Book & Articles
Author of cheese book
It’s Not You, It’s Brie:
Unwrapping American Cheese Culture
Review by the Washington Post Book:
“Certain corners of the food world accumulate cranky high priests and priestesses, full of solemn proclamations and self-serious warnings about the correct way to make, buy or describe the things we love. Start a conversation about wine or coffee with the wrong person and get ready for a lecture packed with pseudo-science, judgmental snobbery and personal observations passed off as industry gospel.
Cheese fanatics can be as bad as any other kind, and many a tedious tome has exacerbated the situation, casting drab shadows where sunlight belongs. And then there are books like “It’s Not You, It’s Brie,” by Kirstin Jackson. It elegantly wedges through the tedious jargon and pomp of cheese culture.”
Wielding simile and metaphor like a pair of nunchucks (she compares one strong cheese to “a mom whose kid was just bullied” and another to an odoriferous “workout T-shirt”), Jackson leads the reader into the live culture of American cheese in a manner so painless as to be actively pleasurable. Her approach is to quickly and clearly define a broad type of cheese, such as Alpine or Pasta Filata, and then illuminate three specific cheeses within that class. In the process, she shares cheesemaker biographies, farm descriptions, animal stories, pairings, tasting notes and recipes.
Would you like a copy of “It’s Not You, It’s Brie”? Two good places to get hard copies via mail are through Solano Cellars or by emailing itsnotyouitsbriebook@gmail.com. Thanks! Also available electronically at Amazon.
Other Writing & Cheese Articles
Say (rich, creamy) cheese: Dairies offer triple- and double-crème palate-pleasers, LA Times
Glorious Winter Cheeses, LA Times
Moving The Cheese From Starter Plate To Dessert Tray, NPR’s Kitchen Window
Cheese balls Get Some Respect, NPR’s Kitchen Window
Wear Shoes to This Year’s Crush: Edible East Bay
From Forrest to Barrel to Bottle: Edible East Bay
Eating the Seasons in Cheeses Edible East Bay
What to Pour at your Holiday Table Edible East Bay