Was it stubborness or necessity? There’s this myth of early humans being foolhardy or even stupid and just stuffing whatever they can find in their gob, but starvation was a real killer.
I dunno, but there are still plenty of lactose intolerant people that insist on drinking milk and not taking any medicine…
So, I’d guess a bit of both.
I’ll just also add that getting sick because of the milk doesn’t alleviate any starvation.
I have a friend who does that. He insists that ice cream is worth it if we’re out gallivanting. The rest of the car does not agree.
Have you met people…?
We’re worse than pigs. Worse than dogs, even.
We’ll stuff anything into our mouths, no matter what it tastes like or what it does to our bodies, and we don’t eat even more garbage because our parents train it out of us when we try to stuff random shit into our mouths as toddlers.
Fuck, we use poisons and toxins plants have evolved over hundreds of millions of years to make themselves inedible (and which do kill most other critters that try to eat them, so be very careful what you feed your pets) to make other foods taste “better”!
Suckling that massive deadly horned beast’s teat will give you a bellyache and the runs…? Who the fuck cares‽ We’re human! We’ll suckle the damn teat because it’s there, by jingo, even if we end up getting gored and trampled by the beast, and we will like it! And then we’ll roast the beast and eat it too, stewed in its brethren’s milk, and seasoned with poisonous plants! And raise its children to do the same to them once they’ve grown up! And some while they’re still young, more tender!
Both cows and bulls have horns.
That said, I’m sure bull “milk” has been tried at some point, people being people, but it wouldn’t make good cheese and bulls don’t produce it in sufficient quantity to build a food industry around it (except as a way to produce more cows).
I always thought the first person to eat cheese must have been either desperate or brave or both
It turns out though, that the fermentation made it far, far easier on the stomach for our caveman friends, and that’s how it became so popular and widespread
Cheese was also quite important for military campaigns and the like because it is nutritious and has a long shelf life, which is at least documented for the time of the ancient Romans. So the person who dared to try it first is indeed a historically significant figure - but in my eyes more of a culinary mastermind.
This is what the rest of the world is doing rn
I remember when the first subway opened in Xi’an. I was so excited after months of eating Chinese food (and some Indian and pizza hut for alts). There was a line of people and they were getting everything on their sandwiches including multiple cheeses. If it didn’t cost more you just took it in Chinese food culture. I got my turkey and provolone and was enjoying that shitty shit sandwich just for it’s novelty. The people before me were trying to eat their globby shit sandwich with extra cheese and the look on their faces were of complete disgust. I think subway did serious damage to sandwich futures in China that day.
I think it’s possible I’m at least a bit lactose intolerant. I haven’t really looked into it because I know I’m not stopping, so what’s the point? Is life without milk, butter, and cheese even a life worth living? I seriously doubt it. No offense to those living worthless lives who can’t help it!
There’s a whole world of culinary delight waiting for you when you realize that dairy isn’t the only flavor! I became severely lactose intolerant a long time ago. It was sad at first, but after trying a variety of Indian, Chinese, Korean, and other Asian dishes, I found it to be a lot more enjoyable. There’s so much more to life than using mountains of cheese and rivers of gravy to make something taste good.
Sure I might be intolerant, but have you pondered ice cream?