d r l o Indulge your love of cheese with w this definitive guide to over 750 C of the world’s finest cheeses. Learn more about your favourite varieties—who makes them aaannnddd wwwwwwhhhhhhyyyyy tttthhheeeyyy tttaaasssttteee sssooo gggooooood. H E E EExperiience some offf tthhhhhhe worlldd’’s most iiconiiic cheeses in extra detail, with over 20 special features detailing the origin, history, and secrets of renowned cheeses, such as Parmigiano-Reggiano, S Reblochon, Manchego, Cheddar, and Gouda. • Discover what new cheeses to try—all of them carefully selected by local experts from 25 countries. E • And, most importantly, fi nd out how best to enjoy each of these delicious cheeses. BOOK JJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJuuuullllllllllllllllllllliiiiiiiieeeettttttttttttttt HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbuuuuuuuuutttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt EDITOR-IN-CHIEF “Brilliant and inspirational— Discover more at a must-have for anyone who loves cheese.” Alex James www.dk.com cheese book 0U0S1__0H0a1l_fTHitalelf.Tinitdled. in d1d 1 2268//0055//22000099 1147::1378 cheese book 0U0S2_-000023-_0T0it3le_.Tinitdled. in d2d 2 2268//0055//22000099 1141::0181 cheese book EDITOR-IN-CHIEF juliet harbutt CONTRIBUTORS martin aspinwall • stéphane blohorn • vincenzo bozzetti • kevin john broome ran buck • sagi cooper • dianne curtin • jim davies • sheana davis • angela gray rie hijikata • rumiko honma • katie jarvis • monika linton • gurth pretty hansueli renz • richard sutton • will studd • joe warwick • aad vernooij 0U0S2_-000023-_0T0it3le_.Tinitdled. in d3d 3 2161//0056//22000099 1145::0384 London, new York, MeLbourne, Munich, and deLhi Project Editor danielle di Michiel Senior Art Editor elly king Editorial Assistants Shashwati Tia Sarkar, erin boeck Motum Designer william hicks Managing Editor dawn henderson Managing Art Editor christine keilty Senior Jacket Creative nicola Powling Senior Production Editor Jennifer Murray Production Controller alice holloway Creative Technical Support Sonia charbonnier US Editors rebecca warren, christy Lusiak DK India DTP Designers dheeraj arora, Preetam Singh, Jagtar Singh Senior Designer Tannishtha chakraborty Design Manager romi chakraborty Head of Publishing aparna Sharma First american edition, 2009 Published in the united States by dk Publishing 375 hudson Street new York, new York 10014 09 10 11 12 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 wd205—october 2008 copyright © 2009 dorling kindersley Limited all rights reserved without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book. Published in Great britain by dorling kindersley Limited. a catalog record for this book is available from the Library of congress. iSbn 978-0-7566-5442-9 dk books are available at special discounts when purchased in bulk for sales promotions, premiums, fund-raising, or educational use. For details, contact: dk Publishing Special Markets, 375 hudson Street, new York, new York 10014 or [email protected]. Printed and bound in Singapore by Star Standard Discover more at www.dk.com 0U0S4_-000045-_0C0o5n_tCeonntst.einndtsd. in d4d 4 2268//0055//22000099 1147::0580 CONTENTS Introduction 6 Germany, Austria, and Switzerland 234 Understanding Cheese 8 Using this Book 9 Germany 235 Fresh Cheeses 10 Austria 238 Aged Fresh Cheeses 12 Switzerland 240 Soft White Cheeses 14 Special Features Semi-soft Cheeses 16 Emmentaler 242 Hard Cheeses 18 Blue Cheeses 20 Scandinavia 246 Flavor-added Cheeses 22 Denmark 247 The Perfect Cheeseboard 24 Norway 249 Sweden 250 France 26 Finland 253 Special Features Beaufort 38 Eastern Europe and Brie de Meaux 46 the Near East 254 Comté 56 Greece 256 Epoisses de Bourgogne 64 Hungary 260 Reblochon de Savoie 74 Slovakia 260 Roquefort 82 Turkey 261 Sainte-Maure de Touraine 92 Cyprus 261 Lebanon 264 Italy 102 Israel 264 Special Features Special Features Gorgonzola 110 Feta 258 Mozzarella di Bufala 120 Halloumi 262 Parmigiano-Reggiano 130 Taleggio 138 The Americas 266 USA 270 Spain and Portugal 146 Canada 312 Spain 148 Mexico 320 Portugal 167 Brazil 321 Special Features Argentina 321 Mahòn 154 Special Features Manchego 162 Monterey Jack 286 Great Britain and Japan 322 Ireland 170 England 172 Australia and Scotland 207 New Zealand 326 Wales 213 Australia 328 Ireland 219 New Zealand 335 Special Features Cheddar 180 Stilton 192 Glossary 342 Yarg Cornish Cheese 200 Resources 344 Caboc 210 Index 346 Caerphilly 216 Contributors 351 Acknowledgments 352 Low Countries 226 Belgium 227 The Netherlands 230 Special Features Gouda 232 0U0S4_-000045-_0C0o5n_tCeonntst.einndtsd. in d5d 5 2161//0056//22000099 1145::0384 Introduction Evidence of cheesemaking has been found dating back to 2800 bce, but the discovery of cheese would have come about as a happy accident. Any milk left to warm by a fire or stored in a sack made from the stomach of an animal would have soured, causing the milk solids (the curds) and liquid (the whey) to coagulate and separate, allowing humans to learn that their most precious commodity, milk, could be preserved in the form of cheese and, eventually, that rennet