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Cheese Primer

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Author: Steven Jenkins
Publisher: Workman Publishing Company
Category: Book

List Price: ~~$16.95~~
Buy Used: $3.81
You Save: $13.14 (78%)

New (48) Used (47) Collectible (3) from $3.81

Avg. Customer Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

29 reviews
Sales Rank: 58253

Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 576
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.7
Dimensions (in): 8.9 x 6 x 1.2

ISBN: 0894807625
Dewey Decimal Number: 641.373
UPC: 019628017628
EAN: 9780894807626
ASIN: 0894807625

Publication Date: November 1, 1996
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Condition: NEW BOOK!! WE SHIP 6 DAYS A WEEK!!

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Editorial Reviews:

Amazon.com
If you want a fascinating food book, say Cheese Primer. For 20 years, Steve Jenkins has lead the way in upgrading the quality of cheese sold at fine food stores in the U.S. Finally, in this volume, he shares his encyclopedic knowledge. Jenkins tells all about cheesemaking at the commercial as well as the artistic level. Generously punctuated with maps and photos, the book includes all kinds of historical and other relevant information. Jenkins seems to describe every kind of cheese made in the U.S. and Europe, including when to eat them, how and with what. His passion and blunt opinions make it easy to travel the 548 pages of this book if you have even the smallest interest in cheese. The guide to pronunciation is particularly helpful.

Product Description
Steven Jenkins is our foremost cheese authority--in the words of The New York Times, "a Broadway impresario whose hit is food." Now, after years of importing cheeses, scouring the cheese-producing areas of the world, and setting up cheese counters at gourmet food shops, he's decided to write it all down. Full of passion, knowledge, and an expert's considered opinions the cheese primer tells you everything you need to know about the hundreds of cheeses that have, in the last few years, become available in this country. Region-by-region, he covers all the major cheeses from France, Italy, Switzerland--the top tier of cheese-producing countries--plus the best of Britain, Ireland, Spain, the United States, Austria, Germany, and other countries. Along the way he tells how to pick out a healthy Pont l'Eveque; why to reconsider the noble Fontina for more than just cooking; how to avoid those factory-made chevres; why to seek out the sublime Vacherin Mont d'Or; and how to start exploring--Bleu de Bresse, Cabrales, Crottin de Chavignol, and so on. A complete primer, it includes information on the best ways to store and serve cheese, including which wines to serve alongside them; how to orchestrate a proper cheese course; and the unimportable cheeses to look up when abroad.

Customer Reviews: Read 24 more reviews...

3 out of 5 stars

Good, but getting out of date May 20, 2008

A good introduction to cheese, with details about specific European cheeses (especially French) for the more advanced cheesehead. Good general overviews of the countries, and comments about some of the strengths and short-comings of each. Unfortunately, this book is going on 12 years old so it's almost irrelevant for locating specific cheeses.
The section on the U.S. is especially out-of-date as the artisinal industry has continued to explode since publishing. Worth a buy and a browse for $10, but there must be something better out there.

5 out of 5 stars

holy cow, goat, and sheep! February 27, 2008
Working in the specialty department of whole foods market, and having tasted my way through a hundred cheeses, i needed to know more! this book is great-- more about cheese than you would ever want or need to know. I picked this book because it is the reference book we use at work, and it explained way more different cheeses than any 5 books combined. the author is very opinionated--i dont agree with some of his blacklisted cheeses, but he is passionate about cheese. and cheese is an honorable thing to be passionate about. great book! and the wine pairings are very helpful--

5 out of 5 stars

Great book on cheese November 19, 2007
I was sold when I saw this book displayed at my favorite cheese counter. I use this text to find wine and cheese matches, but it also has a wealth of opinionated information on cheese itself. I love cheese, and I love this book.

4 out of 5 stars

A Thorough Introduction to the World of Cheese January 19, 2007
4 out of 5 found this review helpful

STEVE JENKINS CHEESE PRIMER is a great overview of how cheeses are made, what regions of world produce which cheeses and general information about how to serve them.

Though truthfully this book offers way too much information to digest in any one sitting - without a morsel to taste, I have found the information contained here valuable in figuring out how to approach such a broad subject.

The biggest thing I have learned is that there is no real way to learn about most great cheeses in the United States. Thanks to government regulations that do not allow merchants to sell non-pasteurized cheeses, we Yanks are prevented from tasting the most remarkable ones -- widely available in France, Italy, Switzerland and Spain.

Still I do recommend this book because Jenkins knows his stuff. With 20 years experience tasting and buying cheese for Dean & DeLuca, Balducci's and Fairway (three of Manhattan's legendary specialty markets), he's traveled the world and sampled it all. And he's not a snob. He's good at translating his knowledge into information that anyone can relate to.

I think this book would be fantastic for a book club, though I doubt any would consider reading it. Still it would be wonderful if each week the club covered a different chapter and offered a trio of cheeses that best exemplified the regions Jenkins covers.

-- Regina McMenamin

4 out of 5 stars

The Best Introduction to Cheese November 9, 2006
11 out of 12 found this review helpful

Steven Jenkins has written 'a passionate guide
to cheese'. He may well be, as the cover copy
claims 'America's most opinionated authority'.
What makes this book the most important volume
on the subject right now is that the man has
tasted most of the world's cheeses and has or-
ganized his careful tasting notes in a way that
makes them easy to access.

His geographical sections are sprinkled with
sidebars that are often interesting or useful
and his writing style is bubbly and fun.

It's true that this book is in no way a primer.
It's not about first principles, and some of what
it has to say is just plain wrong. Fat doesn't
float because it's heavier than water, (p.15)
for instance and the best wine to serve with
a cheese is only occasionally one from the
same region (many of the best dairy lands aren't
in wine country).

Of course, any book that calls itself opinionated
is going to have opinions that provoke disagreement.
There are also going to be holes in the en-
cyclopedic fabric. (Steve, how could you have missed
Austria's Voralberger Bergk�se?)

Quibbles aside, this is an author who cares about
one of the good things in life and has devoted his
time, taste and intelligence to sharing that thing
with the rest of us. The result is a book that will
bring a lot of pleasure and be used as a reference
for many years. For less than the cost of a pound
of Reggiano, this is a great buy.

Lynn Hoffman, author of THE NEW SHORT COURSE IN WINE
and the forthcoming novel bang-BANG from Kunati Press.
(ISBN 1601640005)

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