Book Review: The Telling Room

Michael Paterniti’s The Telling Room: A Tale of Love, Betrayal, Revenge, and the World’s Greatest Piece of Cheese is a story with a lot of promise (at least for foodies who love travel books like me)–it’s the story of a delicious and rare piece of cheese that captivates the author, causing him to travel to Spain to find its creator and trace its history in an attempt to understand why it isn’t made anymore.

In a not-really-included-in-travel-books area of Spain, he discovers Ambrosio, the tormented, but talented cheesemaker who is known for telling stories, drinking wine, and making cheese. And he soon discovers that the cheese’s story is a complicated one involving family, history, passion, and…betrayal.

Sounds intriguing right? The problem is that the author–and his writing style–get in the way. The story meanders, there are many long footnotes to each chapter (which sometimes include the most interesting facts), and you just kind of want him to GET TO THE POINT, ALREADY! I realize that story-telling style was probably done on purpose to reflect the story-telling style of the local Spaniards he hears while sharing wine in the caveside “telling room,” but it makes it tough to stay interested for almost 400 pages.

I have plenty of other travel-related books (and movies) about food to recommed, though. Be sure to check out Ten Travel Books about Food and Ten Travel Movies about Cooking.

Or, if you’re looking for special experiences around the world about cheese, we’ve got you covered. Specifically, the list includes a wine and cheese tasting experience in Barcelona.