2024 Author: Jasmine Walkman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 08:29
The blue cheese it is thought to have been invented by chance when a shepherd hid in a cave in the shade for lunch. He took out his lunch - a loaf of bread and a lump of sheep's cheese. A girl passed by, distracting him, and he followed her, forgetting about his lunch. Months later, due to sudden rain, the shepherd hid in the same place in the cave and found intact bread and cheese. The cheese was covered with blue-green threads. Out of sheer curiosity, the shepherd tasted the cheese, but it tasted good and he ate it whole.
Blue cheese is a term used to make cheese with cow's milk, sheep's milk or goat's milk and helped to mature with Penicillium mold.
The final product is characterized by green, gray, blue or black threads or spots of mold all over the surface. These strands are created during the production stage when the cheese is "wound" with stainless steel rods to allow oxygen to circulate and stimulate growth. This process also softens the texture and develops the distinctive blue scent.
The blue cheese production process follows the same six standard steps used to make most types of cheese:
1. curdling;
2. coagulation;
3. Cottage cheese and whey;
4. Salting;
5. Forming;
6. Maturation.
Where do these blue or green stripes come from?
The unique appearance of blue cheese is the result of a specific type of mold added during the cheese-making process.
The most widely used bacteria in these cheeses are Penicillium Roqueforti and Penicillium Glaucum. These fungi are common in nature and are "discovered" by cheese makers.
Exactly when this beneficial bacterium is added during the cheese making process depends on the type of blue cheese that is being made. When making blue cheese, bacteria are often introduced after the curd is soaked in containers to drain and form throughout the cheese.
Penicillium Roqueforti
This bacterium is named after the French city of Roquefort, famous for its caves filled with naturally occurring spores of Penicillium molds. Cheese makers in the town of Roquefort create and still make the famous Roquefort blue cheese.
The original Roquefort cheese recipes require cheesemakers to leave a lump of rye bread in caves near the city. Bread becomes the host of this type of mold. After about a month, the mold in the bread is dried, ground and combined with cheese.
Blue cheese it is not at all easy to prepare at home. However, there is a large selection of blue cheese on the market. It is important when choosing blue cheese to look at the threads, which should be saturated in color. The cheese must not have a yellow rind, it must not have a sticky surface, it must be well packaged and stored in the refrigerator.
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How Is Melted Cheese Made?
Cooking at home melted cheese is quite simple. It is much tastier than its store counterpart and does not contain chemical additives. The prepared cheese will have the consistency of the processed cheese sold by the supermarkets, it even tastes better.
Blue Cheese
Some of the most delicious delicacies in this world have appeared due to the insatiability of people or quite by accident. Usually, when mold appears on a product on its own, it is immediately discarded, but this is not the case with the favorite of millions of people.
What To Cook With Blue Cheese
Cheeses with a noble mold, tender and spicy, with a strange network of blue veins and a superb aroma, can be successfully used as an ingredient in a delicious dish. Most people eat blue cheeses with pleasure and can't imagine that they can cook anything with them.
Culinary Use Of Blue Cheese
Blue cheeses are considered an exquisite addition to any table. They are covered with a noble mold that penetrates their core. They mature under special conditions, usually in caves. Blue cheeses are served with different types of fruit, freshly baked bread and wine.
English Blue Cheese Surpassed French In Quality
The best cheese in the world is the English blue cheese Bath Blue, which matures for at least eight weeks in special stone rooms. At the 26th edition of the World Cheese Awards in London, English blue cheese beat the competition by beating cheeses from Swiss, Dutch and French producers.
