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The Complete Book of Cheese
1. I Remember Cheese 2. The Big Cheese 3. Foreign Greats 4. Native Americans 5. Sixty-five Sizzling Rabbits 6. The Fondue 7. Soufflés, Puffs and Ramekins 8. Pizzas, Blintzes, Pastes and Cheese Cake 9. Au Gratin, Soups, Salads and Sauces 10. Appetizers, Crackers, Sandwiches, Savories, Snacks, Spreads and Toasts 11. "Fit for Drink" 12. Lazy Lou APPENDIX—The A-B-Z of Cheese ABOUT THE AUTHOR
330 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1955
61 people are currently reading
102 people want to read
About the author
Bob Brown
24 books5 followersBob Brown, born Robert Carlton Brown, liked to say he had written in every genre imaginable: advertising, journalism, fiction, poetry, ethnography, screen-writing, even cookbooks. He wrote at least 1,000 pulp stories, some of which became the basis for “What Happened to Mary?” the first movie serial, released in 1912. He was on the editorial board of the radical magazine The Masses before founding a successful business magazine in Brazil. His output was so varied and his life so far-flung — he boasted of having lived in 100 cities — that some library card catalogs list him as at least two different people.
Brown was also involved in the expatriate literary community in Paris, publishing several volumes of poetry. While in France, Brown also made plans toward, and wrote a manifesto for, the development of a "reading machine" involving the magnified projection of miniaturized type printed on movable spools of tape. Arguing that such a device would enable literature to compete with cinema in a visual age, Brown published a book of "Readies"---poems by Gertrude Stein, William Carlos Williams, Ezra Pound, and others.
He contributed to leading avant-garde journals and wrote, sometimes in collaboration with his wife and mother, some 30 popular books about food and drink, including “Let There Be Beer!” (published after the repeal of Prohibition) and The Complete Book of Cheese. Bob and his family eventually established residence in Rio de Janeiro, where they lived until his wife's death in 1952. Bob soon returned to New York where he re-married, and ran a shop called Bob Brown's Books in Greenwich Village until his death in 1959.
Brown was also involved in the expatriate literary community in Paris, publishing several volumes of poetry. While in France, Brown also made plans toward, and wrote a manifesto for, the development of a "reading machine" involving the magnified projection of miniaturized type printed on movable spools of tape. Arguing that such a device would enable literature to compete with cinema in a visual age, Brown published a book of "Readies"---poems by Gertrude Stein, William Carlos Williams, Ezra Pound, and others.
He contributed to leading avant-garde journals and wrote, sometimes in collaboration with his wife and mother, some 30 popular books about food and drink, including “Let There Be Beer!” (published after the repeal of Prohibition) and The Complete Book of Cheese. Bob and his family eventually established residence in Rio de Janeiro, where they lived until his wife's death in 1952. Bob soon returned to New York where he re-married, and ran a shop called Bob Brown's Books in Greenwich Village until his death in 1959.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
April 10, 2008
My great grandfather wrote this. I kind of have to give it a five star rating.
May 6, 2015
This book is a perfect example of Reading Synchronicity. I happen to love Eric Blegvad, the illustrator, and was looking for books he had illustrated - when this one came up. Which was amazing, because I was almost simultaneously talking with a friend about how much we love cheese...
(Just a little aside about cookbook illustrators - I began cooking as a child from "Betty Crocker's New Picture Cookbook" because of the illustrations by Pearson. And the illustrations by the Provensens in "The Fireside Cookbook" too. I see now that Betty Crocker had a "Dinner For Two" cookbook illustrated by Charles Harper, of all people - I've got to see that! Betty was obviously brilliant. Anyway, a walk down Nostalgia Lane. I need to get copies of all these so Squirt, who loves to cook with me, can have the same fun I did.)
There weren't enough pictures, of course. But the book is great. Full of somewhat snobby fun and interesting facts. (Someone once tried to make cheese out of human milk. :/ ) And odd recipes.
Here's one:
Pink Poodle
2 tbsp. butter
1 tbsp. chopped onion
1 tbsp flour
1 jigger California claret
1 C. cream of tomato soup
A pinch of soda
1/2 tsp. dry mustard
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. paprika
A dash of powdered cloves
3 C. grated cheese
1 egg, lightly beaten
Cook onion in butter until light golden, then blend in flour, wine and soup with the soda and all seasonings. Stir in cheese slowly until melted and finish off by thickening with the egg and stirring until smooth and velvety. Serve on crisp, buttered toast with a dry red wine.
