in Emmental. Cheddar walks from a Somerset gorge to government cheddar. Mozzarella and cheese abroad sizes up ciliegine and bocconcini and ends in Bhutan.
Printable cheese trivia questions and answers
Tap one of four answers and the card settles it with a sentence of reason and a link to the article. Each set is ten questions. When a set is done, Print question sheet is on the card and Print answer key is under More options.
Questions and answers
How is cheese made?
Milk is usually acidified, and rennet or similar enzymes make the protein casein coagulate. The solid curds are separated from the liquid whey and pressed. Most cheeses are then left to ripen, for a few days or for several years.
Where does cheddar come from?
From the village of Cheddar in Somerset, in southwest England, where the caves of Cheddar Gorge gave the right humidity and a steady temperature for maturing it. Cheddar has no protected designation of origin and is produced all over the world.
Why does Swiss cheese have holes?
Swiss starter cultures include a bacterium that produces carbon dioxide gas bubbles while the cheese ages. The bubbles give Emmental its holes, which are also called eyes.
How were the answers checked?
Each was read on October 3, 2026 in the English Wikipedia article linked under it: Cheese, Cheddar cheese or Mozzarella. Cheese companies, record-size cheeses, sales rankings, what to drink with cheese and health claims are left out.
An old saying claims that the moon is made of green cheese. What may "green" have meant there?Answer: New, or unaged. Source: Wikipedia: Cheese
Around the year 1000, Anglo-Saxons named a village by the River Thames Ceswican. What did the name mean?Answer: Cheese farm. Source: Wikipedia: Cheese
The earliest conjectured root of the word cheese is kwat. What does it mean?Answer: To ferment, become sour. Source: Wikipedia: Cheese
The earliest evidence of cheesemaking in the archaeological record, from 5500 BCE, was found in what is now which country?Answer: Poland. Source: Wikipedia: Cheese
The earliest evidence of cheesemaking in the Mediterranean, from 5200 BCE, was found on the coast of which present-day country?Answer: Croatia. Source: Wikipedia: Cheese
The earliest preserved cheese ever discovered, from as early as 1615 BCE, was found in a desert cemetery in which present-day country?Answer: China. Source: Wikipedia: Cheese
In Homer's Odyssey, which monster makes and stores cheese from the milk of sheep and goats?Answer: The Cyclops. Source: Wikipedia: Cheese
In which country did the first factory for the industrial production of cheese open, in 1815?Answer: Switzerland. Source: Wikipedia: Cheese
Pliny the Elder wrote that the best cheeses came from villages near which town, though they did not keep?Answer: Nîmes. Source: Wikipedia: Cheese
Which dairy farmer of Rome, New York, began making cheese in an assembly-line fashion in 1851?Answer: Jesse Williams. Source: Wikipedia: Cheese
Whom did ancient Greek mythology credit with the discovery of cheese?Answer: Aristaeus. Source: Wikipedia: Cheese
The word cheese comes from the Latin caseus. Which modern word for a milk protein comes from it too?Answer: Casein. Source: Wikipedia: Cheese
Curds, whey and ripening 12
The aging of cheese is called ripening. What is the French word for it?Answer: Affinage. Source: Wikipedia: Cheese
For Edam, Gouda and Colby the curd is washed in warm water. What does washing do?Answer: It lowers the acidity for a milder cheese. Source: Wikipedia: Cheese
In cheesemaking, the solid curds are separated from which liquid?Answer: Whey. Source: Wikipedia: Cheese
Most cheeses are acidified by bacteria. What do the bacteria turn the milk sugars into?Answer: Lactic acid. Source: Wikipedia: Cheese
Most vegetarian rennet is produced by fermentation. Which kind of organism does the work?Answer: A fungus. Source: Wikipedia: Cheese
Mozzarella and Provolone get their stringy body from which step?Answer: Stretching the curd in hot water. Source: Wikipedia: Cheese
Roquefort, Stilton and Gorgonzola are all cheeses of which kind?Answer: Blue cheeses. Source: Wikipedia: Cheese
What does the saying "you can't melt cheese twice" mean?Answer: Some things can only be done once. Source: Wikipedia: Cheese
What gives Emmental cheese its holes, or eyes?Answer: Bubbles of carbon dioxide made by bacteria as it ages. Source: Wikipedia: Cheese
What is a cheesemonger?Answer: A specialist seller of cheeses. Source: Wikipedia: Cheese
