McKeeby's Cheese Encyclopedia

McKeeby's Cheese Encyclopedia is a working record of contemporary cheesemaking developed over more than three decades of observation, travel, and technical study. Its earliest materials were gathered during extended foot journeys, where regional practices in fermentation, agriculture, and material production were documented within their environmental and social settings.

Organized beginning in 1990 and expanded through multiple editions, the work integrates field observation with archival research, chemical analysis, and comparative study of regional methods. It examines cheesemaking as a system of preservation and transformation, involving animal husbandry, microbial management, and controlled aging.

Entries document cheeses currently in production and available for purchase. Each inclusion reflects direct confirmation through tasting, acquisition, or verified distribution. The record therefore represents a documented state of the market at the time of writing, acknowledging the variability of small-scale and regional production.

Drawn in part from the author's experience with dairy production in Runnells, Iowa, and supported by continued travel and correspondence with producers, this volume forms part of an ongoing project. As new cheeses are identified and production changes are confirmed, the encyclopedia continues to expand, with future editions expected to reflect that growth