cover image The Joy of Cheesemaking: The Ultimate Guide to Understanding, Making, and Eating Fine Cheese

The Joy of Cheesemaking: The Ultimate Guide to Understanding, Making, and Eating Fine Cheese

Jody Farnham and Marc Druat. Skyhorse, $14.95 trade paper (256p) ISBN 978-1-61608-060-0

Casual nibblers will wonder at all the charts and formulas for calculating the proper amount of pressure to apply to a wheel of cheese and headings like "Properties of Mesophilic Starter Culture" in this cheesemaking guide. But after the detailed explanation of the cheesemaking process that opens the book, aspiring cheese mongers will find the information on making their very own queso blanco , Camembart or blue cheese fairly simple and straightforward. Farnham and Druat, who both work at the Vermont Institute for Artisan Cheese, offer plenty of recommendations for small producers whose exceptional products are worth seeking out and the recipes that showcase a particular cheese's excellence. Once readers have procured the elusive St. Pete's Blue cheese from Faribault Dairy or the sublime Mt. Tam, a brie-style cheese from California's Cowgirl Creamery, they'll be able to create simple dishes like the grilled cheese sandwich that shows off Mt. Tam's excellence. It's this juxtaposition of the simple and complex that makes the book so enjoyable and lasting. Even if readers never attempt a homemade cheese, they'll walk away with a greater appreciation for the process as well as a great resource for the producers of America's finest cheeses. (May)