A couple of tidy little informative guides to cheese have just been published. Anne Saxelby, one of New York’s premier cheesemongers, gives her 52 rules for cheese as it is today, starting with shopping. She goes on to serving, eating and storing what you buy and finally covering details about milks, cheese production and cheese’s place in the world. Quirk Books, a Philadelphia publisher, has Alexandra Jones, a local cheesemonger and educator, taking a more general approach, covering the ABCs of cheese in 50 brief chapters starting with “What Is Cheese?” Concise yet informative coverage includes washed-rind cheese, why some cheese melt differently and how to shop for cheese. Buy both guides; they complement each other and don’t take up much space.
“The New Rules of Cheese: A Freewheeling and Informative Guide” by Anne Saxelby (Ten Speed Press, $14.99); “Stuff Every Cheese Lover Should Know” by Alexandra Jones (Quirk Books, $9.99).
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