Today’s TBT Cookbook Review goes way back to 2000 when French Cheeses was written by, wait for this, two Japanese authors: Kazuko Masui and Tomoko Yamada. There is a forward by Joel Robuchon, but interestingly these two authors never combined on another book. Perhaps this one exhausted them. I can understand.
No one knows for certain how many cheeses there are in France today, or how many there were in 2000. But this book serves as a visual guide to over 350 of them. A page in this book may feature one, two or three cheeses:
We receive a short description, essential facts [size and weight], type of milk and a little map of France with a red to show you the region of origin.
This book is as pertinent as ever. You can use it at your local megamart for cheese or, if you are like us, tote it around in Paris as you visit the street markets. Suzi and I vividly recall our first day in Paris ever, our first market ever. From a distance, we saw a small cheese stall. When we approached, we were confronted by an assembly of forty goat cheeses. We retreated, numb in our ignorance. Down the street, the guy with ten different kinds of chicken roasting on spits did not help the matter at all.
Cheeses are every bit as intimidating as wine and, just like wine, you need a pocket companion to guide you along. You can still find French Cheese in print, you will never stop using it.