ISBN: 9781603585064 Year Added to Catalog: 2012 Book Format: Paperback Book Art: B&W images Dimensions: 6 x 9 Number of Pages: 272 Book Publisher: Chelsea Green Release Date: December 22, 2012 Web Product ID: 743
Also By This Author
Cheese and Culture
A History of Cheese and its place in Western Civilization
Library Journal Review: Kindstedt (food science, Univ. of Vermont) delivers an extensively researched and comprehensive history of cheese and its place in the development of Western civilization. Beginning with the ancient origins of cheese making and moving through the classical, medieval, and Renaissance periods to the modern era, the author examines the traditional cheeses that came about during each period and how they were tailored to the environment and culture of the time. Finally, he explores the friction that has developed between the United States and the European Union over issues surrounding cheese making and trade, such as protecting traditional product names, food safety regulation, and the use of new agricultural technologies such as genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and hormones. VERDICT Incorporating archaeology, religion, and literature, this detailed, accessible history will appeal to readers who enjoy food histories.—Melissa Stoeger, Deerfield P.L., IL
Booklist Review (April 2012) In this scholarly yet accessible history of cheese, noted food scientist Kindstedt plumbs the very earliest evidence of cheese making. Beginning in the shadowy Neolithic era, improving climatic conditions encouraged sheep and goat herding throughout the Fertile Crescent. Manufacture of pottery made possible the storage of excess milk and provided a transportation medium. Primitive acid-coagulated cheeses emerged for local consumption, but the discovery of rennet coagulation made possible hard cheeses with long shelf lives that could readily be shipped across land and sea. During the Middle Ages, innovative European monastic communities developed sophisticated techniques that generated a tremendous diversity of cheeses. Cheddar and Stilton shone in England, France became famous for its Roquefort and Gruyère, and Holland marketed Gouda and Edam. Colonization of the New World and the Industrial Revolution gave rise to today’s mass-produced cheeses, not always to the benefit of quality or flavor.
CHOICE Review: Cheese scientist Kindstedt (Univ. of Vermont) has written a lively history of cheese through an examination of the cultural environments from which specific types of cheese-making traditions were born and, in some cases, have continued to the present. Kindstedt begins as early as possible with archaeological evidence of early fresh cheese making in the Fertile Crescent and its role in pre-Christian religious ritual. He quickly moves on to the introduction of rennet in cheese making and cheese in Greek and Roman civilizations and incorporation into daily life, both mundane and sacred. The last half of the book concentrates on the European cheese-making tradition and the role of monasteries in the development of aged cheeses. Surprisingly, Kindstedt does not spend too much time discussing factory-made cheese and the move away from traditional cheese making. But he does end with a timely discussion on raw milk safety and multinational trade laws that impact traditional cheeses, as well as a brief discussion on the artisanal cheese movement. Cheese and Culture is a well-researched, concise, and valuable addition to any food history collection. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through graduate students; general readers. -- S. C. Hardesty, Georgia State University
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