The emotional relationship we have with cheese begins very early, after all, the first food we eat after birth is breast milk, which in addition to the necessary nutrients, brings a lot of affection and love from the mother to her child. We often say that babies produce their first cheese by regurgitating small amounts of milk after breastfeeding.
 
As we grow up, we replace breast milk with cow's milk or another mammal's milk, depending on the culture and country, but the essence of love remains, crossing generations and local customs.
 
There are few foods that exert such fascination as cheese, especially those who have it as an object of study and work.
 
Cheese is an ancient art, belonging to a very remote past. There are 12 thousand years of stories, legends and mysteries surrounding this food so essential to humanity, which has a deep relationship with mythologies and deities.
 
The fact is that our country consumes this precious thing a lot and what's more, it has become a lover of this art.
 
At a time when the cheese industry in Brazil is demonstrating considerable advancement and expansion, it is with immense satisfaction that I present the book “Queijos com Olhaduras”, written by Múcio M. Furtado.
 
No one better than him, one of the greatest cheese authorities in South America, to build such an important work for the country, which has, in addition to loyal consumers, a large cheese market in movement, generating an increasingly accentuated production and opening doors to greater consumption each year.
 
A pioneer in the Brazilian publishing market to fully address the subject, Múcio aims to provide the country with fundamental information that adds, in addition to knowledge, culture to readers, who are fascinated from the first page with his academic and at the same time lyrical and contagious. The book will certainly provide many answers to the countless questions and concerns raised by various cheesemakers in our Brazil.
 
Múcio, a competent professional, captivating person and, above all, simple and attentive, knows how to approach the magical world of cheeses like no one else. One of the great differences of his work and his ability is being able, simply by looking at a cheese, to identify the main information about it. As Múcio says, “cheese doesn’t lie”, and it is from this combination of affection and vocation that he manages to convey to everyone the delicacy and understanding necessary to manufacture this product.
 
From the introduction, the reader will be introduced to the main processes and steps for the formation of the enigmatic gazes.
 
In the first chapter, you will learn about the characteristics of the world's main cheeses, including Emmental, Gruyère, Gouda, Maasdam, Svenbo, Jarlsberg and Edam. Subsequently, you will have access to the main types of fermentation and the factors that can harm and assist these processes.
 
Comparisons between different types of fermentation, the fight against late stewing, as well as the identification of defects in Swiss-style cheeses and the basic technology for making some cheeses with eyes are also crucial points analyzed in the work.
 
The book is the result of Múcio Furtado's practical experience and extreme dedication to studies and tireless work with the dairy market. Technical study material, a precious work tool, an essential manual written by a person who truly has a special relationship with cheese. Someone who has feeling and who knows how to value this precious art.
 
Finally, a work made for the eyes of those people who, like me, are fascinated by cheese.
 
Nanci H. Ohata Santana
São Paulo, May 2007