found in the stomach of the milk-producing animal was the coagulant. The Story of Cheese know today as Trappist or monastery cheeses, of which Now, some 5,000 years later, cheese is made all over the Maroilles of Northern France was probably the first. world with all kinds of milk, from reindeer’s milk in Historically, a cheese’s size was determined by the Lapland, to buffalo’s milk in Australia, and yak’s milk in amount of milk available and the proximity to the the Kingdom of Bhutan. The miracle of cheese is that, nearest market; hence, mountain cheese tended to be although milk tastes virtually the same the world over, large, with the farmers combining their milk to make the diversity of textures, tastes, and aromas is almost slow-ripening cheeses they could sell at the end of the infinite, and virtually any cheese can be made anywhere summer months when the cows returned to the valleys. in the world. The size, shape, and milk of a cheese, Those made in the valleys and near large markets would however, has been determined by such diverse external N forces as historical events, centuries of experimentation, have been smaller, quicker to ripen, and sold at weekly o markets. Shape was determined religious orders, and the I T by the sophistication of the terrain, while the nuances C maker and the raw materials u of texture and taste are d influenced by the raw available to make the molds— o whether woven grass, fired materials—the type and R clay, or wood. T breed of animal, the soil, N the grazing, the climate, Today, Europe’s traditional I microclimate, and ingenuity cheeses are typically made of the cheesemaker. in designated areas by various artisan producers European cheeses owe whose combined volume is much to the Greeks’ sufficiently high that the 6 knowledge and, later, the cheese can be found around Romans, who built on that the world. Classic examples knowledge and took their include raw milk Camembert recipes for making cheese de Normandie (see p44), made across Europe to feed their by only five producers and legions as their Empire Parmigiano-Reggiano (see spread—a legacy clearly seen p130), made by around 830 throughout Europe to this day. small producers. Artisan The Middle Ages saw the cheeses developed in the last proliferation of monastic 30 years or so, however, tend orders across Europe and into to be invented by individual Britain and Ireland, particularly cheesemakers and are often the Benedictine and, later, hard to find outside their the Cistercian monks, who region or country of origin, The ancient art of cheesemaking is lovingly depicted in developed the cheeses we even if made in large volumes. this colorful Swiss wood engraving. 0U0S6_-000069-_0I0n9tr_oI.nintdrod. in d6d 6 2161//0056//22000099 1165::2314 The Raw Materials How Cheese is Made The individual identity and personality of a cheese is Cheesemaking equipment and methods vary from determined by a number of facts of nature. cheesemaker to cheesemaker, but the basic principles involved have remained unchanged for thousands of years. The climate and landscape, including the minerals in the soil, affect what flora grows, and therefore what a 1 The milk ideally, milk is pumped straight from the milk-producing animal eats, thereby influencing the milking parlor to the dairy where it is checked and tested subtle flavors of the milk. Even the most unobservant to ensure it is pure and clean. it may then be pasteurized, cannot fail to see and smell the difference between fresh typically at 165ºF (73ºC) for 15 seconds. The milk is grass, wild clover, and meadow flowers compared with transferred to a vat and heated until it reaches the compacted feed, silage, or turnips. Minerals also affect the acidity level required for the type of cheese being made. speed of ripening, the texture, and flavor of the cheese. 2 Coagulation or curdling Once the acidity reaches the The animal and its grazing habits add another desired level, a special cocktail of lactic bacteria or starter dimension. The comfort-loving cow is largely found on rich culture is added. This both converts the lactose to lactic acid plains, lush valleys, and sunny mountain pastures. Goats, and contributes to the flavor, aroma, and texture of the unlike cows and sheep, are browsers, tearing sparse but cheese. (Too much or not enough acidity results in imperfect aromatic flora from hedges, craggy peaks, rock-strewn cheeses.) Most cheeses are made by adding rennet (derived valleys or, when the opportunity arises, from the farmers’ from the stomach of a milk-fed animal) or another carefully manicured garden. The resulting milk is coagulant to make sure the protein and fat in the milk bond herbaceous, like a crisp, white wine infused with herbs, and are not lost in the whey. becoming like marzipan or ground almonds with age. Curdling is the fundamental step in cheesemaking, as the The sweet, almost caramel, taste of ewe’s milk has been degree of coagulation determines the final moisture content i valued in Europe and the Middle East for thousands of N of the cheese, and this in turn affects the speed of the T years. The numerous breeds