The Cheese Companion: The Connoisseur's Guide (Connoisseur Companions)
After a short section devoted to the history of cheese and how it is made, this latest book from prolific food writer Ridgeway (International Vegetarian Cooking, Crossing, 1997) becomes a directory consisting of profiles of over 100 different cheeses. Entries vary in length from one to three pages and provide information on each cheese's name, origin, characteristics, variations, and serving suggestions. Each entry also offers a clever "cheese wheel" symbol indicating the type of milk used in creating the cheese, its maturity period, its pungency, and suggestions of wines to serve as accompaniment. While this work does include a few recipes, serious cooks will gravitate more toward Christian Teubner's The Cheese Bible (Penguin Studio, 1998) or Julie Harbutt's The World Encyclopedia of Cheese (Lorenz, 1998), which focus more on cooking with cheese. Ridgeway's book is perfect for patrons who need practical information about the stuff itself. Recommended for medium to large public libraries.AJohn Charles, Scottsdale P.L., AZCopyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.