The Murray's Cheese Handbook

Kaufelt is the current proprietor of the 65-year-old New York City institution known as Murray's Cheese, a Greenwich Village shop of great renown and pungent aromas. (Thorpe oversees its wholesale department.) In this expertly handled and instructive catalogue, the authors include vital information for each of the 300-plus entries; there are mentions of milk type (denoted with icons of a goat, cow, sheep or water buffalo); country of origin; whether the cheese is raw or pasteurized; and the type (semisoft, firm, etc.). The authors wax poetic and multisyllabic on cheeses familiar and obscure, bloomy and blue. To wit, the entry on La Serena cheese begins, "Deep in Extremadura, where Merino sheep forage on slate and granite soil, La Serena is a testament to creative seasonal cheesemaking." And of Shropshire blue: "It's as if staid Stilton had a more flamboyant twin." The authors include a glossary and a series of lists and indexes that cover such territory as what cheeses to serve before a meal, top 10 "Most Intimidating Cheeses" (#9: Stinking Bishop), beer and wine pairings, and "Cheeses to Eat Before You Die." Readers whose town lacks a decent cheese shop might find their mouths watering in frustration, but taken as literature, it would be semihard to find a finer book of prose poetry. (Sept.)