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Cultured: A World History of Cheese

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Cultured: A World History of Cheese

By: Janet Fletcher, The Great Courses
Narrated by: Janet Fletcher
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About this listen

Some of us go weak in the knees for silky, buttery Brie.

Some of us consume stinky, washed-rind cheeses like French Muenster with great pride.

Some of us can’t imagine a plate of pasta without a hurricane of grated Parmigiano Reggiano.

But cheese is more than just a snack or finishing touch. It’s a world unto itself. Cheese has been a part of the human experience for thousands of years, and it has so much to teach us - about history, microbiology, cultural differences (and commonalities), and the complex workings of our senses. Not to mention, it’s just incredibly delicious.

Think of Cultured: A World History of Cheese as a 10-episode cheese course, or a cheese plate large enough to contain a well-rounded sampling of great cheeses from around the world. Janet Fletcher, a noted food writer and publisher of the Planet Cheese blog, provides deeper (and delectable) insights into a familiar food you only think you know. Included in this Audible Original are peeks at the nine steps of cheesemaking, the 10 most important cheese families, and tips on how to taste cheese with the same refined palate as a professional cheese judge.

(And yes, you have our permission to snack on your favorite cheeses while you listen.)

©2021 Audible Originals, LLC (P)2021 Audible Originals, LLC. Food & Wine World
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Very American based I was hoping for more of a world view. But overall it was informative on the us cheeses

Ok very American focused

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Amazing detail. I keep coming back to this and felt I should take notes. I recommend this to anyone wanting to begin a deep dive.

So informative

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some interesting stuff, but too many boring US cheese facts. Mentioning of leipäjuusto was a pleasant surprise tho!

very us-centric

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This was an unexpected find; an enthusiastic, entertaining and informative homage. There is an American bias, no surprise ..but their cheese consumption is mostly melted !! However, the European cheeses are very reasonably explored; so If you enjoy cheese and a light listen then don’t miss this…

Delicious

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Being the cheese lover that I am, I instantaneously hit the download button when I saw this Epic Story of Cheese, especially when I found out it was free. There are some interesting facts in this series of lectures by US food blogger Janet Fletcher. For instance, I did not know that the word "feta" means slice in Greek, Camembert is derived from Brie, the classic children's' story Heidi is about the healing power of cheese and Cornish "yarg" is the inventor's name (Gray) slept backwards.
This is some interesting analysis of the breakdown of cheese made from the milk of cows, sheep and goats too which i enjoyed.
The discussion on the cheese making traditions of various regions of the world started off promising enough taking us through European cheese varieties including the incredible Casu Marzu from Sardinia which is infested with maggots but no mention of classic English cheeses other than Cheddar. I would have thought that Stilton would have been worth at least a passing mention.
There is at least as much of this book describing American cheeses from Wisconsin, Vermont and California as there is on European cheese. I may be a little biased here but I have always considered US cheese to be mostly mass produced and highly processed coming in plastic packaging made from hydrogenated vegetable oil. This view is compounded with the final section of this book that discusses various ways to melt cheese for use on pizzas and nachos and there is a detailed discussion on which American fast food restaurant invented the cheeseburger. To be honest, I do not care. Give me an Époisses de Bourgogne any day and you can keep your square Kraft slices.

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Americanized history of cheese

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