Second in command at the esteemed Murray’s Cheese in New York City, Liz Thorpe is the go-to person for the lowdown on American cheese. Long the stepsister to its European cousins, our cheese has finally come into its own, and Thorpe has criss-crossed the country to taste, talk, study, and celebrate it in all its milky guises. Just as awareness of American wine increased over twenty years ago, Thorpe’s travels and studies are contributing to a growing understanding of and appreciation for cheese in America, and she shares this journey in her new book.

Providing a unique insider’s look at the burgeoning world of American cheese, The Cheese Chronicles will pull any food-loving reader along with Thorpe’s delightful stories about, and notes on, the past, present and future of farms and cheesemakers who are changing the face of food in America. Thorpe’s chronicle of cheese is as much her own story: changing her life and career to follow her passion, and becoming the country’s youngest leading expert on cheese along the way.

In her travels across America, Thorpe sniffs and samples hundreds of cheeses from northern Vermont to Amish Pennsylvania to Napa wine country, describing the country’s best cheeses and more than eighty American cheesemakers. Filled with amusing stories and informative sidebars, The Cheese Chronicles brings readers along on this journey through the making and tasting of cheese. Thorpe explains the varied processes employed by American cheesemakers and the different characteristics of the cheeses they produce, providing her spectacular descriptions of cheeses along the way.

The Cheese Chronicles also details the evolution of American cheesemaking, and examines all aspects of the industry, including the importance of grass-fed animals, the favorite American cheeses of New York’s top chefs, and a redefinition of the much-abused term, “artisanal.” A resource for chefs, restaurateurs, retailers, and food lovers alike, Thorpe’s engaging account of her tastings and conversations with cheesemakers offers a valuable and representative look at the most important cheesemakers in America, from the brave foodie hobbyists of twenty years ago to the carefully cultivated milkers and makers of today.

The Cheese Chronicles offers a lively and instructive summary of what is important about American cheese today. Thorpe provides an absorbing cultural history of a breakout industry and offers the first in-depth appraisal of and guide to this fascinating world – for who, after all, does not love cheese?

What the experts are saying about
The Cheese Chronicles:

"From industrial to iconoclastic, Liz Thorpe alluringly describes how American cheesemakers reinvented Old World traditions for New World consumption: the good, the bad, and the unpasteurized. The Cheese Chronicles does more than just introduce us to America’s rediscovered culinary frontier – it offers everyone from novice to affineur an informative and unconventional context for what can only be described as a revolution in cheese."
-Dan Barber, executive chef and co-owner, Blue Hill at Stone Barns

"Liz’s knowledge of cheese has been invaluable to us at The French Laundry and Per Se. Whether working with our chefs or teaching classes to our staff, her passion is contagious and has helped us to elevate our cheese program through the years. I am pleased to know that through her book The Cheese Chronicles, others can now benefit from her expertise."
-Thomas Keller, chef, The French Laundry

"Liz Thorpe has written a book about American cheese, and it is the best book about cheese you'll ever read…to the reader who wishes to truly grasp and be exhilarated by the infinite connections between lyric beauty, the beast, the sky, the earth, and people, I cannot more fervently recommend these pages."
-Steven Jenkins, author, The Cheese Primer

"The chefs already know her—she sold them cheese for years when she was still a kid. The mongers know her—she was one of them once. The cheesemakers know her—she knows their work better than anyone else. So read about it here, folks, I give you Liz Thorpe, who will be your very own cheese guide here in America for many years to come."
-Rob Kaufelt, Proprietor, Murray's Cheese