admitted (p. 53). A late medieval
compendium of maxims and recipes for the
middle-class household, known as Le
Ménagier de Paris, includes this formula “To
recognize good cheese”:
Not at all white like Helen,
Nor weeping, like Magdalene.
Not Argus, but completely blind,
And heavy, like a buffalo.
Let it rebel against the thumb,
And have an old moth-eaten coat.
Without eyes, without tears, not at all
white,
Moth-eaten, rebellious, of good weight.
But these rules wouldn’t work for young
goat cheeses (white and coatless), Roquefort
(with its pockets of whey), Emmental (eyefull
and light), or Camembert (which should give
when thumbed). As always, the proof is in the
tasting.
These days, the most important thing is to