One More Food Book for 2009

• Letter to the editor I believe no one would dispute the fact when I say there are a considerable number of people in the world that enjoy cheese, some go a step further and worship cheese. After all the noble art of cheese making has been hand down though many centuries, written about, made fun of, and sustained many a weary traveller. Behind these remarkable products lie a collection of splendid stories that are told throughout the many cheese making regions of the world but often ignored by the general public. Several years ago I had the good fortune to become a resident of France, a country that is an undisputed champion of cheese. I knew nothing about French cheese except for the fact there seem to be more cheeses that one could count and all delicious. It was about this time the internet began creeping into our lives. The mouse on the cheese seemed the perfect idea. My French partner and I created www.fromages.com. We were determined to share France�s Aladdin�s cave of cheeses with the world. Today with a click of the mouse our cheeses are delivered to your door step in twenty four hours, slightly longer for the Far East. On my journey into this fascinating world I picked up a few cheese books all beautifully presented with glorious coloured photographs and technical descriptions of the particular cheese under review. In fairness many endeavoured to inform the reader of the cheeses taste, place of birth and occasionally a little anecdote, but none to my mind gave the reader the romantic and bucolic nature of these gourmet delights. It was G K Chesterton that guided me to finding a different approach: �The poets have been mysteriously silent on the subject of cheese.� I am still very much a novice on the subject of French cheeses but clearly their place in French history deserves an attempt at describing them in poetic terms. With great humility I picked up Chesterton�s glove and selected 30 of the best loved, crafted two odes to cheese and three allegorical stories. I completed a book entitled Tasting to Eternity with a few recipes, wine pairings and technical information about the cheeses. It was a stimulating task and most satisfying. People tell me the book has a definite mouth watering quality and one gets a real sense of the cheeses� taste. Pierre Androuet�s statement: �Cheese is the soul of soil. It is the purest and most romantic link between humans and the earth.� David Nutt www.tastingtoeternity.com

TotalComments: 1