Reinventing the Wheel: Milk, Microbes, and the Fight for Real Cheese (Volume 65)

by Bronwen Percival, Francis Percival

In little more than a century, industrial practices have altered every aspect of the cheesemaking process, from the bodies of the animals that provide the milk to the microbial strains that ferment it.  Reinventing the Wheel  explores what has been lost as raw-milk, single-farm cheeses have given way to the juggernaut of factory production. In the process, distinctiveness and healthy rural landscapes have been exchanged for higher yields and monoculture. However, Bronwen and Francis Percival find reason for optimism. Around the world—not just in France, but also in the United States, England, and Australia—enterprising cheesemakers are exploring the techniques of their great-grandparents. At the same time, using sophisticated molecular methods, scientists are upending conventional wisdom about the role of microbes in every part of the world. Their research reveals the resilience and complexity of the indigenous microbial communities that contribute to the flavor and safety of cheese. One experiment at a time, these dynamic scientists, cheesemakers, and dairy farmers are reinventing the wheel.  

Genres: Food, Nonfiction, Cooking, History, Science

320 pages, Hardcover

Published September 5, 2017

Reviews

[Beth Cato · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have read many books on cheese, and this one approaches from a unique angle: the influence of milk and microbes on the production of cheese, historically and in the modern era. The book touches on the science but not in a hardcore academic way, so the book is approachable for obsessive layman such as me. I loved that I had tried several of the cheeses the authors described.

[Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating look at what goes into cheese, and the development of the cheese industry in the English speaking world over the last century or so. The emphasis is on the ways in which the "best" cheese comes from cheesemakers who are also dairy farmers using raw milk from their own cows. While I'm not entirely sure I concur with their conclusion that the quality of the pastures/cows/raw milk is 100% what makes a good cheese outside of "baseline technical knowledge", I do think that it is a large contributor. Still, I think that the skill of the cheesemaker should not be dismissed so easily. (Even in the text, they mention Cannon as a superb cheesemaker who somehow managed to make excellent cheese no matter how inferior the milk.)

[EV · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read a lot of cheese books; about the why, where, how etc.; the Percivals managed to twine together all of those and managed to twine their own story (and others I've never and probably will never be privileged to meet) into it. It's a book that tells us our story, their story and the story of cheese.

Eye opening and all encompassing, learn and grow by reading this book.

[Cailin Hong · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible that me & this snobby Anglo American couple share a weltanschaaung. This manifesto for small batch cheese really nails my ideal vibe of
- being economically minded but for optimizing sensory experience
- intellectualizing something dumb and crude and pretending to be serious about it but then actually being serious about it but maybe not in a way that’s ambiguous but not equivocating

I think I ultimately agree with their suggestion that homogenous big cheese is the result of the base preferences of the hoi polloi, but I can see how that teeters towards blaming capitalism on the consumption patterns of the masses. The big corollary argument that we have to train ourselves to recognize and appreciate the taste of ethically superior cheese products was powerful. There’s definitely a theory of economics and change here that I’m endorsing and I would love to teach this to undergrads to see how they label it! There are a couple resonant characters in here too that could well capture a person’s position on virtuous crusade vs respect for individual will, expertise vs intuition, individual actualization vs cooperation…it’d be fun to see how ppl identify! I’m the anti-Bronwen grocery buyer


Quote I saved:
“In products like wine, about which there is a more developed conversation about quality, that democratic accessibility is central to the debate: American wine critic Robert M Parker Jr. has dubbed people who advocate for wines of meaning over bombast the “anti-flavor wine elite.” His rhetorical slur is now a badge of honor worn with some pride by sections of the industry. However, the logical endpoint of a fascination with sheer volume of flavor is a fixation on those pharmaceutical properties of the cheese—the sweetness, the salt, the umami, and the fat—that offer lizard-brain appeal to the taster. It is an approach that has served the processed food industry well, and industry in which snack food has been successfully stripped down to those properties that deliver the greatest instant hit. The logical progression of the approach is to abandon the pretense of serving food at all. If what you crave each time you put cheese in your mouth is an intense and not necessarily culturally meaningful experience, a sublethal dose of heroin will deliver pleasure at an even greater intensity”

[Jeannie Boutelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is jam-packed with information and anecdotes. It isn't a quick read. Perfect for anyone interested in how cheese is made and what differentiates cheeses, an advocate for raw milk in cheese, a cheese-lover, a cheese-nerd as well as any academics learning or writing about cheese.

This is one of those books that I will go back to. Literally each page has a lot of information so it was slow going. If I have a trip planned, particularly to Europe, I will look and see if there are any cheesemakers along the way or local cheeses to try. If I am going cheese shopping I may check in to check on cheese types. If I get more involved in the issue of raw milk, this is my number one book to go back to, to get facts and understand the issue.

