The Cheese Plate

by David Gibbins and Max Mccalman

If you've ever had genuine farmhouse Cheddar from England, or real Alsatian Munster, or aged Parmigiano-Reggiano, you know that fine hand-crafted cheeses have absolutely nothing to do with the bland,... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0609604961
• Release Date: March 2002
• Publisher: Clarkson Potter
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 2.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 10.0" x 0.8" x 7.8"

Customer Reviews

Sumptuous Book

This is a beautiful book full of very useful information, like pairing wines with cheese and how to choose cheeses for a tasting party, and georgeous color photography. This is not a cheese finder, it's a book on how to enjoy cheese. Paired with the Cheese Primer by Steven Jenkins, the cheese neophite will have all the information needed for enjoying the world cheeses.

marvelous *

In depth, in tune, and filled with expertise, guidance, and encouragement. This is a gem of a book, and fills me with some of the same enthusiasm about cheeses which the author displays. The reading is approachable, even though each chapter is stuffed with intriguing cheese facts. I can't imagine there's a better all-around book on cheeses that's been written. Highly recommended.

Very informative

My husband and I liked this book very much. As a reviewer below notes, it is *loaded* with information. It is well written and fun to read.(It is also fairly sparsely illustrated, so the calling it a coffee table book - as one reviewer does - seems pretty far off the mark).

Perfect Aid to All Levels of Fromager

Masterpiece of a work on cheese. Eight sections guide one through about all there is to know about the subject from a maitre fromager, cheese master.The sections begin with a history of the subject, then proceeding into a needful discussion of the difference between "artisanal" (handmade) versus "process" cheeses. Chapter Three breaksdown the steps in cheese making.Chapter Four is a most profitable read, How to buy, store and serve various kinds of cheeses. Neat features here are "How Much? Per-Person Serving" Calculator and "How to Detach A Stuck Wrapper."Section Five gets us where we want to grow, Tasting. It is remarkably similar to wine tasting, with descriptors such as color, modifiers, density, texture, flavor, and subjective elements.Chapters Six and Seven are the meat of the book: Cheese Pairings and The Cheese Course. Here we learn to put all learned to use at the menu stage, be it appetizer, last course, or whole course itself. Here are practical suggestions with different settings and differing levels of expertise suggested.Finally, a tour of the world of cheese, country by country with the author's assessment provided. What I really appreciate here is the addition of "Recommended Pairings" and "Similar Cheeses" .This well done book will enhance anyone's delving into the world of fromage, with this expert guide moving us into new areas of exploration.

The Best Cheese Book In Print

What I loved about this book is that it takes an in-depth approach to cheese as opposed to the encyclopedia method. From this book you will learn more about how cheese is made, the factors that the raw materials (milk) will effect the quality of the cheese, along with the rather difficult question of wine and cheese parings. The other nice factor is that it is written in such a matter-of-fact way that it is a pleasure to read.