When one was growing up - more than six decades ago - in a one or at best two mule town tucked in the mid-Himalayan backwaters of Uttar Pradesh, there was only one variety of cheese available and that too rarely in the store that specialised in strictly rationed, imported stuff. Krafts processed cheddar it was. It was much later that Amul made its appearance, signalling the success of the White Revolution.

But we digress. For a majority of Indians, cheese in the decade after we got our Independence was an acquired taste - without doubt foreign in origin and expensive enough to be a prized treat. No one would suggest that the desi paneer recently introduced by the refugees from Pakistan had a very distant relationship with the tinned stuff.

But things have changed dramatically. Native (perhaps not a politically correct word) cheeses are literally tumbling down on us nowadays. Articles by foodies in travel magazines and blogs are laboriously reminding us that much before Vasco da Gama set his foot on hard land in Kozhikode, Indians had tasted cheese.