Domestic production of quality artisanal cheeses is on the rise, and the recent opening of the Artisanal Cheese Center in New York has helped make these and traditional European farmstead cheeses even more widely available. McCalman takes credit for spearheading this American cheese revolution through his work at the New York restaurants Picholine and Artisanal. While his and Gibbons's first book, 2002's The Cheese Plate
, was highly regarded by industry professionals as a practical guide to serving European-style cheese courses and selecting astute wine pairings, this new work aims to be what the Parker Guide is for wine—complete with a numeric rating scale—for would-be connoisseurs. It provides detailed notes on producers, taste and appearance, stages of ripeness and seasonal availability, as well as pairing suggestions on nearly twice as many unique and wonderful cheeses as the previous book. Unfortunately, the cheeses are arranged alphabetically rather than regionally, limiting the book's utility as a reference. Granted, Cheese
does not profess to be comprehensive like Steve Jenkins's unrivaled Cheese Primer
, but rather an elite selection, or cheese "Hall of Fame." In the end, it succeeds more as a beautiful glossy catalogue to the Artisanal Cheese Center than as an introductory text. (On sale Aug. 9)
