The French, san doute, love their fromages. And there’s much to love: hundreds of gloriously pungent varieties-crumbly, creamy, buttery, even shot through with bottle-green mold. So many varieties, in fact, that the aspiring gourmand might fairly wonder, How to make sense of it all?
In The Whole Fromage Kathe Lison sets out to learn what makes French cheese so remarkable-why France is the “Cheese Mother Ship,” in the words of one American expert. She meets the dairy scientists, shepherds, affineurs, and cheesemakers who make up the world of modern French cheese and whose lifestyles and philosophies are as varied and flavorful as the delicacies they produce. She meets head-on the polemics of self-appointed defenders of traditional French cheese, who consider themselves the last best hope against American-style sanitation, standardization, and fast-food culture. And most delicious of all, she meets the cheeses themselves-from spruce-wrapped Mont d’Or, so gooey it’s best eaten with a spoon; to luminous Beaufort, redolent of Alpine grasses and wildflowers, a single round of which can weigh as much as a Saint Bernard; toCamembert, invented in Normandy but beloved and imitated the world over.
With writing as piquant and rich as a well-aged Roquefort, as charming as a tender springtime chevre, and yet as unsentimental as a stinky Maroilles, The Whole Fromage is a tasty exploration of some of the great culinary treasures of France.