318860 Fri Aug 18 23:17:23 -0700 2006 34 27 General Chowhounding Topics 0 1818439 What is Blue Cheese? Is it stale cheese that develops fungus? How is it made? Gives me the creeps to think abt it. Pls explain why it tastes funny Fri Aug 18 23:17:23 -0700 2006 24544 rdabke 1 1818446 This is the very untechnical explanation, but I think they put something in it to make it go moldly. And it shouldn't taste "funny." It might smell strong, but that's a different story. Any cheesemakers out there care to comment? TT Fri Aug 18 23:20:16 -0700 2006 1818439 19247 TexasToast 2 1818616 I am not a cheesemaker! But I can tell you that a starter combining rennet and mold spores is introduced to the milk. The cheese is not 'stale' and the mold hasn't grown accidentally. I think an eater who feels that blue cheeses are creepy and taste funny is not at all likely to come to enjoy them. It's probably better to focus on the style of cheese that you enjoy. Sat Aug 19 00:50:01 -0700 2006 1818446 19937 Kater 3 1818622 I love blue cheeses, but they are kind of creepy and taste kind of "funny," but well worth developing a taste for. As with many in Berkeley, my favorite for a while has been St. Agur. Sat Aug 19 00:55:20 -0700 2006 1818616 13192 chocolatetartguy 4 1818625 That's funny! I'm picturing a very enthusiastic diner asking his server "And will you please bring the cheese cart. We're in the moody for one of your creepy little blues. You know, the funny tasting ones!" : ) Sat Aug 19 00:59:12 -0700 2006 1818622 19937 Kater 4 1819511 I completely agree about St. Agur. It is a smooth tasting creamy blue. I love how it has the texture of butter at room temperature. Sat Aug 19 18:09:15 -0700 2006 1818622 14721 Tara9000 5 1873802 The development of the mold causes ammonia to be created that is one of the primary components of both the odour and the sharpness in the taste. Oh, yeah, I'm eating some St. Agur right now with a fresh baguette and some Tokaji-Aszu. St. Agur is a strongly flavoured yet creamy and smooth blue. It is a nice entry into stronger blue cheese than the ubiquitous danish blue. Bleu D'Auvernge is also creamy, less ammonia flavour, and much more salty. My favourite blue is Smuggler's Blue out of England -- its rich and thick like any good stilton, but ... um ... better? Once you've given these a try, move on to try some of the really strong, dry, crumbly, intense Spanish blues. Or move the other way and try Gorgonzola Dulce (a very sweet and creamy gorgonzola) or the Marscarpone-Gorgonzola torte. When you've got those under you wing, give Linberger a go. By then you'll be addicted! Don't forget that most blues taste best with nutty or sweet pairings. Try figs, honey, nuts, pears, botrysized wines, ice wines, sauteurnes. Wed Sep 13 16:30:08 -0700 2006 1819511 24055 Atahualpa 1 1818621 When I was a kid, my older brother told me blue cheese was made from dead armadillos. I believed him for longer that I should have. Lucky for me, I grew up to discover the beauty of blue cheese and now I love a good maytag with a little honey and some walnuts. But I can definitely see how it might be an acquired taste. Sat Aug 19 00:53:58 -0700 2006 1818439 24350 dexters 2 1874142 I'm the opposite--I loved it growing up, then we moved down the street from a cave they used to age the cheese (is that common practice--cave aging a cheese?). That smell! It still haunts me. Now I only eat blue cheese dressing with wings--it tastes good but that smell still gets to me. Wed Sep 13 18:32:22 -0700 2006 1818621 20741 erikka 1 1819142 Where's all the indignant passionate responses from blue cheese mavins? I love all the blues, I've ever tasted, but am definately not an expert. Stilton is my favorite for all time though, served up as part of a Ploughman's Lunch. Sat Aug 19 13:27:08 -0700 2006 1818439 11361 Griller 2 1875324 Yes! Thu Sep 14 02:33:45 -0700 2006 1819142 14063 Anne H 1 1819166 Most blue cheeses start out as pure white, with the penicillan spores