Lost in the cheese shop, confused at the cheese counter? Fear not, for now you can select like a true turophile.

So many cheeses, so little time. Anyone who has ever been into even an average-sized French supermarket will have been impressed, and a little frightened, by the sheer choice of cheese on offer.

Cheese, good cheese, is not cheap and so many of us rather than take a risk, head down the route of the familiar while knowing that we’re missing out.

Well no more, armed with this book you can prep for your fromage hunt like a pro. Even take it with you to look up cheese on the spot.’Moment, svp Madame!’.

Author Tristan Sicard is one of the leading cheese experts in France, a journalist, and the former owner of a fromagerie in Lille.

Of course you don’t have to go to France, today even our supermarkets have a good choice even if, thanks to Covid, the cheese counters in the UK have mostly been closed and you have to root about in the chiller cabinet unaided.

Some cheeses are going to be a bit hard to find anywhere. A Milawa Blue from Victoria, Australia sounds interesting, if a little Monty Python, but I doubt there’s any in the UK.Ditto Everton from Indiana, USA.

Meanwhile UK cheeses seem a bit thin on the ground in the book, I could only find a couple, even Lithuania seemed to have more entries.

The book has four sections, the first covering the origins if cheese and its production. This is interesting reading if you’re not familiar with the cheese process from animal to plate.

Then comes a chapter on countries and territories. A tour of world cheese in twenty maps and a guide to zones of production of certified cheeses.

And then the really good bit, Cheeses Of The World.

Over four hundred cheeses with remarkable illustrations that are better than photos, this will make you very hungry indeed. Quite fascinating and drool-making.Did you know that Hushållsost is a good melter, while Bovški Sir should be eaten on its own? And that a good Allgauer Weisslacker can out- stink a Stinking Bishop? Well you do now.

Were it not for Covid (again) I’d be getting on a cheap flight tomorrow with a suitcase full of Jacobs Cream Crackers.

Finally a chapter on when and how to enjoy cheese, which pairings work best in each cheese family, the best way to compose traditional and modern five cheese eclectic platters using pie charts and of course wine recommendations. There are even tips on how best to wrap and store cheeses.

When we are all allowed to be social again, this luscious book will help create memorable ends to dinners.

A tour de fromage that’s a tour de force.

A Field Guide to Cheese: How to Select, Enjoy, and Pair the World’s Best Cheeses

Author: Tristan Sicard

Published by: Artisan Illustrated Edition

Price: £21.99

ISBN-13: 978-1579659417