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Liz Thorpe
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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 – August 11, 2009

by Liz Thorpe (Author)
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 49 ratings
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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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  1. Print length
    400 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Ecco
  4. Publication date
    August 11, 2009
  5. Dimensions
    5.5 x 1 x 8.25 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0061451169
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0061451164
  8. See all details
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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

From the Back Cover

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.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Ecco; Original edition (August 11, 2009)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 400 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0061451169
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0061451164
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 12.8 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 1 x 8.25 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 49 ratings

About the author

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Liz Thorpe

Liz Thorpe

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After years in a cubicle, in 2002 Liz Thorpe was drawn out of corporate America to pursue her passion for cheese. Since then she has become the country’s leading expert on cheese, from working the counter at New York’s famed Murray’s Cheese and later managing Murray’s businesses as vice president, to designing cheese menus for the country’s best restaurants, to authoring The Cheese Chronicles. Now, as founder of The People’s Cheese, Liz teaches a broader market why cheese matters and how to make it a part of everyday life. She lives in New Orleans.

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
49 global ratings

Customers say

Customers find the book very informative and interesting, and say it's great for cheese lovers. They also describe it as an engaging read that seamlessly weaves personal stories of struggle and triumph. Readers praise the writing style as well-written and fun.

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ContentReadabilityWriting styleEnjoyment
10 customers mention "Content"10 positive0 negative

Customers find the book very informative, interesting, and enlightening. They also appreciate the great cheese gossip and anecdotes.

"...I highly recommend it! It's entertaining and educational." Read more

"...The book is well written, engaging and informative. It just wasn’t my speed." Read more

"...If you like cheese, this is an interesting and informative book. Bravo on the subject finally!..." Read more

"...Overall, it was an enlightening look into the world of cheese." Read more

10 customers mention "Readability"10 positive0 negative

Customers find the book well-written, engaging, and informative. They appreciate the diversity of choice and the wonderful journey. They also say the book seamlessly weaves personal stories of struggle and triumph, and that it manages a storyline that flows well.

"...humor. A truly engaging book that seamlessly weaves personal stories of struggle and triumph (and some failures along the way) with an exhaustive..." Read more

"...The book was well written and managed a story line that flowed well. As a bonus, I learned a thing or two about cheese." Read more

"...The book is well written, engaging and informative. It just wasn’t my speed." Read more

"...This book gives you a real appreciation for the diversity of choice in selecting cheeses for your pleasure and the background of those who have made..." Read more

5 customers mention "Writing style"5 positive0 negative

Customers find the book well written, engaging, and informative.

"...This is a wonderfully written narrative through the American cheese "renaissance."..." Read more

"...It is very readable and will really turn you on to the subject of fine cheese...." Read more

"...The book was well written and managed a story line that flowed well. As a bonus, I learned a thing or two about cheese." Read more

"...The book is well written, engaging and informative. It just wasn’t my speed." Read more

3 customers mention "Enjoyment"3 positive0 negative

Customers find the book a fun read with humorous writing.

"...I highly recommend it! It's entertaining and educational." Read more

"Wonderful journey, elegant (and humorous) writing, vast chronicle of the American cheese renaissance...." Read more

"A fun read!..." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

P. D. Smith
5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful journey, elegant (and humorous) writing, vast chronicle of the American cheese renaissance.
Reviewed in the United States on March 24, 2014
Verified Purchase
I don't have any patience for self-serving writing and very little patience for poor prose. I feel like I and some of the readers who gave the book such dreadful reviews must have read a different book, because this book is neither. This is a wonderfully written narrative through the American cheese "renaissance." It's dotted with - horrors, after all, we are discussing cheese! - humor. A truly engaging book that seamlessly weaves personal stories of struggle and triumph (and some failures along the way) with an exhaustive and exceedingly well-researched look at the abundance of cheeses across milks, styles and regional influences, now available to us all - in no small measure, because of the courage of an early few, undaunted group of artisans.

