Milk and dairy products have been a central component of Alpine cuisine for centuries. The typical alpine farming with alpine-specific dual-purpose breeds such as the Simmentaler Fleckvieh (Simmental cattle) or the Tiroler Grauvieh (Tyrol Grey) can be traced back to the beginning of our era: Even the Roman writers Pliny and Strabo reported on the good milk productivity of Alpine cattle (bos alpinus). Various Bergkäse varieties from the Alpine region (caseus helveticus) are also said to have been mentioned by Pliny. In his work Naturalis historia, however, he describes cheese from the Gallic provinces as rather unpopular in Rome and compares the strong taste with that of medicine. In the meantime, cheese production in Switzerland and other Alpine countries has developed considerably: cow's milk cheeses such as Swiss Emmentaler, Allgäuer Bergkäse and French Tomme de Savoie, as well as various soft and hard cheeses made from goat's milk are now internationally known and popular.