Customer Reviews

Cheese Book

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This is a thorough discussion of cheeses, with three introductory chapters (Cheese: the Wine of Foods, How Cheese is Made, and Keeping the Names Straight), followed by 14 chapters covering different varietys of cheeses (The Swisses, Parmesan, The Great Cheddars, The Blue-Veined Cheeses, etc.), then a section on cheese tasting, selecting cheeses, serving, them and serving & restoring them. The final section contains cheese-related recipes, such as Quiche Lorraine, Bread & Onion Custard with Cheese, souffles, fondues, cheesecake, and much more.

James Beard reviewed this book, "This book is as wonderful as the great cheeses it describes. I was moved to mouth-watering and to admiration for the knowledge and, in every sense of the word, taste of the authors.

Nina Hazelton: The authors' thoroughness and honest are awe-inspiring, as is their knowledge. What's more, their judgment is excellent; when they say a cheese is good, you know it is good. ... I found it fascinating bed reading, stimulating yet soothing, with delicious little nuggets of odd information which stick in the mind and make good dinner-table conversation."

I came upon this book long after it swept into thousands of American homes via Book Clubs. (1960's) At that time it must have been considered an incredible resource as cheeses (beyond the standards) were still largely unfamiliar commodies to most. It may have been a bit overly-thorough for the average reader at that time.

Today we are on the whole a lot more cheese-savvy in this country and there are wonderful cheeses to be found near at hand. It's wonderful to find a book that takes the time to go into all the various aspects of cheese-making, buying, storing, serving, as well as covering the fascinating history of cheese down through the ages. Every possible type of cheese seems to be covered - it's amazing how many there are!

Then finally one comes to the recipes - not many, but all use basic ingredients, are quite simply prepared and incredibly tasty. They've all worked well for me (and I've tried most all of them.) The cheddar cheese soup is easy to prepare and is one of the best I've ever tasted. It's the two creamy onion soups with cheese (one with a hard sharp cheese like cheddar, one with parmesan) that are the piece de resistance for me in this fine book. I consider the book worth it for the soup recipes alone! If you like cheese -- ANY kind of cheese -- grab yourself a copy of this now out-of-print book!

"The Cheese Book" is an excellent guide to cheese and everything that goes with it. With thorough descriptions of nearly every type of cheese in the world, information on the origins of cheese, how they are made, and recipes using them; this book contains everything you ever needed to know about cheese. It also provides good information about buying, serving and storing cheese properly. The only negative about this book is that it can be lengthy at times, but if you have a true interest in cheese that won't bother you at all.

This little book (mine is paperback) is one of my favorite of all time. Two women, amateurs, head to Europe in order to try cheeses. In the process they receive an education in all facets of the cheese industry from animals to growing to types to - best of all - the history behind a number of popular cheeses.

They are adventuresome eaters and what is particularly endearing about the pair is their unabashed enthusiasm for their product as they sample and smell and spoon all manner of things. No sophisticated air or silent nod of the head from these two. They traipse through country after country in Europe eating as they go. The chapters are divided into logical categories - mainly by types of cheese - "aromatic", cheddars, blues, Double and Triple Cremes), Monastery, etc. They present a good discussion of the pros and (mostly) cons of "pasteurization" and the resulting blandness in the American diet.

Some parts of the book are hilarious - the Goat cheese contest is worth the price of the book alone. The recipes are simply an added bonus with the tip of the hat going to the beer Welsh Rarebit - a snack of divine origins.

I got a copy of this book in a used book store and have enjoyed it tremendously. It makes a good reference piece but is also just plain fun to read. I read portions aloud during a particularly dull road trip and a whole car-full of listeners enjoyed it with me.

There's a delightful spirit in it, both snobby and ironic. I'm eating a pungent Limburger as I type so I looked up the Limburger entry. It says about Limburger, "As Lincoln remarked in a different context, people who like this sort of thing will like this very much."

How can you argue with that?