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(Interestingly, Camembert cheese is not made in the village of Camembert, Jenkins informs us, nor is cheddar cheese made in the English town of Cheddar. Not any more, anyway. And needless to say, "real" cheddar cheese is apparently a very different thing from the mass-produced yellow bricks we find in our grocery store.)
The cover of this book describes Steven Jenkins as "America's most opinionated authority" when it comes to cheese, and I've no doubt that's true. His opinions do in fact come through loud and clear. As with any "authority" on matters of taste, you can give his opinions as much weight as you think they deserve. There's no question, though, that Jenkins is immensely informed about his topic. And if you feel a little self-conscious carrying this Primer to your local *crémerie*, rest assured that it would still be easier than trying to memorize all the facts, tips, recommendations, and warnings the book contains.
It's not a huge problem for a casual reader that there are errors in the book - though some of them are factual, many of them are changes caused by the growth in interest in good cheese in the U.S. Availability is changeable, and we get to eat more delicious treasures because of greater interest in cheeses here in America, which includes the promotion of cheeses by Mr. Jenkins. I've heard that he's working on a second edition, but that was a couple years ago, and a revision of a work like this is certainly a long process.
That being said, the picture on p. 116 *is* captioned incorrectly. The text above the picture is about Emmentaler. A wheel of Emmentaler (originally from Bern, a bulging Swiss cheese with holes produced by the action of innocuous bacteria added to the curd in production and a smooth, brushed rind) is identified as a wheel of Comte (a cheese from the Franche-Comte region of France with a few small holes, and a flat, bumpy, natural brown rind, pictured on p. 114). This is obviously an editing mistake. Believe me, your average book editor is not going to be identify cheeses by sight at ten paces as a cheesemonger can. If you turn the book upside down and look closely, you will be able to read the words "Grand Cru" on the top of the cheese. It's Grand Cru Emmentaler.
Mr. Jenkins tells us himself, "I'm opinionated about flavor and pull no punches." He is opinionated, and his likes and dislikes come through strongly. Don't decide to dismiss a cheese entirely because he doesn't like it, or accept it just because he loves it. You just can't do that with food. This is a chatty, enjoyable, conversational read, but if you want to learn about cheese, don't just read this book. Read others too, and *most importantly*, go out and meet your local cheesemonger and taste all the different types of cheese you can!
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