The Cheese Companion: The Connoisseur's Guide (Connoisseur Companions) - Hardcover

Ridgeway, Judy

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0762405007 ISBN 13: 9780762405008

Publisher: Running Press,U.S., 1999

Synopsis

From Appenzeller to Wensleydale, from Gruyere to Parmigiano-Reggiano, the world of cheese is one to be discovered and savored by everyone who loves to eat. This accessible new paperback version of the original, comprehensive guide to selecting and enjoying the world’s most popular cheeses is designed for easy reference, with an alphabetical directory of 106 varieties. Profiled by name, origin, characteristics, variations, and serving selections, each entry also indicates the type of milk used in production, the cheese’s pungency, fat content, and compatibility with specific wines. A short section traces the history of cheese and how it is made.

About this title

Review

General de Gaulle is said once to have declined an invitation to visit New Zealand on the perfectly reasonable grounds that no Frenchman could be expected to visit a country whose only two cheeses were called "Hard" and "Soft". Regrettably little of New Zealand's cheese- making habits have made it into The Cheese Companion, beyond a remark or two about the islanders' continuing propensity for manufacturing "Hard" (Cheddar). This small failing aside, however, the book is immensely illuminating about just what the general was so reluctant to leave behind. Judy Ridgway profiles and illustrates more than a hundred individual cheeses, chiefly from Europe and North America, giving comparative information for each, such as the type of milk used in its manufacture, style (hard, soft), fat content and ideal eating age; as well as wine-style tasting notes ("...full of nuts and toffee with a lovely long and salty finish") and an indication of the difference between pasteurised and non-pasteurised, and farmhouse factory varieties. (Unsurprisingly, the former invariably come off better). All the great cheeses you would expect to find in such a guide are here, along with carefully chosen, lesser-known names. A general history of cheese making and a judicious handful of recipes complete an essential, authoritative guide that no careful buyer of cheese will want to be without. --Robin Davidson

Edition details

• Publisher: Running Press,U.S.
• Publication date: 1999
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0762405007
• ISBN 13: 9780762405008
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 224