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The Cheese Chronicles: A Journey Through the Making and Selling of Cheese in America, From Field to Farm to Table [Paperback]

Liz Thorpe (Author)
3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)

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Book Description

August 11, 2009

The Cheese Chronicles is an insider's look at the burgeoning world of American cheese from one lucky person who has seen more wedges and wheels, visited more cheesemakers, and tasted more delicious (and occasionally stinky) American cheese than anyone else. Liz Thorpe, second in command at New York's renowned Murray's Cheese, has used her notes and conversations from hundreds of tastings spanning nearly a decade to fashion this odyssey through the wonders of American cheese. Offering more than eighty profiles of the best, the most representative, and the most important cheesemakers, Thorpe chronicles American cheesemaking from the brave foodie hobbyists of twenty years ago (who put artisanal cheese on the map) to the carefully cultivated milkers and makers of today.

Thorpe travels to the nation's cheese farms and factories, four-star kitchens and farmers' markets, bringing you along for the journey. In her quest to explore cheesemaking, she high-lights the country's greatest cheeses and concludes that today's cheesemakers can help provide more nourishing and sensible food for all Americans.

Steve Jenkins, author of the celebrated Cheese Primer, calls this "the best book about cheese you'll ever read." The Cheese Chronicles is a cultural history of an industry that has found breakout success and achieved equal footing with its European cousins.


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Editorial Reviews

Review

“[Thorpe] zips engagingly from tasting notes and the best makers to the aging process. Through Thorpe’s eyes, readers will truly behold the power of cheese.” (Town & Country )

“[The Cheese Chronicles]’s overall scope, humor, and affection will both entertain and educate its audience. Recommended for foodies, especially those with a passion for cheese.” (Library Journal )

“Liz’s knowledge of cheese has been invaluable to us at The French Laundry and Per Se. Whether working with our chefs or teaching classes to our staff, her passion is contagious and has helped us to elevate our cheese program through the years. (Thomas Keller, Chef, The French Laundry and Per Se )

“The Cheese Chronicles does more than just introduce us to America’s rediscovered culinary frontier--it offers everyone from novice to affineur an informative and unconventional context for what can only be described as a revolution in cheese.” (Dan Barber, Executive Chef and co-owner, Blue Hill at Stone Barns )

About the Author

A Yale graduate, Liz Thorpe left a "normal" job in 2002 to work the counter at New York's famed Murray's Cheese. She managed and expanded their wholesale business, designed cheese menus for the country's best restaurants, coauthored The Murray's Cheese Handbook, and followed her passion for cheese. She is now the vice president of Murray's, and lives in Brooklyn with her husband and two cats.


Product Details

  • Paperback: 400 pages
  • Publisher: Ecco; Original edition (August 11, 2009)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0061451169
  • ISBN-13: 978-0061451164
  • Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.6 x 1.1 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #213,469 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

13 Reviews
5 star:
 (8)
4 star:    (0)
3 star:
 (3)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:
 (2)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.9 out of 5 stars (13 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars Should have been called the Liz Chronicles, October 8, 2009
By 
Gene Pope "gene" (Trout Creek, MT USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   
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This review is from: The Cheese Chronicles: A Journey Through the Making and Selling of Cheese in America, From Field to Farm to Table (Paperback)
Can you imagine having a tour of a great museum, looking at wonderful artwork but whenever the guide shows you a piece and explains it they stand in front of the piece, blocking your view of the art such that all you can see is the guide? That is what reading this book is like. A great author can make you feel like you are part of a place and experience without thrusting themselves into the scene. Not so with this book. At first it was tedious and then it just became annoying. That is a shame really because there is a lot of good info about cheese and cheese makers is in this book, it just takes too much effort to continually shove the guide out of the way so you can see the art behind her.
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars So easy to devour just like great cheese itself, October 4, 2009
This review is from: The Cheese Chronicles: A Journey Through the Making and Selling of Cheese in America, From Field to Farm to Table (Paperback)
I absolutely loved The Cheese Chronicles. The writing was so compelling and colorful that I found myself devouring a hundred pages at a time.

The Cheese Chronicles by Liz Thorpe is hard to categorize. It's part cheese guide, part travelogue, part cheese history, and part memoir. Whatever it is, Thorpe manages to make it all work and it flows like a well written story. The bulk of the book is focused on the cheesemakers and the cheeses they produce and Thorpe does a great job of bringing the people and their products to life. This includes a lot of smaller producers in less known cheese producing regions (like the southeast) and some that mostly sell at farmers' markets. Even though she tells you about a lot of cheese that are similar (i.e. strong blues, bloomy rinds, fresh goat cheeses, etc.) she does an amazing job of describing what makes each cheese unique. Because of this you can almost taste how the cheese are different and you never get bored hearing about another goat or bloomy rind cheese, no matter how many she has told you about. I also loved her descriptions of the cheeses. They are very colloqueal and unpretenious, but without being silly. I especially love that she was honest about her descriptions and unafraid to mention when the quality varied over time or when it was a cheese in a style that she didn't particularly like but she thought others would enjoy.

She also does a nice job of weaving in a lot of the science and history of cheese without making the book dull or dense. It's the right blend of storytelling, science, and history. You learn a lot without realizing it because she makes it so approachable and entertaining. My only nit on the book is that some information is repeated several times throughout the book as if she hasn't told you before and it gets a little annoying. However, it is a VERY slight nit and doesn't take away from the quality of the book or the enjoyment I got from reading it.

Overall, I can't say enough good things about this book. I've read varying qualities of non-fiction food writing and Thorpe has distinguished herself as one of the best. You'll buy this book for her entertaining desciptions, vivid storytelling, and educational facts and you'll keep it because it makes a great guide of unique cheeses to check out. Highly recommended.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars You will want to make cheese after reading this book, August 27, 2011
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I enjoyed the writers background story very much. She should write another book just of her travels to the cheese or even food places/restaurants she visits. This book has made me get ready for a trip to Vermont to actually make cheese for a couple of days. If you like cheese, this is an interesting and informative book. Bravo on the subject finally! You will want to be a cheesemaker after reading this.
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