Sometimes you have to travel back a few millennia to truly understand what’s sitting on your cheese board – and what’s in store for you on November 8th at Cheese Berlin. Sure, cheese is about flavour. But it can also be a journey into human history: turning milk into something lasting was, after all, one of civilization's very first strokes of genius.

This year, we’re looking at Cheese Berlin through that quintessentially untranslatable German prefix: „Ur-“ — the mother of all beginnings, meaning primal, ancient, and original.

Cyclopes, glaciers, wooden barrels: The Ur-bedrocks of cheese

Tracing things back to their Ur-origins, you inevitably find yourself knee-deep in ancient myth and glacial crevices. Even Homer told tales of Polyphemus curdling milk — an Ur-procedure that introduced Odysseus to the Ur-Feta on his travels (though it was hardly an Ur-laub or vacation). And while Ötzi was trekking through the Ötztal Alps with a chunk of cheese in his bag, alpine herders on the high plateau of Asiago were already treading very similar paths to craft the Ur-forms of what we know today as Asiago PDO.

Asiago is a true Ur-bedrock of Northern Italian cheese culture. Originally made from sheep’s milk before shifting to cow’s milk, it tells the story of the rugged mountain pastures in the Venetian Alps. Whether as a young, supple Pressato or as a long-aged, crumbly d’Allevo, it holds centuries of hard-won knowledge about aging, preservation, and making the most of extreme alpine landscapes.

That real barrel-aged Feta PDO is far more than just a crumbly salad garnish becomes obvious on another trip through time. Behind the protected seal lies genuine pastoral craft: milk drawn solely from Greek sheep and goats grazing on sparse, herb-rich hillsides, slowly matured in brine. It’s an edible testament to wild landscapes and an ur-ancient method of preservation that secured survival long before anyone dreamed of a refrigerator.

Who set the clock to Ur? Time travel in the copper vat

If you’ve ever wondered what the Neolithic era actually tasted like, step right into an unusual kind of time machine. Archaeologist Luise Tiemann and alpine cheesemaker Anton „macht Kes“ Sutterlüty built their own vessel to the past, retreating for an entire month to a Vorsäß (a traditional seasonal alp settlement) in the Bregenzerwald. Their toolkit: raw alpine milk, ancient cultures, and faithful replicas of 7,000-year-old ceramic cheese strainers found in modern-day northern Poland.

The result? Prehistoric cheesemaking, pure and simple. A taste experiment that brings primeval history vividly to life in a Saturday Cheese Talk.

Ur-uguay: Radical craft from the South Atlantic

The little prefix „Ur“ doesn’t just lead us back to antiquity; it also takes us straight to the shores of the South Atlantic. Far removed from old European dogma, Uruguay is quietly birthing one of the most idiosyncratic cheese cultures around today.

At his micro-dairy, pioneer Martin Rosberg works with unapologetic radicalism: raw milk, wild cultures, hands-on craft. In his Cheese Talk “Gaucho Groove & Raw Milk Rebellion: Uruguay’s Cheese Avant-Garde”, he shows how the utterly familiar can become something entirely new – such as his Camembert Antiguo, a primal Ur-interpretation of the classic. In his luggage, he’s also bringing thrilling creations from fellow local artisans. A transatlantic look that proves: even on the other side of the planet, true craft seeks its Ur-roots — only to forge fiercely independent new traditions.

The perfect holiday: a Sunday travelling the world

Anyone who’s ready for a holiday after all that time-travelling will find it right in the heart of Kreuzberg. Over 50 exhibitors are bringing their cheeses from north, south, east and west. Anyone looking for an expert guide on this ‘voyage lactique’ can join the Cheesewalks:

A tour of Germany: Marc Albrecht-Seidel from the VHM dispels clichés and takes us beyond Harz and mountain cheeses through a mosaic of quirky farmhouse dairies and radical new discoveries.

Tour de Nord: Iceland’s Cheese Queen, Eirný Sigurðardóttir, takes us on her very own journey through the north, where Northern Ireland, southern England, Sweden, Finland, Norway and Iceland naturally form part of the route.

Un Viaggio Italiano: Lucia Rizzo – a gastronomy researcher by profession – takes us from the Alps to the South – from Asiago via Fontina to Parmigiano Reggiano, far removed from the familiar classics.

Rustically Ur like an open hearth: The big L’Étivaz finale!

Bringing things to a crowning Ur-Bang at 5:30 PM is an honest slice of alpine Ur-tradition: live on stage, an imposing 30-kilogram wheel of the rare L’Étivaz AOP will be cracked wide open. Made in copper vats over an open wood fire, it is perhaps the most uncompromising Ur-bedrock of the Vaud Alps. Accompanied by the mighty drone of four alphorns, this mountain gold will be sliced fresh off the wheel and served straight into your hands – complete with a raffle and the chance to experience this Ur-craft firsthand. Meaning: we’re giving away a trip straight to its Swiss mountain home!

Whether it’s prehistoric trials, South American pioneer spirit, or an alphorn-charged Swiss finale: this Sunday is a journey through time. And above all: one well worth taking.

Tickets & full lineup available at cheese-berlin.de