There are very few animals as important to civilization (and fine cuisine) as the Aurochs, yet most people have never heard of it. Without the Aurochs we would not have butter, yogurt, sour cream, ice cream or half-and-half. No Brie, Jarlsberg, Comté, Parmesan or Stilton cheese either. There would be no spare ribs, T-bone, flank steak, tête de veau, hamburger or rocky mountain oysters. And there would be no leather jackets or chocolate milk.

You’ve probably guessed that the Aurochs is not a creature from Dr. Seuss or The Hobbit, but has something to do with cows. The Aurochs is the ancient ancestor of our modern cattle. Persians domesticated the Aurochs about 10,000 years ago and the selective breeding began. Modern cattle are smaller (about 1 foot shorter and 1000 pounds lighter), give more milk, and they are not as nasty.

Sadly, there are no more Aurochs. The last one died in the forests of eastern Europe in 1627. If you would like to see one, there is a skeleton in the Zoological Museum in Copenhagen, and some marvelous paintings on the walls in the caves at Lascaux, France.