added to the curd. After partial aging, the cheese is pierced with needles. Oxygen enters the holes and turns the penicillan blue. You can see the needle marks clearly in gorgonzola, for example. Roquefort and several others, mostly French and Spanish blues, acquire their haunting flavor from the environment, i.e., caves, that they are aged in. Cabrales, from Spain, is the only "spontaneous" blue that I know of, picking up mold naturally with no human manipulation. In my opinion, blues offer the greatest diversity in individual flavors, and there are so many that are outstanding: Roquefort and Stilton are obvious examples, but also Blue de Gex, Fourme d'Ambert, Blue A'Auvergne, Blue des Causses from France; Point Reyes, Great Hill and Hudson Ewe Blue from the US; Dolce and Mountain Gorgonzolas from Italy; Cabrales and Valdeon from Spain, to name a very few from hundreds. Sat Aug 19 13:47:08 -0700 2006 1818439 16906 pitterpatter 2 1819835 Now THAT'S the kinda explanation only a CH can give ya! TT Sat Aug 19 22:21:19 -0700 2006 1819166 19247 TexasToast 2 1820814 To add a couple of others, I love the Bayley Hazen blue from Vermont and the blues from the Rogue Creamery in Oregon. In particular, their "Rogue River Blue" -- wrapped in chestnut leaves and only available seasonally (late summer through fall, until they sell out) -- is amazing. Sun Aug 20 17:59:37 -0700 2006 1819166 10159 Ruth Lafler 3 1823434 Yes, the Rogue Creamery blues are excellent. The smoked blue was a little over the top for me, but still delish in small tastes. Mon Aug 21 22:05:55 -0700 2006 1820814 13564 Snackish 3 1823928 Adding a couple more: the blue mold tinged Hubbardston blue cow and blue goat from Capri Westfield Farms in MA. Outstanding American cheeses. http://www.chevre.com/ Tue Aug 22 01:53:29 -0700 2006 1820814 10076 limster 4 1831654 Glad you love the Hubbardston Blues from Westfield Farm. I've worked there as a cheesemaker for a few years, and they are wonderful cheeses to work with. As you know from eating them, they are unpierced and ripen (like a camembert or brie) from the outside in. The paste is whitish yellow and creamy. No veining. A quick how-to: We introduce a roquefort mold after we cut the curd. They age for a week at roughly 70/70 (temp/humidity) then they sit for a couple weeks more in the WF "cave". We've been experimenting the past couple of years with a true aged blue-veined cheese made from Ayrshire milk. It's called Worcester County Cow. We've sold a bunch to Tomales Bay/Cowgirl Creamery but otherwise it's been a slow starter. We've had the best results from the thicker milk in the darker months, so check with WF Dec-Apr to try it out. Fri Aug 25 00:34:39 -0700 2006 1823928 27875 chipbrantley 5 1875435 Is this Worcester County Cow sold by any local (MA) outlet, or will it only be available at WF? Thu Sep 14 03:38:20 -0700 2006 1831654 10312 applehome 4 1873897 I've just had these recently - wonderful - found at a great cheese shop in Sag Harbor, LI. Wed Sep 13 17:05:24 -0700 2006 1823928 10985 MMRuth 3 1873054 Just a note that this year's batch of Rogue River Blue has been release (a little earlier than usual, according to my cheesemonger). It's as delicious as I remember. Be sure to get the right one, as the Rogue Creamery makes several blue cheeses. I was wrong about it being wrapped in chestnut leaves, btw. According to their website, "After maturation, they wrap the cheese in Syrah and Merlot grape leaves previously macerated in Clear Creek pear brandy and tie it together with raffia." I hadn't noticed the slight pear flavor before, but it was apparent in this batch. Wed Sep 13 06:19:09 -0700 2006 1820814 10159 Ruth Lafler 1 1819217 Just back from a trip to Craftsbury Common VT where I visited Bonneyview Farms. The sheppard/cheese maker was in the process of making a blue cheese from sheeps milk. He heats the milk then introduces seven different types of spores, pours into molds, then allows to set. Interesting