The Cheese Companion: The Connoisseur's Guide - Hardcover

Ridgway, Judy

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1840920815 ISBN 13: 9781840920819

Publisher: Apple Press, 1999

Synopsis

Different nations have been producing cheese in one way or another for around 5000 years. The various different methods and procedures that have been used and developed over the centuries have resulted in the wide variety of cheese available. This book presents an A-Z directory of over 100 of the world's best known cheeses, exploring the history and methods of cheese-making country-by-country. Each one is described in full, including where and how it was made. A profile lists variations where appropriate, style, maturity and recommended wine partnerships. The author also offers serving suggestions with full recipes in some cases, tips on what to look for in a good cheese, an explanation of the different ways of classifying cheese, how to cut and store cheese and a list of producers and distributors throughout the world.

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: Apple Press
• Publication date: 1999
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1840920815
• ISBN 13: 9781840920819
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 224