Wikipedia:WikiProject Food and drink/Cheeses task force

“	Poets have been mysteriously silent on the subject of cheese.	”
— G. K. Chesterton

Some Wikipedians have formed a task force to better organize information in articles related to cheese. This page and its sub-pages contain their suggestions; it is hoped that this project will help to focus the efforts of other Wikipedians. If you would like to help, please inquire on the Discussion Page, see the Task list below or just start editing articles and link them to the project using the WikiProject Food and drink/Cheeses task force banner.

Scope

Unlike other WikiProjects, this task force does not attempt to define a rigorous, heading-driven outline for the article. Rather, it should be used as a set of guidelines to insure that all important details have been covered in a cheese article. An infobox template is linked below under the projects templates that may be included along the right side of the article. This template gives the basic facts of the cheese at a glance. Not all cheeses are the same, and not all items fit into one set framework. However, having some general set of cheese "basics" covered is ideal.

You can join our project by adding your name to the participant list and placing the user box {{User WP Cheeses}} on your user page. Feel free to list any special interests after your name.

Here is a list of goals for this task force:

• Consensus about the organization of cheese related articles
• Categorization of cheese articles
• Creation, expansion, and maintenance of cheese articles.
• Helping to maintain the Portal:Food.

To do list

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Tasks

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Current projects

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A note on article names

Cheese articles should be given a unique name that clearly differentiates them from other potential topics that may share the same name. This is especially important in the case of European cheeses, where cheese are frequently named after a town or region. The simplest method is to append "cheese" to the article name (e.g. Cheddar vs. Cheddar cheese). Whether you choose to append "cheese" to non-ambiguous titles (e.g. Sage Derby) is a left to individual authors. Note that the designation should not be applied where it is redundant, as in the case of "Queso blanco".

Article Structure

The article should start with a brief description of the cheese, including:

• the nature of the milk (or substance) from which the cheese is produced (e.g. goat's milk, cow's milk, ewe's milk)
• a high-level description of the cheese's flavor(mild, flavorful, sharp)
• a rough notion of the cheese's texture (soft, semi-soft, hard, etc.)
• if applicable, the region in which the cheese is made, and/or originates

Much of this information can be conveyed concisely in the first sentence(s) of the article. Example: "Roquefort is a flavorful ewe's-milk bleu cheese from the south of France."

The article should move on (over the first or first several paragraphs) to a more detailed description of the cheese, including:

• description of the cheese's appearance (e.g., "shot with blue veins of mold", "inedible orange rind".)
• (optionally) some attempt to describe the flavor of the cheese

The article should continue to list any unique details of the cheese, including:

• A description of the production process
• History (even if legendary) of the discovery/invention of the cheese
• Variants of the cheese (e.g. US cheddar vs. English Cheddar)
• A list of producers (where applicable-- don't bother with widely produced cheeses.)

Next, there is a table with quick facts about the cheese. A template for the table can be found at the bottom of this page. The contents are as follows:

• The official full name of the cheese. If there are several official names, list all (e.g. port-du-salut/entrammes).
• A picture of the cheese, where available. We have not yet located a source of public-domain or copylefted cheese images. Do not grab images off the web unless you're sure they're not copyrighted!
• Primary geographical production area. If the cheese has no center of production, specify "worldwide". (At some point, a map might be helpful)
• The milk (or non-milk substance) from which the cheese is made. Specify whole or skim milk where appropriate.
• Pasteurization: Yes/No/Occasionally/Frequently or something more descriptive.
• Texture (semi-soft, soft, hard, etc.)
• Average fat content (as a percentage.)
• Average protein content (as a percentage.)
• Size/weight of a cheese wheel (where applicable)
• Affinage/aging time (specify if there are multiple stages.)
• Trademarks, production guilds, etc. (e.g. AOC for many protected French cheeses.)

Categories:

• Cheese by country, such as English cheese, etc.
• Cheeses by milk type, such as Cow's milk cheese
• Protected designation, if appropriate

• {{Infobox Cheese}} - Infobox template for cheese articles
• Navigational templates
  • {{Belgian cheeses}} - navbox template for those articles covering Belgian cheeses
  • {{Italian cheeses}} - navbox template for those articles covering Italian cheeses
  • {{French cheeses}} - navbox template for those articles covering French cheeses
  • {{British cheeses}} - navbox for those articles covering cheese from the United Kingdom}}
• {{WPFOOD}} - Banner to tag article on its talk page to associate with this task force
• {{User WP Cheeses}} - Place this template on your user page when you join the task force
• {{Cheese-stub}} - Cheese stub template
• {{The Cheesy Barnstar|put your message here ~~~~}} - An award placed at another users talk page for improving Cheese-related articles.

In 2008, a community forum was established to help manage common goals of the associated Food and Drink WikiProjects. The inactive discussion is located here.

Goal specific forums

• Guidelines forum - This forum has been set up for the various Food and Drink projects to develop a set of Manual of Style guidelines for use in articles under the auspices of all the related Food and Drink WikiProjects and task forces. This would be similar to the MoS guidelines for biographiesorlegal articles.

• Restaurant notability guidelines discussion - This guideline is intended to extend WP:CORP, in no way to replace its purpose, in regard to restaurants. It is also not intended to replace, supplant, or otherwise alter the standard notability requirements.

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