Cheesemonger
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Le Fromager | The Cheesemonger
The fromager, or cheesemonger, transformed milk into cheese and/or sold cheese. He worked for a company or on his own account, purchasing milk from nearby farmers.
In the early days, cheesemakers would use the stomachs and other bladder-like organs of calfs or sheep to store and transport milk. Warm temperatures and the natural rennet found in the stomach lining would curdle the milk, producing milk curds. These curds would be strained and salted for preservation.
The fromager was also known as a crémier (a creamer).
A cheesemaker from Auvergne, France ("Travail de la tomme par un fromager d'Auvergne", circa 1873 drawing by Navellier, Wikimedia Commons).
Meet the modern-day artisan cheesemakers at Niagara Gold
Sources:
“Fromager”, Portail lexical du Centre national de ressources textuelles et lexicales, https://www.cnrtl.fr/definition/fromager.
Bethany Moncel, “The History of Cheese”, The Spruce Eats (https://www.thespruceeats.com/the-history-of-cheese-1328765).