Cheese and wine can be so stodgy in conversation, and in writing; I found this book an immensely pleasurable read.
3 people found this helpful
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Jennifer Ferris
5.0 out of 5 stars Who knew cheese could be so exciting?
Reviewed in the United States on March 16, 2010
Verified Purchase
I have really enjoyed reading this book. The author obviously knows cheese and she manages to pass that enthusiasm on to the reader through the stories in her book. It is very readable and will really turn you on to the subject of fine cheese. I personally keep a small herd of dairy goats myself and sell handcrafted farmstead goat milk soaps. I am still left with an abundance of milk and have considered learning the art of cheesemaking...After reading this book, the thought of enjoying fine cheese from my own farm is more appealing to me than ever before. Even if you don't want to make cheese, you will still enjoy this book. I highly recommend it! It's entertaining and educational.
One person found this helpful
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L. M. M.
4.0 out of 5 stars I truly enjoyed it. The book was well written and managed ...
Reviewed in the United States on July 26, 2015
Verified Purchase
I bought this on a lark, not really expecting much. Started the read on an airplane, and surprise, I truly enjoyed it. The book was well written and managed a story line that flowed well. As a bonus, I learned a thing or two about cheese.
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Nicole M. Means
5.0 out of 5 stars the cheese-makers she encounters along her journey truly love their craft and believe that mediocre cheeses
Reviewed in the United States on February 3, 2016
Verified Purchase
Thorpe’s anthology lacks the pretention of other cheese anthologies that I have read. For instance, rather than pontificating about the most appropriate cheese-making technique, Thorpe personifies cheese as a living, living breathing entity. (Although not part of her cheese tour, she classifies Velveeta and Kraft Singles as “flacid”—that mental image just makes me giggle!) Furthermore, the cheese-makers she encounters along her journey truly love their craft and believe that mediocre cheeses, whether “artisanal” or mass-produced, should not be the norm. (Sorry, Kraft!!)
The many vignettes and Thorpe’s personal ‘cheese notes’ are dispersed throughout the text. For instance, Thorpe meets a 40-something cheese-maker from Dallas, TX who was kicked out of the Junior League because she faltered on her volunteering duties. (Personally, I think this chic had her priorities in order, and shame on the Dallas’ Jr. League for not realizing she could have brought those delicious cheeses to the meetings!! Foolish ladies.) Thorpe’s anthology is a testament that many large-scale manufacturers who really do care about the consumers’ taste buds, and not all factory produced cheeses are necessarily inferior products. So, cheese snobs, put your noses down and open your minds (and taste buds) to some of these delicious varieties.
If ever there was a book about cheese porn, Liz Thorpe has written it. Her vivid descriptions paint a vivid picture of the American landscape in which lovely, unpredictable cheeses are created. Using descriptors like splotchy,stinky, drippy, sexy,masculine, dark, globby, she reminds us that food today is so gluey, so over-processed that we often can't taste the terroir, 'the soul of the place,' the connection to the land. Our country definitely has reached a conundrum in which rubbery, tasteless blocks of cheese have become our norm. But, as illustrated by Thorpe, cheese does not have to be a predictable, processed blob. There is hope for the future of food, and Thorpe has the stories to prove it.
If Thorpe ever needs a travel companion on her next National Cheese Tour (or any cheese tour, for that matter), I am her girl. Her love of cheese, wine, and more cheese have helped me realize that no one, myself included, should ever settle for mediocre cheese.
4 people found this helpful
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Kindle Customer
3.0 out of 5 stars Cheese! Cheese! Cheese!
Reviewed in the United States on January 17, 2017
Verified Purchase
It was probably unwise to start a book dedicated to cheese right after I made a resolution to start eating more healthy. I was completely unable to handle the descriptions of all the many cheeses as I waited for my lunch hour. My carefully prepared healthy meal suddenly seemed woefully inadequate after the descriptions of delicious and luxurious sounding milky delights. And while this book is not entirely what I expected, I learned a lot about American cheese production that I never knew before.

This book is exactly what is says it is. If you are a cheese connoisseur looking for more information on great American cheeses, (note: when I say “American cheese,” I mean cheese made in America, not the toxic yellow squares your mom put on your grade school sandwich with baloney) then this is the book for you. However, if you are like me and consider a wedge of brie from your local grocery to be high living, you are more in need of a cheese primer. That’s not to say there isn’t some interesting information to be gleaned for the cheese novice. Liz Thorpe takes us into to the cheese making process and gives a brief history of cheese in America. The book is well written, engaging and informative. It just wasn’t my speed.
One person found this helpful
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Gus More
5.0 out of 5 stars In the top two best cheese books I know of.
Reviewed in the United States on September 23, 2023
Verified Purchase
A must have for those who love cheese and want to know more about U.S. Artisanal Cheeses.
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A. Meier
5.0 out of 5 stars You will want to make cheese after reading this book
Reviewed in the United States on August 27, 2011
Verified Purchase
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.
2 people found this helpful
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