paragraph

[diamondrg]

According to an old legend, a merchant put milk into the pouch of his camel. The jouncing of the poach and the weather conditions in the desert made milk separate in the curd and whey. The thick part, the curd, was the first cheese.

Cheese is made of ----.
A) the curd of milk
B) whole milk before it separates
C) the whey of milk
D) the curd and whey mixed

[zahari]

I'd say B but I'm not sure. I didn't know the word pouch can be used for camels as well.!

[diamondrg]

I think it should be "poach".

[MrPedantic]

Hello Diamond

The sentence needs a little editing:

"According to an old legend, a merchant put milk into the pouch of his camel. The jolting/bouncing of the pouch and the weather conditions in the desert made the milk separate into curds and whey. The thick part, the curds, was the first cheese."

Does that make it easier to get the answer?

MrP

[diamondrg]

Thank you Mr P for editing. The answer seems to be A, but I chose B in the exam, considering that the curd is the thing which forms at the end of the cheese-making process. That is, I thought that the curd is another name for cheese. How come cheese is made of curds? Isn't cheese made of milk undergoing a process? Isn't the curd a state of milk in that process? How can one eliminate B?

[MrPedantic]

Hello Diamond

I can see your logic: cheese is the result of a process that involves the separation of milk into curds and whey. Thus "milk before it separates" is certainly the grandfather (so to speak) of cheese.

But you could say that the "father" of cheese is "curds"; and the question does say "the thick part, the curds, was the first cheese".

Also, it may be that the question-setter intended to make a distinction between "cheese is made of" and "cheese is made from": the former means "consists of", but the latter means "derives from".

It is a tricky question, though. (Not the first, either!)

MrP

[diamondrg]

Thank you MrPedantic.

[zahari]

does this mean that the correct answer is D?

[MrPedantic]

Hello Zahari

No, not D – sorry!

It's A: the curds.

All the best,

MrP