adapt to almost any climate, fermentation process. R some surviving on seemingly nothing, yielding but a few O liters of milk a day imbued with the essence of the wild, d 3 Separation of curds and whey The freshly formed u aromatic herbs, grasses, and flora that form their diet. curd looks like white jelly, while the whey is a yellow-green C The breed of animal can also be a factor. Compared T color. Gently separating the curds from the whey creates i with the high volume yield of the Friesian, for example, O soft, high-moisture cheeses, while cutting the curds expels milk from Jersey or Guernsey cows has large fat globules N more whey and produces harder cheeses. The finer the curd that produce a richer, smoother deep Monet-yellow is cut, the harder and finer-grained the final cheese. The cheese, and the sweet, mellifluous milk of the Montbéliarde whey is drained off once it reaches the desired acidity. cow is renowned throughout the Savoy region of France. 4 Shaping and salting The curds are then piled into The microclimate of both the milk and the cheese room molds or hoops and may be pressed before being turned out provide the finishing touch. Tiny colorful, wind-born 7 of their molds. Once out of the mold, the cheese is rubbed or molds and yeasts treat each new batch of protein-rich sprinkled with salt or soaked in brine before being placed curd as a canvas on which to create their daily masterpiece, in a cold room or cellar to age. while a multitude of naturally occurring bacteria prefer the seclusion and warmth of the interior to work their 5 Aging and the affineur The aging process is the art magic. These convert the sweet milk sugars, or lactose, and science of cheesemaking, as it brings out the character into lactic acid and so begins the fermentation process. of the milk and the unique flavors attributed to the Once an accident of nature, most have been harnessed by grazing. A good affineur, someone who ripens cheeses, can cheesemakers to ensure the end result is more predictable. nurture the simplest cheese to yield up every nuance of These microflora, along with the subtleties inherent in flavor. Artisan cheeses vary from day to day, depending on milk, are lost when the milk is pasteurized and must be the grazing, the season, the conditions in the cheese room, re-introduced in the form of a cocktail of bacteria known and the cheesemaker; so, unlike wine, cheese has a as a starter culture. Regrettably, these laboratory- vintage every day, which is what makes it so extraordinary produced cultures cannot emulate the complexity and wonderful. provided by Mother Nature. 0U0S6_-000069-_0I0n9tr_oI.nintdrod. in d7d 7 2161//0056//22000099 1165::2314 Understanding Cheese there is no universal system for identifying cheeses. instead, FRESH CHEESES every cheese-producing country has its own system using HARD CHEESES (See pp10–11) (See pp18–19) technical terms such as semi-hard, semi-cooked, pressed uncooked, smear-ripened, or washed-curd that are all but meaningless, and confusing, to cheese lovers. By contrast, this book uses the editor-in-chief’s easy-to-grasp system of identifying cheese types, based on the type of rind a cheese grows and its texture. AGED FRESH CHEESES (See pp12–13) the way it works is that the amount of moisture, or whey, that is left in the cheese determines not only the texture of the BLUE CHEESES (See pp20–21) interior, or paste as it is often called, but also the type of rind and molds the cheese will grow. there is the odd exception that crosses two of these categories, but most are very obvious. e the editor-in-chief’s system (see pp10–23) identifies seven s e different types of cheese: e SOFT WHITE CHEESES Fresh, Aged Fresh, Soft White, Semi-soft, Hard, h (See pp14–15) Blue, and Flavor-added. c g using this system, with just a glance and a gentle squeeze FLAVOR-ADDED n CHEESES (See pp22–23) i you can categorize 99 percent of the cheeses you meet, d whether from a French market, a new York cheese shop, or n a elsewhere. With a little practice, you can assess a cheese’s t basic character, strength of flavor, how it will behave when s r cooked, and even its ripeness and quality. e SEMI-SOFT CHEESES d (See pp16–17) n u Denomination and 8 Designation of Origin some cheeses have legally protected names linked to their provenance. certifying the origin of a cheese recognizes its terroir (French) or tipicità (italian), acknowledging that the unique character of each traditionally made food is a result of a complex interaction of soil, plant life, and climate combined with traditional production methods and raw materials—a combination that cannot be replicated elsewhere. there are various national systems, such as the French aOc (appellation d’Origine contrôlée) and the italian dOc (denominazione d’Origine controllata), as well as the european In 1666, Roquefort was the first cheese to community-created PdO (Protected designation of Origin) for be protected by law, the forerunner for the traditional regional wines and food made throughout the ec. aOc system in France. 0U0S6_-000069-_0I0n9tr_oI.nintdrod. in d8d 8 2161//0056//22000099 1165::2314