Got to try that.
(Just a little aside about cookbook illustrators - I began cooking as a child from "Betty Crocker's New Picture Cookbook" because of the illustrations by Pearson. And the illustrations by the Provensens in "The Fireside Cookbook" too. I see now that Betty Crocker had a "Dinner For Two" cookbook illustrated by Charles Harper, of all people - I've got to see that! Betty was obviously brilliant. Anyway, a walk down Nostalgia Lane. I need to get copies of all these so Squirt, who loves to cook with me, can have the same fun I did.)
There weren't enough pictures, of course. But the book is great. Full of somewhat snobby fun and interesting facts. (Someone once tried to make cheese out of human milk. :/ ) And odd recipes.
Here's one:
Pink Poodle
2 tbsp. butter
1 tbsp. chopped onion
1 tbsp flour
1 jigger California claret
1 C. cream of tomato soup
A pinch of soda
1/2 tsp. dry mustard
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. paprika
A dash of powdered cloves
3 C. grated cheese
1 egg, lightly beaten
Cook onion in butter until light golden, then blend in flour, wine and soup with the soda and all seasonings. Stir in cheese slowly until melted and finish off by thickening with the egg and stirring until smooth and velvety. Serve on crisp, buttered toast with a dry red wine.
Got to try that.
March 16, 2019
I was looking for something a little more technically informative about the difference between cheeses, but this was the only thing my library has on Overdrive on cheese. This is more of a blend of history, poetry, and long-winded recipes about cheese. I did learn some of what I had set out to learn, so can’t knock it completely.
March 27, 2019
This book has an introduction by Clifton Fadiman and is illustrated by Eric Bleguad with clever black and white drawings to head up each chapter. It is a comprehensive introduction to cheese and overs a bit of the history of cheese (both European and American). There is a large sprinkling of quotes, poetry etc. and the author also gives lots of recipes including 65 recipes for “Rabbits” and fondue, soufflé, pizza, pasta, cheesecake, Hors d'oeuvres, sandwiches, and wine pairings. At 314 pages, there is also an Index of Recipes, an Appendix, and “The A-B-Z’s” of cheese. Over one-half of the book is taken up with this listing and each cheese is listed with country of origin. Our own local Pacific Northwest Tillamook cheese rates a mention!
October 31, 2022
🔻 Genre: Food history.
✔️Published in Gramercy Publishing Company New York 1955.
👁 Point of view: First person.
🖊 My review: This is an intense compilation of the history of cheese around the world. One learns about the history of various cheeses, how they look, feel, smell, and taste, how they are consumed, and the last part of this work is filled with a cornucopia of recipes using cheese. The Project Gutenberg has the original drawings, but the Kindle does not.
🔥 Dénouement: n/a
🔲 Excerpts :
🖋 The writing style: Smooth, lightly humorous, undoubtedly serious.
🗝 What I learned: At least at the time when this book was published, “Edam and Gouda are eaten at mealtimes thrice daily in Holland.”
💫 What I like best: The wealth of information.
📌 Would I read this again? Yes; it is a good reference.
🤔 My rating 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
◼️ Fun fact: I like matka ser (translated, "Mother's cheese)," a dry Polish cheese; I haven’t seen it at the store in years, though.
🟣 Media form: Kindle version.
🟢 Media form: Project Gutenberg.
✔️Published in Gramercy Publishing Company New York 1955.
👁 Point of view: First person.
🖊 My review: This is an intense compilation of the history of cheese around the world. One learns about the history of various cheeses, how they look, feel, smell, and taste, how they are consumed, and the last part of this work is filled with a cornucopia of recipes using cheese. The Project Gutenberg has the original drawings, but the Kindle does not.
🔥 Dénouement: n/a
🔲 Excerpts :
🔸 As with Brie and with oysters, Camembert should be eaten only in the "R" months, and of these September is the best.
🔸 Limburger has always been popular in America, ever since it was brought over by German-American immigrants . . . Butter-soft and sapid, Limburger has brought gustatory pleasure to millions of hardy gastronomes since it came to light in the province of Lüttich in Belgium.
🔸Nuts and Swiss cheese complement each other as subtly as Gorgonzola and a ripe banana.
🖋 The writing style: Smooth, lightly humorous, undoubtedly serious.
