A modest section with several entries in the Provisioner's Notes, every page's margins are decorated with meadow scenes, pints of dairy, and wheels of cheese - either partitioned or untouched. Despite the breadth of the section, specific excerpts and comments of interest seem to beckon to the reader. 

• Cheesemaking

Cheesemaking is the vocational trade that focuses primarily on the production of cheese. Cheesemaking provides a means of converting milk that would otherwise spoil, into an artisanal delicacy that is far more resilient to the passing of time. Many cultures beyond the elves produce cheeses throughout Middle-earth, with variations in the types of cheeses - comparable only in number to the variations between the cheesemakers themselves. 

• Storage of Cheese

Cheese - unlike the milk that is used to produce it - can have an extremely variable lifespan prior to souring. The typical approach stands: the harder the cheese, the more resilient to spoilage the cheese is. This is due to the variations in moisture content - as molds favor moist product. While cheeses may bare a degree of fortitude against spoiling, the difference in cheese that is meant to be aged, as opposed to cheese that is meant to be eaten fresh, lies in the intent of the nature of the cheese's consumption.

The cheesemaker - hopefully well versed in his or her vocation - understands intimately the ideal window of time by which to serve the specific variation of their cheese. It is in this, that the production and understanding of their cheese - after years of iteration and perfection - has paved a timeline of when a cheese's journey is destined to begin, and when it is destined to end. In this spirit, consuming cheese beyond its expected time of spoilage - while not guaranteed to bring about illness - trespasses on the expectation and intention of the cheesemaker, as now what is being eaten is no longer the product that it was sold to be.

With this disambiguation in mind, the typical storage of cheeses is as follows: for harder cheeses, the cheese is typically waxed. Prior to waxing, the hard cheese is allowed to dry over a week while covered with cheesecloth. Mold formation may occur, which is immediately countered by a washing with either salted water or diluted vinegar. Usage of a cloth soaked in the solution of choice to wipe away the visible mold will be sufficient. Any mold that may perhaps be invisible to the eye will be purged by the hot wax. The cheese wheel is to be plunged into the melted wax, and a smooth finish is helpful in the aesthetic. 

Should mold and spoilage be seen beneath the wax - this is an indication that the wax seal has been pierced, or that the wax was not heated to a sufficient temperature. The remedy is to remove the compromised wax, trim the surface of the cheese to remove the mold, and repeat the waxing process anew.

Softer, moister cheeses are to be enjoyed immediately. Prolonged storage and subsequent consumption is ill-advised.

When unsure if a cheese has spoiled, it is best to rely on sight, scent, and taste. An understanding of the cheese at the time of purchase is necessary for comparison to a later date - especially for cheeses of a pungent variety. If a cheese no longer looks, smells, or tastes as good - if not better - than the day of purchase, then it is likely unfit for consumption. 

• Varieties of Cheese

Like wine, the cheeses come in varieties indicative of their production process. It is for this reason that they are often intimately paired - as from conception they were likely matured in similar cellars, produced with a common air, and derived from ingredients that in some way have origins to a common soil. Like wine, to understand the variations, one must understand the production process of the cheese, in order to greater appreciate its variations.

Cheese begins with raw milk. The milk is heated to expedite its ripening, a process akin to fermentation without quite imparting that spirituous taste of wine or ale. The ripening of the milk is often regarded as responsible for imparting the flavors in the final product, allowing the traits of the dairy - and by extension the livestock - to become most consequential. Some specialty cheeses have spices and salt added to the milk at this time.

Once the milk has ripened to the criteria of the cheesemaker, the ripened milk is cleaved by the use of acerbic solutions such as vinegar, or - more popularly - with rennet, which is the processed stomach lining of cow. The discovery of rennet is widely attributed to the unintentional cleaving of milk that was stored in a satchel made from the stomach of cow or goat. The cleaving of milk results in curds (solids) and whey (watery liquid).

As mentioned prior, the moisture in cheese promotes spoilage, and thus the whey - comprised mostly of water - must be removed to sufficient quantities. The cutting of the curds is used to help remove whey. The separation of curds and whey will determine the hardness of the cheese. Softer cheeses may have the curds coalesced into a single mass and pressed by hand with cheese cloth, while harder cheeses are pressed in a mechanical vice over long periods of time.

Some variants of cheese require that the curds are 'cheddared', a means of removing whey that produces a denser cheese. Cheddaring is performed by slicing the curds into slabs, stacking these slabs, and pressing the stacked slabs to remove the whey, repeating the process until a sufficiently dense curd mass is achieved. The resulting curd mass is treated like any other hard cheese. Other variants of cheese rely on scalding the curds, or integrating salt - all of which helps remove the whey. The harshness of whey removal is known to have an impact on the final product. Cheeses may be brined after pressing and before air drying or aging process to depending on the variant of cheese. 

Air drying removes additional unwarranted moisture. Softer cheeses are likely complete at this point in the cheesemaking process. Optional ingredients are mixed into the soft cheese such as nuts, fruit, or additional spices. Harder cheese undergo an aging process to further remove moisture and enhance palatability. Often considered the second ripening of the product, flavors are imparted upon the cheese during the aging process based on a variety of factors such as time and setting. The cheese may be waxed, oiled, wrapped in cloth prior to aging. Some cheeses are aged deliberately with mold to impart additional flavors.

Rind - the hard outer layer of cheese - primarily develops during the aging process as the cheese begins to lose moisture. Rind development typically appears in cheeses that have been brined or salted. Rind development is not exclusive to hard cheeses.

The final product is often sold by weight. The cheese is typically partitioned into wedges for hard cheese, or single-serving balls for softer cheeses (without rind).