The discovery likely occurred multiple times across ancient pastoral cultures in Central Asia, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe. Storing milk in animal stomachs or skins, which naturally contain bacteria, allowed ambient warmth to trigger lactic acid fermentation, preserving the milk and creating a dense, sour curd. This process gave nomadic tribes a crucial, non-perishable source of nutrition. Centuries later, scientific minds like Louis Pasteur identified the bacteria responsible, and Ilya