I probably will pull this out again to reread parts. I forced myself to finish it but I didn't absorb as much as I would have liked. This isn't a textbook by any means but it is a true resource that should be on the shelves of any food advocate or cheese advocate. I am guilty of being in that "instagram" finish something quickly mode and this kind of book, you need to go through slowly and in pieces. It is a perfect gift for someone thinking of going into any aspect of the cheese business or just trying to raise their knowledge on cheese.

This book is one of those books that is a classic already for its subject.

[Bruce Reiter · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is a certain amount of innocence lost as those of us who grew up in a rural community have come to accept the processed cheese that greets our old age. Ms Percival shows us how we got there and how a new generation may save what is left or reinvent the traditional process that gave us the flavorful (in all the senses) cheeses of the past.

If you like cheese, or science, or history or dinosaur movies, this book is a necessary read. Ms Percival is able to pull all of these elements into a pleasing and readable presentation. It has the feeling of a search for the Grail, or at least what happened to it after it was sanitized. Her search is Doylesque, not Conan but Brian as the reader wanders from continent to continent, rural to city, barn to laboratory in search of what we gained and what we lost.

As a spoiler, I have to admit to a passing acquaintance with Ms Percival, having conducted her by Max train in Portland to her hotel at the request of Hilary, a mutual friend. Seriously, this book offers the reader a reason and a possibility to influence what is grown, manufactured and eaten.

I await her writing about her experiences with the Peace Corps in Africa.

[ClareT · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was really looking forward to this book, even though I am not a big consumer of cheese. For me it was more about our relationship with food and how it has become just another commodity - mainly created in a factory.
The authors cover a wide range of topics from traditional cheese farmers, the milk and microbes as well as the food safety standards and laboratory testing. I finished the book feeling quite disappointed in the food industry - many of my illusions are now shattered. It would appear there are very few individuals making cheese these days, certainly not cheddar! Most tastes the same as it consistency that is aimed for.
Whilst the book is an interesting read I had to knock a star off because I did find it a bit hard going and at times disorganised; otherwise an interesting read.

[Paula J · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very well researched and documented interdisciplinary analysis of the scientific, political, sociological, economic and cultural history of how we've arrived at the his current moment in diary and cheese production. A great 201 for anyone who is already digging into cheese industries or cheese making to understand the geopolitical implications of over regulation and sanitation of the industry and the future of flora/fauna diversity in our dairy industry and cheese making world. Some sections were quite technical but Percival organizes the book by cheese making facets and wraps each chapter with clearly stated summaries that tie into the subsequent chapters.

[Jocelyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wish this'd been around when I was cheesemongering in the 90s; it would have been really useful to have at the counter to sell as I slowly battled to be able to stock better cheeses. I would have been happy with more technical details, but of course I spent five years staring at cheese for a living and am the choir. I had to laugh about their lunch with "Andre" who I'm 99% sure was Cathy Strange, having worked with her myself.

[Sashko Valyus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Attention! While you'll be reading the book you can feel constant craving of cheese, so be prepared.
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In the magazine's way full of journeys, interview's and adventures we are introduced about the modern cheesemaking and it's pursuit to keep and reinvent old maters secret. You'll learn about types of cows, milk, bacteria, and different environment that makes every cheese special. Great evening reading and introduction into the domain.

[Rachel Littlewood · Rating 4 out of 5]

An in-depth and comprehensive look at how our modern cheese market was born and the cost and casualties of progress.
As an amateur cheesemaker I found this fascinating but I also highly recommend it if you're a consumer. It is important to understand the power of your £ and the effect our buying habits have on the world of small scale ethical dairy farming as opposed to mass dairying.

[Jackson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Remembering Bill Krieger and his family Cheese Louise shop, and how wonderful the natural world is for giving us all kinds of microscopic wonders to help us enjoy life. Less than one percent of bacteria are harmful to us -- so let's not have nuclear war on the whole group. Read it and eat!

[Leonard Singh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed it, quite well written, informative, and entertaining. Frankly, I didn’t think I would finish this book since I’m not especially excited about cheese. Looking forward to the next book.

[Lizzie Màiri Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

The perfect read for a cheese lover. Equal parts science and soul.

[Sharon · Rating 3 out of 5]

So much cheese science! So much cheese history! So many cheese networks! So much cheese snobbery disguised as environmental consciousness!

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

A favourite.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great book - packed to the brim (the rim?) with cheese stories. Full of practical considerations in regard to production and maturation of cheese, although strongly biased towards artisanal types.

[emi · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 rounded. Solid. Cheese.

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reasonable informative and fair discussion of the transition from farmhouse produced raw milk cheese in the 19th century to modern, primarily factory produced pasteurized milk cheese. The authors clearly prefer the possibilities of the former, but carefully discuss benefits of the latter.

I found the authors' voice annoying at times, but learned from the book.