When curds are pressed into a mold, what does more pressure give?Answer: A harder cheese. Source: Wikipedia: Cheese
Which measure is most commonly and traditionally used to classify cheeses?Answer: Moisture content. Source: Wikipedia: Cheese
Cheddar 12
By tradition, cheddar had to be made within 30 miles of which cathedral?Answer: Wells Cathedral. Source: Wikipedia: Cheddar cheese
Cheddar cheese comes from the village of Cheddar. In which English county is it?Answer: Somerset. Source: Wikipedia: Cheddar cheese
During the Second World War most of Britain's milk went into a single cheese. What was its nickname?Answer: Government cheddar. Source: Wikipedia: Cheddar cheese
Harding said that cheddar is "not made in the field, nor in the byre, nor even in the cow". Where did he say it is made?Answer: In the dairy. Source: Wikipedia: Cheddar cheese
Joseph Harding introduced a "revolving breaker" to cheesemaking. What was it for?Answer: Cutting the curd. Source: Wikipedia: Cheddar cheese
Mature cheddar may contain large cheese crystals. What do they consist of?Answer: Calcium lactate. Source: Wikipedia: Cheddar cheese
Strong, extra-mature cheddar is sometimes called vintage. How long must it be matured?Answer: 15 months or more. Source: Wikipedia: Cheddar cheese
What happens to the curd in the step called cheddaring?Answer: It is cut into cubes, then stacked and turned. Source: Wikipedia: Cheddar cheese
What in Cheddar Gorge gave the steady temperature and humidity for maturing the cheese?Answer: Caves. Source: Wikipedia: Cheddar cheese
Which coloring, taken from the seeds of the tropical achiote tree, turns cheddar orange?Answer: Annatto. Source: Wikipedia: Cheddar cheese
Which Somerset dairyman of the 19th century has been dubbed "the father of cheddar"?Answer: Joseph Harding. Source: Wikipedia: Cheddar cheese
Why was annatto first added to cheddar?Answer: To imitate the color of rich milk from grass-fed Jersey and Guernsey cows. Source: Wikipedia: Cheddar cheese
Mozzarella and cheese abroad 12
Bocconcini are bite-sized balls of mozzarella. What does bocconcini mean?Answer: Small mouthful. Source: Wikipedia: Mozzarella
Ema datshi, the national dish of Bhutan, is made from homemade cheese and what?Answer: Hot peppers. Source: Wikipedia: Cheese
Fresh mozzarella balls are named for their size. What does ciliegine mean?Answer: Small cherries. Source: Wikipedia: Mozzarella
Genetic research suggests that river buffalo reached Italy from India in which century?Answer: The 7th century. Source: Wikipedia: Mozzarella
In a Caprese salad, mozzarella is served with sliced tomatoes and which herb?Answer: Basil. Source: Wikipedia: Mozzarella
In France the cheese course comes before dessert. Where does it come in the British tradition?Answer: After dessert. Source: Wikipedia: Cheese
Mozzarella is made by the pasta filata method. What does pasta filata mean?Answer: Stretched curd. Source: Wikipedia: Mozzarella
The name mozzarella derives from the Italian mozzare. What does mozzare mean?Answer: To cut off. Source: Wikipedia: Mozzarella
What is mozzarella called when it is made with cow's milk?Answer: Fior di latte. Source: Wikipedia: Mozzarella
What is mozzarella called when it is twisted to form a braid?Answer: Treccia. Source: Wikipedia: Mozzarella
What sound does fresh mozzarella make when it is chewed or rubbed?Answer: A squeak. Source: Wikipedia: Mozzarella
Which French leader once asked how anyone can govern a country that has 246 kinds of cheese?Answer: Charles de Gaulle. Source: Wikipedia: Cheese
How this list was compiled
Written for this site; nothing was copied from another list. The questions and the wrong choices are our own. Every answer was read on October 3, 2026 in one of three English Wikipedia articles, Cheese, Cheddar cheese or Mozzarella (en.wikipedia.org, text under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license); each question links the article that states its fact, and each explanation restates that article in our own sentence. Left out on purpose: cheese companies and their products, record-size cheeses, sales and consumption rankings, which change every year, what to drink with cheese, nutrition and health claims, and the dietary laws of any faith. Facts that other packs on this site already ask (where rennet comes from, halloumi, fondue, raclette, paneer as a fresh cheese, the cheesehead hat) are not asked again. Levels are our estimate: easy is fair for any table, hard will stump most. Licence: own work