The Oxford Companion to Cheese

Finally, there is a comprehensive work on one of the world's most favorite foods: cheese. Loved by multitudes and an obsession for many, cheese is shown to be much more complex scientifically and culturally in this Oxford Companion edited by Donnelly (nutrition & food science, Univ. of Vermont; editor, Cheese and Microbes). More than 300 authors, consisting of not only cheesemakers but also scientists and scholars from a variety of fields and countries, wrote 855 entries, arranged alphabetically, with citations as well as "see-also" references. The real beauty of this title is its comprehensiveness. It doesn't simply catalog different kinds of cheeses and what they may or not pair with; rather, it covers the science of making and preserving cheese, its history and cultural importance, technology, and more. There is even a fascinating entry on cheese in children's literature. More than 100 images illustrate this homage, including two sections of color images. A comprehensive index and a listing of entries by topic will aid readers.