500 Cheeses: The Only Cheese Compendium You'll Ever Need

by Roberta Muir

This tempting and wide-ranging guide to cheeses is packed full of information on selecting and tasting cheese from around the globe. Learn the basics of how cheese is made, plus how to choose the perfect cheese and how best to serve and enjoy your selections.

Genres: Food, Cookbooks

288 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2010

About the author

Cookbook author and freelance food and beverage consultant and writer, Roberta Muir loves sharing her passion for cooking, eating, drinking and travelling while promoting and connecting great producers, products and chefs. She holds a Master of Arts degree in Gastronomy from the University of Adelaide and is a qualified Sherry educator and cheese judge. Author of the Sydney Seafood School Cookbook and 500 Cheeses and co-author of A Lombardian Cookbook (with chef Alessandro Pavoni), A Sardinian Cookbook (with chef Giovanni Pilu) and Wild Weed Pie (with chef Janni Kyritsis), she managed Australia’s largest recreational cooking school, Sydney Seafood School at Sydney Fish Market, from 1997- March 2021. A keen cook, enthusiastic diner and adventurous traveller, Roberta shares her recipes and experiences through her website and weekly newsletters. She lives in Sydney with her husband - photographer, spirits expert and fellow food lover - Franz Scheurer.

Reviews

[Sophie Crane · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the few cheese books organised by hardness rather than by country. It is also the best organised, with 100 sub classes with 5 well known examples of each subclass. Each subclass devotes a one page description of the subclass, history, process and pairing notes, and one page with the 5 examples, with icons for country flag and type of milk animal. The format is exactly the same for each subclass, and each class begins with a colour-coded page for easy locating.

The book is surprisingly informative and easily readable for its compact size. The paper is high quality, the colour pictures attractive and the supplemental recipes and indexing very useful. All major varieties of cheese are covered, as well as a few unusual locals. Very succinct, one of the best thorough references books of cheese on the market. Enjoy!

[Fredrick Danysh · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book discusses the general production methods of making cheese as well as tips for selecting and serving. Cheeses of the different types are briefly discussed. A good introduction to cheese types and where they originated.

[raccoon reader · Rating 2 out of 5]

Okay.... definitely a lot about cheeses. Not quite what I was hoping for. I'd like less historical and more cooking ideas/suggestions.