Journalist and food reviewer Alex Grant is enjoying the last days of her summer holiday in Croatia when she is accosted by an old school friend, Marie Puharich, and her odious brother, Brian, both there to attend the funeral of their grandfather's two loyal retainers. The only upside of the whole sorry business is meeting Marco, the family adonis. With her fondness for fondue, Alex is unable to resist an invitation to visit the family creamery in Australia's south-west to snoop about and eat her body weight in camembert. But trouble has a way of finding Alex. What begins as a country jaunt in search of a juicy story might just end in death, disaster and the destruction of multiple pairs of shoes.

An Amazon 2013 Best of the Year Pick The French, sans doute, love their fromages. And there’s much to love: hundreds of gloriously pungent varieties—crumbly, creamy, buttery, even shot through with bottle-green mold. So many varieties, in fact, that the aspiring gourmand may wonder: How does one make sense of it all? In The Whole Fromage, Kathe Lison sets out to learn what makes French cheese so remarkable—why France is the “Cheese Mother Ship,” in the words of one American expert. Her journey takes her to cheese caves tucked within the craggy volcanic rock of Auvergne, to a centuries-old monastery in the French Alps, and to the farmlands that keep cheesemaking traditions alive. She meets the dairy scientists, shepherds, and affineurs who make up the world of modern French cheese, and whose lifestyles and philosophies are as varied and flavorful as the delicacies they produce. Most delicious of all, she meets the cheeses themselves—from spruce-wrapped Mont d’Or, so gooey it’s best eaten with a spoon; to luminous Beaufort, redolent of Alpine grasses and wildflowers, a single round of which can weigh as much as a Saint Bernard; to Camembert, invented in Normandy but beloved and imitated across the world. With writing as piquant and rich as a well-aged Roquefort, as charming as a tender springtime chèvre, and yet as unsentimental as a stinky Maroilles, The Whole Fromage is a tasty exploration of one of the great culinary treasures of France.

A transporting guide to all things cheese, from how and where it's made to how to truly taste it Meet Madame Fromage, aka Tenaya Darlington. A charming, witty, deeply knowledgeable and, above all, passionate caseophile—a fancy way of saying cheese lover—she’s here to teach us pretty much everything we need to know about choosing cheese, tasting it, pairing it, and sharing it. Structured around the concept of eight tasting journeys, Madame Fromage takes us on tours through the cheese world. We skydive into fresh cheeses, like chevres, ricotta, and buffalo mozzarella. Trek through the Alpines, with its Emmentalers and Gruyeres. Go spelunking into stinky cheeses like Taleggio, Pont-l’Eveque, and the rank Langres. Take a geological adventure with aged cheeses, including Parmigiano Reggiano and Manchego, and hop on a blue cheese rock ’n’ roll tour—with their piercings and weird markings, these funky gorgonzolas, Roqueforts, and Stiltons are the rock stars of the cheese world. They also pair well with bourbon and elevate a burger, not to mention a wedge salad. Along the way we learn about pasture-raised animals, spend time with fearless cheesemakers, discover tips on creating next-level boards for every style of cheese. And find a bucket-list of 25 greats readers will want to tick off, one by one. For any curd nerd whose eyes light up at the mere mention of triple crème, it’s a journey that can’t be missed.

A French master fromager shares over 30 years of expertise in selecting, storing, and serving cheese - from Abondance to Valençay There are many books about cheese, but this one features the professional knowledge and passion of a French master fromager who shares his expertise on making sense of the many cheese varieties--crumbly, creamy, buttery, moldy--for which France is famous. From farms in the pastoral French countryside and cheese caves in a medieval Alpine monastery to the dairy scientists and affineurs who comprise the world of modern French cheese, no other book that covers the entire cheese spectrum. The book begins with answers to 70 commonly heard questions -- from why there are crusts on some cheese to why is mimolette orange and why cheeses do not all smell alike - and sections explaining the basics of cheese-making and ripening, the nuances of cow, sheep, and goat milk, and the alchemy of essential probiotics used as starter cultures. The main part of the book pays tribute to France's 45 A.O.P. cheeses - such as Brie de Meaux, Maroilles, Morbier, Munster, Rocquefort, Valençay - which have been granted the appellation d'origine protégée guaranteeing origin and type. Each profile features a full-page photographic portrait with detailed text about terroir and origin, selection, tasting, presentation, serving, and wine pairing.

White Goat Cheddar, Danish Blue, Stilton, Holland Gouda. If you're confident in the kitchen and crave cheese, you can learn to make it at home. Each of these 30 recipes is rated by difficulty: Easy would be the soft French cheese, Fromage Blanc; Medium, due to the handwork, patience, and time, would be Stilton; and Difficult, for those who enjoy a challenge and love puttering about the kitchen, would be Camembert, because it takes about 9 hours to complete the processes. Each recipe alerts you to the amount of time involved, and how best to store your finished cheese. You're likely to own some of the supplies and equipment required, and the recipe will alert you when a cheese requires specific products or molds, all of which are easily obtainable. So what could be better than impressing your dinner guests with homemade Feta with pita chips, or that Feta Spinach Olive Pie recipe that incorporates it!

"On the brink of 30, in a haze of heartbreak, Ella makes the only decision that seems rational: she buys a one-way ticket to Paris, embarking on a pilgrimage of food, wine, and balancing two French beaus"--