History of Cheesecake

If you thought cheesecake originated in New York, allow me to school you. “Cheese cake” dates back to 2,000 BC in Greece and may be even older (except that brings us to a pre-writing point in human history so who knows what those guys were up to). Cheese cake was said to be served to athletes during the very first Olympic games (circa 776 BC) due to the idea that it was a good source of energy. Back then, the average cheese cake was made from cheese, flour, wheat and honey and were also served at Greek weddings.

The first written recipe for cheesecake came about in 230 AD thanks to the Greek writer Athenaeus. After the Romans conquered Greece, they made their own variation known as “libuma.” With the expansion of the Roman empire, the cheesecake began to make its way across Europe. But it wasn’t until the 18th century did folks begin to remove yeast from recipes, making the cake more fitting as a sweet dessert.

Cream cheese (which was the accidental result of a failed attempt to replicate the French cheese Neufchatel) did not find its place in a cheesecake recipe until the dessert reached the US. Many attribute the creation of the New York cheesecake to Arnold Reuben, the well-known sandwicheur (is that a word?). The story traces Reuben’s intrigue to a cheese pie that was served at a dinner party he attended. Thereafter he experimented with the recipe to create the NY cheesecake, a cheesecake that gets its smooth texture and flavor from the extra egg yolks use in the cheese mix.

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