A what? A turophile. Did you know Robin is Certified in Cheese? In other words, she knows her cheese types and flavors and what cheese goes with what food and/or wine. Yup! She is a turophile: One who is knowledgeable in cheese. A cheese lover. And Velveeta just does not enter into the conversation very much. (However we have had some in our refrigerator in the past 30 years – some.) The information printed here came from one of her subscriptions, “Word of the Day”.

Turophile – (TOOR-uh-fyle)
Definition: noun; a connoisseur of cheese : a cheese fancier

Surely the turophiles at our table can recommend some good cheeses to pair with our wine selection.
“For this dish you need a special cheese from Switzerland called Raclette. It’s expensive and hard to find where I live, and it smells terrible—or, to turophiles like me, divine.” — Patty Kirk, Starting From Scratch: Memoirs of a Wandering Cook, 2008

Discussion: Are you stuck on Stilton or gaga for Gouda? Do you crave Camembert? If so, you just might be a turophile, the ultimate cheese lover. From an irregular formation of the Greek word for cheese, tyros, plus the English -phile, meaning “lover” (itself a descendant of the Greek -philos, meaning “loving”), turophile first named cheese aficionados as early as 1938. It was in the 1950s, however, that the term really caught the attention of the American public, when Clifton Fadiman (writer, editor, and radio host) introduced turophile to readers of his eloquent musings on the subject of cheese.

A turophile ranks right up there with an oenophile, “…Oenophilia (/ˌiːnɵˈfɪliə/ ee-no-fil-ee-ə; Greek for the love (philia) of wine (oinos)) is a love of wine. In the strictest sense, oenophilia describes a disciplined devotion to wine, accompanying strict traditions of consumption and appreciation. In a general sense however, oenophilia simply refers to the enjoyment of wine, often by laymen. Oenophiles are also known as wine aficionados or connoisseurs. They are people who appreciate or collect wine, particularly grape wines from certain regions, varietal types, or methods of manufacture. While most oenophiles are hobbyists, some may also be professionals like vintners, sommeliers, wine merchants, or one who tastes and grades wines for a living.”

So, if you have a question about cheese or wine, contact her through this blog and she will be more that happy to answer your question. She just beams with excitement when someone asks her a question on the subjects. Cheers! (Now for a grilled cheese!)