The All American Cheese and Wine Book

by Laura Werlin, Andy Ryan (Photographer)

The sequel to The New American Cheese descrbies a variety of artisan cheeses being made across the country, covering the seven basic styles of cheese, their various characteristics, and what types of wines will go best with each cheese category, along with profiles of fifty American cheesemakers and winemakers and recipes for delicious cheese dishes. 15,000 first printing.

Genres: Cookbooks

336 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 2003

About the author

Laura Werlin is a highly respected authority on cheese. As the author of four books on the subject, each of which have been honored with an award, including a James Beard, IACP, and the World Gourmand Award for Best Cheese Book for her classic, Great Grilled Cheese, Werlin is frequently invited to lead professionaland consumer-level seminars and classes at events, including the prestigious Food & Wine magazine Classic at Aspen, the Santa Fe Wine & Chile Fiesta, and The Cheese School of San Francisco. She is also often asked to judge food and wine competitions across the country, including the American Cheese Society annual cheese competition and most recently the Grilled Cheese Invitational in Los Angeles."

Reviews

[H (trying to keep up with GR friends) Balikov · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the slang definitions of “cheesey” is: Something that is overly dramatic or saccharine, but is unconvincing and apparent in its attempts.

Having received this book, that was the first word that came to mind…..probably induced by the book’s title. It is:
Oversized
Ambitious – “
Replete with photographs on almost every page and many of them full-page

What I liked:
I learned a lot about cheeses that I might want to try;
I learned about wines that I might want to try with cheeses I already like;
I liked the discussion about pairing wines with cheeses. Here is an example: “…knowing the texture of a cheese will help you match it up with a wine with similar weight. If, for example, a cheese is quite creamy, almost viscous, then a wine should share similar textural characteristics. Conversely, you can be fairly certain that a full-bodied “heavy” wine will pounce all over a lighter-style cheese.”

There are all sorts of recipes that I found tempting including a quite simple one for “cheddar-parmesan crackers.”

A nice surprise

[Catherine Woodman]

Laura Werlin is one of the godesses of American Artisanal Cheese. I met her at an American Cheese Society meeting in Milwaukee several years ago, and she is really wonderful--this book brings an elegance to cheese that it deserves and she is all about promoting great local cheese.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of the better cheese and wine books I have seen. The text is very approachable and informative without being highbrow, there are some yummy recipes in here too.