French Cheeses: The Visual Guide to More Than 350 Cheeses from Every Region of France

by Kazuko Masui & Tomoko Yamada, Joël Robuchon (Foreword), Yohei Maruyama (Photographer)

A mouth-watering guide to more than 350 cheeses from every region of France, this definitive reference captures a vast array of savory fromages. Designed for both amateur enthusiasts and serious gourmets, this easy-to-use book enables readers to appreciate the flavors and the process of cheesemaking. Organized alphabetically, each cheese, its seasonal availability, regional origin, and properties are described concisely and clearly. Accompanying the entries are invaluable photographs of the cheese in its various states, both outward bulk and sliced through, for easy identification. In addition, every listing offers wine recommendations by international connoisseurs Robert and Isabelle Vifian, and includes tips for storing, serving, and sampling. To meet the needs of vacationing Epicureans who wish to truly taste the flavors of France, a detailed region-by-region listing of cheese producers, shops, and markets is featured. Additional chapters focus on the origins and history of French cheese, and follow the cheesemaking cycle throughout the year. A special glossary of French terminology related to cheese and its production is included. From recognizing more than a dozen blue cheeses to enjoying fromage frais, this book is an ideal quick reference to selecting and identifying French cheeses at home, in your local cheese shop, or, better yet, while traveling in France.

Genres: Food, Cookbooks, Cooking, Reference, Nonfiction, Cuisine, France

240 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1990

Reviews

[Beth Cato · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading through this book is rather like going through a Christmas catalog when I was a kid: there are so many things I desperately want that I will never have the funds and opportunity to experience. This is by no means an exhaustive, complete book on the subject of French cheese, but it does a beautiful job of cataloging over 350 morsels of delight in the usual DK fashion with bright photographs and useful data points. The vast majority of the profiled cheeses would only be available in France itself (*shakes fist at ridiculous US import laws*). I originally bought this book to actually take to France back in 2020--which never happened, courtesy of Covid--and I think this book would be great to utilize in that way. The cover and pages are high quality and it's almost pocket-sized, so it would be great for travel.

[Steven Peterson · Rating 5 out of 5]

For those who enjoy cheese from time to time, this is an enjoyable little volume. Its focus is on French cheese (I just read and reviewed a book on olive oil, and this is a similar type of work).

The book begins with some introductory elements. Among these: the interrelationship among cheese, bread and wine; nutritional value of cheese; French cheese today; the labeling of cheese (a fascinating subject as related here, by the way!); buying, storing, and tasting cheese (one useful hint: let cheese warm up about 1/2 hour before eating, to bring out fuller flavor).

But the real heart of this book is the coverage of cheeses. There are over 200 pages of this, so I'll provide a few examples to give a sense of what is covered.

Brie: One of my favorite French cheeses (I used to think that it had an odd odor and taste, but with maturity, I have changed my mind!). The region where it is made is just east of Paris. Different kinds of brie are described. The discussion provides the rules that allow one to label the cheese as meeting key standards.

Camembert: Another of my favorites. This discussion includes the 32 steps from milking cows to eating a slice of this cheese! Fascinating reading. Again, as with brie, there are many categories of camembert, and it is intriguing to read about the variations.

Emmental: Another French cheese that I enjoy immensely. The discussion describes how one type of this cheese (Emmental grand cru) is made.

Roquefort: Not a cheese that I eat much. But it is one that is well known. A variety of aspects of this cheese is covered, such as appearance and flavor, legal protection, production, the cheese's "home," the blue mold so characteristic of this cheese, and so on.

In short, this is a lot of fun! It gives the reader a good sense of the different French cheeses and provides greater context for the next time one sits down to eat some good French cheese!

[Christina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good information including food and wine pairing. However, it is not nearly as complete as it seems. Most of the time when I come back from a local cheese shop (I live in France), I am disappointed to find the cheese is not in this book, despite being a typical or widely available cheese. This book is a good beginners guide for what it contains, but it is greatly lacking in covering the cheeses available.

[Brien · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very useful and pleasant reference. Cheeses are alphabetically listed. Each cheese gets a couple of photos or more, descriptions of its taste and texture, some of the cheese’s history, measurements of its size and nutritional content, how long it takes to ripen, and each cheese gets a small blank map of France with a red dot marking the spot the cheese is produced. I’d like to have seen an appendix of all the cheeses grouped by region, but no such luck.

[Derek Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good info, but it's not exactly in-depth, or quite pocketbook sized. Ultimately it's a short blurb on each cheese that makes you want to do more research on it. But I appreciate the taxonomy of the general cheese styles - it helps narrow down the countless varieties into categories and descendants.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yes, I really did read a whole book on French cheeses. I bought this at the airport in Nice, France, so at the time it seemed interesting, and actually it has been helpful in subsequent trips to the grocery store when visiting France. The book lists 350 different varieties of cheese with information on each one, including maps of the regions and colorful photographs. I haven't found the information I gleaned very useful since I have been home and the selection of French cheese where I live consists of 3 or 4 of the most common varieties. For a gourmet or for someone who likes knowing obscure information, this book could however be quite useful.

[Josephine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great gift from my sister! It was also recommended to me by our local cheese shop "C'est Cheese" (along with "French Wines by Robert Joseph). Yummmm.

[Richard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best book on cheese on my bookshelves.

[Robert Wright · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent food porn of the cheese variety. Playcurd for the foodie set.

[Apryl Anderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

All that's missing is the smell.

It's pretty awesome that this was written by 2 Japanese.

[Brent Barnard]

I returned this to the library without really reading it, but it was fun seeing such an unusual book around the house, and I enjoyed paging through it! Maybe if I retire someday, I'll investigate?

[Joseph · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great companion to our trip to France

[Hilde Helseth · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I read this book, I borrow it at a library, but since I love cheese, I'm going to get my own copy soon. - Got it in the mail today!