Cheese Reads for Summer

Next week, it’s Bon Voyage, Madame Fromage!  I’ll be packing my cheese valise and flying to Wisconsin to make a little cheese tour, then I'll hole up along the Mississippi at the Anderson Center in Red Wing, Minn. and finish work on a book – no, no, not a cheese book. I wish! In preparation, I’m compiling a reading list of dairy distractions. Here’s what I’ve got so far – let me know if you have any suggestions.

Mastering Cheese, by Max McCalman

            This has been on my nightstand for weeks, and I’ve been savoring it page by page. McCalman’s chapter on raw milk is brilliant, and the full-page photographs make me purr.

The Real Cheese Companion, by Sarah Freeman

            A recommendation from Zeke Ferguson, cheesemonger extraordinaire. When I saw his much-thumbed copy, I took note.

The Cheese Room, by Patricia Michelson

            Another Zeke Ferguson recommendation. Looks like great writing, and Michelson is just about to pop out a book with Jamie Oliver. Fancy.

The Cheese Chronicles, by Liz Thorpe

            Thorpe is the resident cheese maven at Murray’s Cheese in New York. Steven Jenkins of The Cheese Primer calls it a must-read -- when have I ever disobeyed Steven?

Cheesemonger: A Life on the Wedge, by Gordon Edgar

            I can’t stand the punny subtitle, but I’ve heard this is interesting. I’ve been following Edgar’s blog, Gordonzola, for a while now.

The Cheese Nun (DVD)

            Truthfully, I’ve already watched this, but few things make me happier than cheese and nuns, so I’ll take it along in case my cloistered month along the Mississippi makes me lose faith. Benedictines and mold…mmmm, 4 stars.