A French master fromager shares over 30 years of expertise in selecting,
storing, and serving cheese - from Abondance to Valençay There are many
books about cheese, but this one features the professional knowledge and
passion of a French master fromager who shares his expertise on making
sense of the many cheese varieties--crumbly, creamy, buttery, moldy--for
which France is famous. From farms in the pastoral French countryside and
cheese caves in a medieval Alpine monastery to the dairy scientists and
affineurs who comprise the world of modern French cheese, no other book
that covers the entire cheese spectrum. The book begins with answers to 70
commonly heard questions -- from why there are crusts on some cheese to why
is mimolette orange and why cheeses do not all smell alike - and sections
explaining the basics of cheese-making and ripening, the nuances of cow,
sheep, and goat milk, and the alchemy of essential probiotics used as
starter cultures. The main part of the book pays tribute to France's 45
A.O.P. cheeses - such as Brie de Meaux, Maroilles, Morbier, Munster,
Rocquefort, Valençay - which have been granted the appellation d'origine
protégée guaranteeing origin and type. Each profile features a full-page
photographic portrait with detailed text about terroir and origin,
selection, tasting, presentation, serving, and wine pairing.