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.


From Publishers Weekly
"Once ripened... the inner cheese becomes liquescent, bone-colored, and extraordinarily flavorful... nutty, beefier, and woody, with hints of peat, like a single malt Scotch from Islay. The cheese is tumescent, glistening." It may be cheese to you, but to Jenkins it's a perfect Teleme California cheese originally made by Greek immigrants. In 1973, Jenkins moved to New York City from Missouri to pursue dreams of acting?which explains how he came to run the cheese department at two of New York's gourmet meccas, Dean & DeLuca and Fairway. The first American invited into the the Guilde de St. Uguzon and a Chevalier du Taste-Fromage, Jenkins is really a missionary. After a lesson in cheesemaking from which readers can truly understand why washing the rind or cheddaring makes the end product taste different, Jenkins examines, country by country, the great cheeses of France, Italy, Switzerland, Spain, Britain, the U.S. and, in one fell swoop, Canada and the rest of the European cheese-making countries. He describes how they are found, served and what makes them great?or not. "Bel Paese," he notes, "is immensely popular because it is very mild (read bland)... I don't recommend it to my customers under any circumstances for any purpose." He takes a similarly unrelenting posture towards young Goudas or Provolones, but most of his ire is aimed at the mass produced cheeses and the misguided government regulations, like the USFDA's refusal to allow the importation of raw milk cheeses aged less than 60 days, that keep Americans ignorant of some of the world's great cheeses. Hence, this volume becomes partly a travel book as Jenkins urges Americans abroad to sample the forbidden. With unflagging enthusiasm and a seemingly endless reserve of information (much offered in boxes and sidebars), The author combines the romance and legend of an ancient craft with addresses, names, recipes and other hard facts. Jenkins employs prose as gloriously redolent, seductive and irresistible as his favorite cheeses to demonstrate how sight, smell and touch can be marshaled in the service of taste. Illustrations not seen by PW. BOMC featured alternate; 15-city author tour. Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
According to Webster, a primer is "a textbook that gives the first principles of any subject." Jenkins, an internationally recognized expert on cheese and a regular writer for food magazines, has produced just that. Though he opens with discussions of how cheese is made and how to buy and serve it, the bulk of the book is organized regionally into "tiers." The first tier includes France, Italy, and Switzerland; the second covers Spain, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and the United States; and the third takes in the rest of northern Europe, the Balkans, and Canada. The author suggests the best wine and cheese matches, offers an annotated directory of American cheesemakers, and ends with a quick reference index. Fairly exhaustive, this book is the perfect companion to the myriad recipe books for cheese. Recommended.Wendy Miller, Lexington P.L., Ky.Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.


Book 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.


From the Publisher
Steve Jenkin's CHEESE PRIMER is a selection of the Book-of-the-Month Club's Good Cook Club. It is also the winner of the James Beard Food and Beverage Book Award. A mere two years after its release, it is quickly being recognized as the premiere guide to all things cheesy. 60,000 copies in print.


Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
The Cheeses COMTE (GRUYERE DE COMTE) The full name for Comte (cone-TAY), French Gruyere, is Gruyere de Comte (grew-YAIR or gree-AIR-duh-cone-TAY). Franche-Comte is adjacent to Switzerland just above Haute-Savoie and south of the Vosges in the Alsace Region. The original Gruyere was neither Swiss nor French (see box, page 115). But as the French became more and more nationalistic, and perhaps increasingly ethnocentric, they wanted their cheese to have its own identity. After all, it was somewhat different from the Swiss Gruyere: Occasionally it had pea- or cherry-size holes (eyes), it was a bit more straw-colored, a bit firmer, and the flavor was more nutlike. rather than call it French Gruyere, they began referring to it as Comte, or at the very least as Gruyere de Comte. I find the Swiss Gruyere is a little granular and tastes a bit waxy, with some bite, whereas French Gruyere de Comte has more of an oily sweetness to it. I prefer the nuttier, toffee-tasting French variety, although both are great cheeses. The real difference between Swiss Gruyere and French Comte is: The Swiss allow their cheeses to go to market after only three months, whereas Comte is rarely aged for less than six months and often it is ages as long as a year. Comte is used frequently in the cooking of the region and throughout France, appearing in quiches, onion soup--of course--and numerous tarts, onion gratins, and potato gratins. It is also considered an essential table cheese for eating out of hand or to finish a meal. All French Comte is name-controlled and excellent. The "least best" example is that from the lowlands of Comte, because the milk used to make it just cannot approach the quality of high Alpine pasture Franche-Comte milk. The grading of Comte before its release is stringent and only excellent cheese which have earned 14 (or more) out of 20 points on the grading scale are allowed to have their rinds stamped in green with the cheese name and the image of a bell. To identify the best you must taste; two good brands are Arnaud and Jura-Gruyere. There are no Comte factories; there are about 300 small dairies (fruitieres) that turn out an average of only six to seven cheeses a day. These are then sold to companies that are (affiner) them following rules established by the fruitieres. These affineurs (some of whom also make cheese) sell the cheeses they have ripened to retailers and exporters. Some Savoie-based producer/affineurs, namely Perrin and Delean, make fine mountain cheese similar to Comte but are primarily known for their indigenous Reblochon and Tomme de Savoie. Reybier, located in the Jura, is another firm with a reputation for distributing fine-quality Comte as well as other great cheeses of Franche-Comte and Savoie. Wheels of Comte average 75 to 80 pounds (371/2 to 40 k) each and are only about 4 inches thick, whereas French Emmental, a regional kinsman, can be as much as 10 inches thick. The Comtes have parallel, flat faces, whereas Emmentals are great, convex, rounded balloons like inner tubes without the hole. Comtes are more than 3 feet in diameter with a beautiful brown, pebbled rind, and always a striking paper label. Choosing and Serving Comte (Gruyere de Comte) It's hard to come home with a less than perfect piece of Comte, one of the most enjoyable, versatile cheeses imaginable. Avoid any batch that is moldy or dried out, and don't let your cheesemonger sell you a hunk that has a disproportionate amount of rind. It is preferable to have a piece of Comte cut for you rather than to purchase it pre-cut and pre-wrapped. (The cheese will have lost its perfume and some of its life, even if it was cut and wrapped only a day earlier.) Here is the only advisory needed: Don't buy old stock. The cheese should be a yellowish-ivory color inside, and the gray-brown pebbled rind should be uniform and intact, not cracked. Avoid any batch that shows more than one-half inch of darkness between the interior cheese and the outer crust-an indication of excessive drying. Don't let the purveyor cut you a piece too close to the side rind: Either insist on a piece closer to the center of the wheel or buy a long tranche (slab). You are paying mainly for the rind if your piece is surrounded on three sides. Don't be bothered by the horizontal fissures (lenures) in the cheese's interior near the rind. These are natural and are always found in Comte. Use Comte anytime, any way--melt it, cube it, julienne it. However you treat it, know that Comte is a classic, all-purpose winner-as appropriate with salami and bread for lunch as it is an elegant after-dinner treat with fruit and any wine of your choosing. Comte is superb as a snack--try it grated or thinly sliced on bread, toasted, and topped off with a twist of freshly ground black pepper. It is also excellent as a salad cheese--diced into the salad or served on the side.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

From one of America's foremost cheese authorities comes a comprehensive guide to the best cheeses in the world. Region-by-region, Jenkins covers all the major cheese from France, Italy, Switzerland, and other areas and includes information on judging, buying, storing, serving, and enjoying the tremendous variety of cheeses available at food shops and supermarkets today. Includes wine guide. Photos.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

"Once ripened... the inner cheese becomes liquescent, bone-colored, and extraordinarily flavorful... nutty, beefier, and woody, with hints of peat, like a single malt Scotch from Islay. The cheese is tumescent, glistening." It may be cheese to you, but to Jenkins it's a perfect Teleme California cheese originally made by Greek immigrants. In 1973, Jenkins moved to New York City from Missouri to pursue dreams of acting-which explains how he came to run the cheese department at two of New York's gourmet meccas, Dean & DeLuca and Fairway. The first American invited into the the Guilde de St. Uguzon and a Chevalier du Taste-Fromage, Jenkins is really a missionary. After a lesson in cheesemaking from which readers can truly understand why washing the rind or cheddaring makes the end product taste different, Jenkins examines, country by country, the great cheeses of France, Italy, Switzerland, Spain, Britain, the U.S. and, in one fell swoop, Canada and the rest of the European cheese-making countries. He describes how they are found, served and what makes them great-or not. "Bel Paese," he notes, "is immensely popular because it is very mild (read bland)... I don't recommend it to my customers under any circumstances for any purpose." He takes a similarly unrelenting posture towards young Goudas or Provolones, but most of his ire is aimed at the mass produced cheeses and the misguided government regulations, like the USFDA's refusal to allow the importation of raw milk cheeses aged less than 60 days, that keep Americans ignorant of some of the world's great cheeses. Hence, this volume becomes partly a travel book as Jenkins urges Americans abroad to sample the forbidden. With unflagging enthusiasm and a seemingly endless reserve of information (much offered in boxes and sidebars), The author combines the romance and legend of an ancient craft with addresses, names, recipes and other hard facts. Jenkins employs prose as gloriously redolent, seductive and irresistible as his favorite cheeses to demonstrate how sight, smell and touch can be marshaled in the service of taste. Illustrations not seen by PW. BOMC featured alternate; 15-city author tour. (Nov.)

Library Journal