The Cheese Lover’s Companion is a concise, yet comprehensive A-to-Z guide to more than 500 international cheeses from the bestselling authors of The New Food Lover's Companion . Once expensive delicacies, cheeses from all over the world—France, Italy, Spain, England, Greece, Mexico—are now widely available and more popular than ever. Sharon T. Herbst and Ron Herbst provide all the information the cheese lover needs in one handy companion volume, including more than 500 cheese entries, from Appenzeller to Zamorano, complete with spellings, country of origin, phonetic pronunciations and uses. The Cheese Lover’s Companion explains such terms as acidity, casein, curd, rennet, and whey, and reveals how cheese is made; how to buy, store, and serve various kinds; and what varieties pair well with wine or beer. Looking for a French cheese, but can’t recall its name? This ultimate reference includes an index of cheeses by country, as well as a breakdown by style—such as fresh, natural rind, soft, semi-soft, and hard, blue—and by type of milk—cow, goat, sheep, buffalo. “Whether you’re already a cheese enthusiast or a novice nibbler, “The Cheese Lover’s Companion” will prove invaluable.” - Detroit News “Includes everything a cook or a fan needs to know about cheese. . . . Wonderful.” - Sacramento Bee While there are hundred of cheese books available, most are large, weighty tomes with cheeses arranged by country, which means readers have to know where the cheese is from or search through a confusing index to find it. THE CHEESE LOVER'S COMPANION is the most comprehensive, indispensable, user–friendly A–to–Z guide that includes everything about cheese. Included are entries from Asiago to Zamorano; cheese terminology; information on how cheese is made along with tips for pairing cheese with wine and beer. The small, handy format makes it easy to take the book along when choosing and buying cheese. Sharon Tyler Herbst and Ron Herbst, award-winning food authors and consultants, are among the world's foremost authorities on wine, food, and cheese. The Cheese Lover's Companion The Ultimate A-to-Z Cheese Guide with More Than 1,000 Listings for Cheeses and Cheese-Related Terms By Sharon T. Herbst HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. Copyright © 2007 Sharon T. Herbst All right reserved. ISBN: 9780060537043 Chapter One How Cheese is Made Cheesemaking is a blend of art and science that's intriguingly simple yet remarkably intricate. This process differs with each cheese, and there are myriad variations at every juncture, including temperature, cutting of the curd, draining, molding, and ripening. Of course each step requires perfect timing, which is just as pivotal to making good cheese as it is to all of life. The soul of every cheese is the milk used to make it, and cheesemakers know that success relies not only on the animal (and its breed) from which the milk comes, but on the terroir and the time of year that produced the plant life on which the animal grazed, not to mention the time of day it was milked. The complex formula for success continues with numerous other factors, including whether the milk is pasteurized or raw, starter cultures and molds, the production techniques, and the aging process. All are aspects masterfully manipulated by the cheesemaker. Following are the basic steps for making most cheeses. For broader descriptions of individual cheesemaking-related terms (such as bandaging and milling) or techniques for special cheese styles (such as blue-veined cheeses and pasta filata cheeses), see the cross-reference list at the end of this section. Coagulation: This initial step transforms the milk into curd (solids) and whey(liquid). The milk may be allowed to sour and curdle naturally, a process that, for most cheesemakers, requires too much time. To speed the natural process, cheesemakers typically begin by adding a starter to slightly warm milk to ripen it. This starter (also known as a bacterial culture ) converts the milk sugar (lactose) into lactic acid and balances the acidity (pH level) so the milk protein (casein) will continue to coagulate with the addition of rennet. Finally, the rennet is added and the milk completes its coagulation, forming one huge curd. It should be noted that the rennet and starter are symbiotic and the starter remains alive and active during the ripening process, contributing characteristics such as flavor, texture, and complexity. Cutting the Curd: The curd is cut when it reaches the appropriate texture for the cheese being made. Cutting,which may be done manually or by machine, separates the curd into uniform pieces and helps expel the whey. The cut curd is stirred and the whey drained off. The smaller the curds, the more liquid is released, the result of which will be a denser, drier cheese. For example, cheddar is typically made from rice-size bits. On the other hand, softer cheeses are made from larger curds, which contain more whey. For ma