🗝 What I learned: At least at the time when this book was published, “Edam and Gouda are eaten at mealtimes thrice daily in Holland.”
💫 What I like best: The wealth of information.
📌 Would I read this again? Yes; it is a good reference.
🤔 My rating 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
◼️ Fun fact: I like matka ser (translated, "Mother's cheese)," a dry Polish cheese; I haven’t seen it at the store in years, though.
🟣 Media form: Kindle version.
🟢 Media form: Project Gutenberg.
January 9, 2014
Food Snobs take note. An oldy but goldy. A great book all about....wait for it.....CHEESE.
'The connoisseurs use gingerbread as a mouth-freshener; and I, too, that sunny day among the Edams, kept my gingerbread handy and made my way from one fine cheese to another, trying out generous plugs from the heaped cannon balls that looked like the ammunition dump at Antietam.
I remember another market day, this time in Lucerne. All morning I stocked up on good Schweizerkäse and better Gruyère. For lunch I had cheese salad. All around me the farmers were rolling two-hundred-pound Emmentalers, bigger than oxcart wheels. I sat in a little café, absorbing cheese and cheese lore in equal quantities. I learned that a prize cheese must be chock-full of equal-sized eyes, the gas holes produced during fermentation. They must glisten like polished bar glass. The cheese itself must be of a light, lemonish yellow. Its flavor must be nutlike. (Nuts and Swiss cheese complement each other as subtly as Gorgonzola and a ripe banana.) There are, I learned, "blind" Swiss cheeses as well, but the million-eyed ones are better.'
Get it, Read it, love it
'The connoisseurs use gingerbread as a mouth-freshener; and I, too, that sunny day among the Edams, kept my gingerbread handy and made my way from one fine cheese to another, trying out generous plugs from the heaped cannon balls that looked like the ammunition dump at Antietam.
I remember another market day, this time in Lucerne. All morning I stocked up on good Schweizerkäse and better Gruyère. For lunch I had cheese salad. All around me the farmers were rolling two-hundred-pound Emmentalers, bigger than oxcart wheels. I sat in a little café, absorbing cheese and cheese lore in equal quantities. I learned that a prize cheese must be chock-full of equal-sized eyes, the gas holes produced during fermentation. They must glisten like polished bar glass. The cheese itself must be of a light, lemonish yellow. Its flavor must be nutlike. (Nuts and Swiss cheese complement each other as subtly as Gorgonzola and a ripe banana.) There are, I learned, "blind" Swiss cheeses as well, but the million-eyed ones are better.'
Get it, Read it, love it
August 16, 2012
Its initial charm fades in the later chapters
I listened to the Librivox version of this book.
The book is, at the beginning, enjoyable. Later, it strikes an appendix of cheese types which is suprsingly meditative, and if listened to in twenty minutes stints would presumably maintain this feel the whole way through. At a single listen, the long list of types of cheese ceases to be interesting, then ceases to be meditative, then becomes annoying enough to switch off.
It shows the vast talent of the readers that they can breathe life into such material for so long.
It's a four star book if you are interested in the subject, and you know to stop at Chapter 15.
I listened to the Librivox version of this book.
The book is, at the beginning, enjoyable. Later, it strikes an appendix of cheese types which is suprsingly meditative, and if listened to in twenty minutes stints would presumably maintain this feel the whole way through. At a single listen, the long list of types of cheese ceases to be interesting, then ceases to be meditative, then becomes annoying enough to switch off.
It shows the vast talent of the readers that they can breathe life into such material for so long.
It's a four star book if you are interested in the subject, and you know to stop at Chapter 15.
June 23, 2012
This one's a blast from the past: specifically about 1955. I assume Robert Brown was a notable gourmet of his time, and it shows. Brown has rarified tastes. This work discusses cheeses from around the world, provides a steaming pot full of cheesy recipes, and documents a mind numbing list of cheese names and varieties.
November 12, 2020
Though this is not complete by today's standards, (this book was published in 1955), it's good read.
February 12, 2011
Excellent advice for cheese making. After researching this I moved on to what to do with the whey and found a great break recipe.
March 10, 2011
Ok, for those who love cheese are suppose to read this book. it has it's historical content and some of the ingredients for making cheese.
November 17, 2014
Where fish is scant,
And fruit of trees,
Supply that want,
With butter and cheese.
And fruit of trees,
Supply that want,
With butter and cheese.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews