Customer Reviews

American Cheeses: The Best Regional, Artisan, and Farmhouse Cheeses, Who Makes Them, and Where to Find Them

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There is a good deal to like about "American Cheeses", by Clark Wolf, but it depends on what you're looking for. I had thought the book would be more concerned with cheese itself....the art of cheesemaking, how cheeses differ, etc., and yes, the book begins with just that. In fact, it's a small part of the book but it's the best part.

Yet most of "American Cheeses" is made up of the author's favorite cheese places in the U.S. to visit and contains LOTS of recipes. In fact, the recipes more or less overwhelm the book, serving as a filler to the rest. Had the author taken us more in-depth about cheese as a history and as a product itself, I think he would have been more successful.

Some of the more notable boutique producers were omitted or given a too brief review. Not a lot of new ground covered.

And he does a great job of introducing us to the farmers, cheese makers and friends he has met along the way. It's not a cheese primer, but a glimpse into how some of the folks who bring us a pretty common product, chese, also care for their animals and the Earth we all share.

Great stories well told. With recipes!

I enjoyed reading this book and learned a bit about cheese, but the cheese information is quite limited. The bulk of the book is a list of cheese makers with very limited information about the cheeses they produce, and the information will probably be out-of-date before long. The most useful thing I learned was that shrink-wrapped cheese, like many vendors offer or if you use a Foodsaver, will protect the cheese and allowed it to continue aging, but if all you want is a firmer cheese, use wax paper or cheese wrap which allows the cheese to dry out but retain its current flavor. Plastic wraps keep the surface too moist and encourage spoilage.