A World of history and tradition

by Eric Birlouez (writer)
Collection: Beaux livres
october 2026
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Summary

Cheese is not only one of the crowning glories of the “Gastronomic meal of the French,” inscribed by UNESCO on the Representative list of the intangible cultural heritage of humanity. It is also a food with a truly global history. In many societies around the world, turning milk into cheese has long been a way of extending its shelf life while reducing its lactose content, making it easier to digest.

This book takes readers on a journey through a history that began some 10,000 years ago, with the earliest cheese-making in the Near East. What role did cheese play in the ancient civilisations? How did medieval monastic communities contribute to the development of cheese-making techniques? And how did France’s distinctive cheese culture take shape from the 1950s onwards, between the rise of industrial production and the recognition of AOPs (Protected Designations of Origin)?

As the story unfolds, readers discover the different stages of cheese-making, the cultural practices surrounding cheese, the many different families, the skills handed down through generations, and the patience and expertise of the affineur. The relatively recent emergence of the cheese board—a distinctly French tradition—has not eclipsed the rich cheese-making traditions of other countries. The author also explores changing patterns of consumption and the health issues associated with cheese.

This book is an invitation to travel through France’s great cheese-producing regions and to share the pleasures of cheese—and the delicious conversations it inspires.

Table of contents

Cheese, a French passion

From the origins of cheese to France, the land of cheese

The first cheeses

Cheese in Antiquity

Gaule’s cheese specialities

Cheesemaking in the Middle Ages: monks and peasants

From the 16th to the 18th century: cheeses of the early modern period

From the early 19th century to the Second World War

From the Trente Glorieuses to the present day: a changing cheese landscape

From milk to cheese

It all starts with milk

What makes milk set: rennet

Flavors and colors… the role of cultures

The art of cheesemaking

A world of cheese families

Cheese today

The cheese board: a recent French tradition

Cheese consumption in France

Cheese: how to present and serve it

Cheese and health: some key questions answered

France, the land of cheese

Why so many cheeses?

Official labels guaranteeing origin

A tour of France’s cheeses

The Jura Mountains: cheeses and fruitières
The Alps: a cheese for every mountain range
The Massif Central: fourmes and much more…
The Pyrenees: a world of sheep’s-milk cheeses
Burgundy and cheese: a women’s affair
The Vosges: Munster’s home turf
Île-de-France: Bries that leave no one cold
Flanders: home of the legendary Mimolette
Champagne: the land of Chaource
The Loire Valley: goat’s cheese, and little else (almost)
Normandy: home to legendary cheeses
Thiérache: little-known, except for its cheeses
Brittany and the Pays de la Loire: a land of milk rather than cheese
Charentes and Poitou: where goat’s cheese reigns supreme
The Cévennes and southern Rhône Valley: goat’s cheeses galore
The Causses: home to a famous cheese
Provence: cheeses born of an arid landscape
Corsica: cheeses with plenty of character!
Cheeses from further afield

Cheese in the face of the future

Bibliography

Image credits

Press

Presse Agence - Le 5 octobre 2026
"Un ouvrage richement illustré sur l’épopée méconnue du fromage depuis ses origines."
>> Lire l'article

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Features

Language(s): French

Publisher: Éditions Quae

Collection: Beaux livres

Published: 15 october 2026

Reference Hardback book: 03074

Reference eBook [PDF]: 03074NUM

Reference eBook [ePub]: 03074EPB

EAN13 Hardback book: 9782759242429

EAN13 eBook [PDF]: 9782759242436

EAN13 eBook [ePub]: 9782759242443

Interior: Colour

Format (in mm) Hardback book: 215 x 245

Pages count Hardback book: 160

Pages count eBook [PDF]: 160

Weight (in grammes): 790

Size: 22.9 MB (PDF), 36.2 MB (ePub)

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