fare well in England. Although over here we consider Muenster far
milder than Limburger, the English writer Eric Weir in _When Madame
Cooks_ will have none of it:

I cannot think why this cheese was not thrown from the aeroplanes
during the war to spread panic amongst enemy troops. It would have
proved far more efficacious than those nasty deadly gases that kill
people permanently.

Neufchatel

If the cream cheese be white
Far fairer the hands that made them.

Arthur Hugh Clough

Although originally from Normandy, Neufchatel, like Limburger, was so
long ago welcomed to America and made so splendidly at home here that
we may consider it our very own. All we have against it is that it has
served as the model for too many processed abominations.

Parmesan, Romano, Pecorino, Pecorino Romano

Parmesan when young, soft and slightly crumbly is eaten on bread. But
when well aged, let us say up to a century, it becomes Rock of
Gibraltar of cheeses and really suited for grating. It is easy to
believe that the so-called "Spanish cheese" used as a barricade by
Americans in Nicaragua almost a century ago was none other than the
almost indestructible Grana, as Parmesan is called in Italy.

The association between cheese and battling began in B.C. days with
the Jews and Romans, who fed cheese to their soldiers not only for its
energy value but as a convenient form of rations, since every army
travels on its stomach and can't go faster than its impedimenta. The
last notable mention of cheese in war was the name of the _Monitor_:
"A cheese box on a raft."

Romano is not as expensive as Parmesan, although it is as friable,
sharp and tangy for flavoring, especially for soups such as onion and
minestrone. It is brittle and just off-white when well aged.

Although made of sheep's milk, Pecorino is classed with both Parmesan
and Romano. All three are excellently imitated in Argentina. Romano
and Pecorino Romano are interchangeable names for the strong,
medium-sharp and piquant Parmesan types that sell for considerably
less. Most of it is now shipped from Sardinia. There are several
different kinds: Pecorino Dolce (sweet), Sardo Tuscano, and Pecorino
Romano Cacio, which relates it to Caciocavallo.

Kibitzers complain that some of the cheaper types of Pecorino are
soapy, but fans give it high praise. Gillian F., in her "Letter from
Italy" in Osbert Burdett's delectable _Little Book of Cheese_, writes:

Out in