A seasonal life. A short history of herding, and the art of making (goat) cheese.
This book was introduced to me by a recent interview with the author, on National Public Radio (NPR). When you are in a car, hear one of their (NPR) precious stories, and can't turn off the car because you have to finish hearing it, you know you have to follow up on the story. So we reserved the book at the library and just read it through.
This book is so much more than just a history. It encompasses their lifestyle change from New York City to a small New England town and their quest to live a more simple life. Their place was at the end of a dead end road with 75 acres of land. His (photographer) wife returned home one day with some goat milk from a neighbor and they decided to make some goat cheese...and 'WHAM' their lives were changed forever.
This turns into a very realistic and graphic account of our (human's) history, where we came from, our "so important" connection with animals that we as a people have herded. Brad Kessler is Jewish--But a poet, songster, and, mostly shepard at heart.
His book is strewn with the most comprehensive recent compilations of writing, song, and poetry related to our primeval reliance, and co-existence with all animals, specifically, maybe primarily the goat--this book connects food history with geographic, religious, political, mystical, lyrical, poetical, !! One small sample is an essay about the thought about origins of things like our own letter "A" coming from the Roman letter which is the Hebrew aleph derived from the word "ox". The animals head appears when the letter is inverted...with its two horns sticking straight up to heaven. Similar meanings for the letter 'C', 'H', 'L', 'I'...SO interesting. Even our own word "culture" which we are all so familiar with, is only the 5th meaning of the word which actually began with "agriculture", and on and on it goes.
It caused us to go and buy a French cheese "chevre" which is French for "goat", an appropriate name for a cheese so simple and unmanipulated, it's the closest thing to eating what the goats had been eating--herbs, grasses and hay transmuted through the art of cheesemaking. The graphic detail of the rutting season, the animals antics of the mating season and (incredibly) the making and using of the "Buck Cloth"...WOW!!! Now THAT'S some kind of 'foreplay' for sure.
The book is very interesting and entertaining and highly recommended!!
Submitted by: B. Burton