process, great blue cheese, soon to be available at Fromaggio's in Cambridge. Sat Aug 19 14:32:23 -0700 2006 1818439 11079 chuck s 1 1819308 My recommendation is to find yourself a back issue of "The Art of Eating", Ed Behr's esteemed journal, that details production of Roquefort. Well worth the effort and edifying, if not quite as funny, haunting, or creepy as this thread. Sat Aug 19 16:02:32 -0700 2006 1818439 22450 Chris Weber 1 1820859 Have any of you blue cheese fans seen Penazul recently? Spanish blue, wrapped in grape leaves--better than Cabrales or Valdeon, IMO. It seems to have disappeared several years ago(at least on the west coast). Sun Aug 20 18:37:57 -0700 2006 1818439 15807 Steve Green 1 1821596 Some blue cheeses are injected via a big needle with specific bacteria to promote the growth of the bluish veins of bacterial growth , many occur naturally as a product of their aging enviroment , all are perfectly safe to eat ( unless allergic , then they can be fatal ) , and , personally , for the life of me , I cannot understand why anyone would willingly eat anything that tasted so horrid . But thats just my opinion . Putrid shark ass soaked in turpentine . But then I feel the same way about all olives , so I must be sensitive to some chemical compounds that many people enjoy . I have wondered about this for a long time . Why do I love so many wierd things , and passionatly hate a few things ? Mon Aug 21 04:37:23 -0700 2006 1818439 12504 GoalieJeff 1 1821597 http://www.cheesebyhand.com/?p=201 check this out. Mon Aug 21 04:39:53 -0700 2006 1818439 10651 bbqboy 1 1821598 http://www.roguecreamery.com The soaked in pear brandy version is luscious. Mon Aug 21 04:39:54 -0700 2006 1818439 10651 bbqboy 1 1827795 So. . .does this mean that bleu cheese doesn't go bad? I know that's a silly-sounding question. But if it goes moldier, doesn't that just make it another flavor of bleu? :-P Wed Aug 23 17:22:36 -0700 2006 1818439 12858 Covert Ops 1 1828196 Yes, it goes bad. First, yeah, the "native" mold gets a little out of hand, but then it turns from bleu to rose to jaune and even a bit of l'orange, even.:) Like most softer cheese, it can get really disgusting when it goes truly bad - much worse than hard cheese like Cheddar, Emmentaler, etc. Wed Aug 23 19:05:19 -0700 2006 1818439 11980 MikeG 2 1873846 The very first stage of going bad for most blues is for the ammonia flavour and back of the nose taste to get out of hand and overly strong. If you regularly have a particular blue cheese you can tell how far along a given batch is by tasting it before you buy it -- your cheesemonger will expect that, and the one by me will insist you sample any cheese before they'll sell it to you. Wed Sep 13 16:48:06 -0700 2006 1828196 24055 Atahualpa 1 1830818 Ever since I was a wee lad, I have been told that I am alergic to penicillin. It was interesting to learn a few years back that the particular mold found in most bleus is a strain of pencillin. To my knowledge, I have never gotten sick/ill/a rash from eating bleu cheese. Perhaps the penicillin is not strong enough to provoke a reaction or is it more likely that I'm no longer allergic to penicillin? I wonder about this because I love bleu but try not to eat too much because of this. Thu Aug 24 19:28:35 -0700 2006 1818439 10283 Dax 2 1830832 I wonder about the same issue. I had serious reactions to penicillin as a child and was warned that I was allergic to it. So it's noted on all medical charts etc. But I eat lots of blue cheese and other cheese with rinds etc. induced by penicillin. So have I outgrown the allergy? I don't think I'm going to take the chance with medications but it does make you think. Thu Aug 24 19:32:58 -0700 2006 1830818 12335 cheryl_h 2 1875337 My mother is allergic to penicillin, but we have eaten lots of blue cheese together, I never heard (and clearly neither did she) that you weren't supposed to. She never had any bad reaction. Thu Sep 14 02:41:36 -0700 2006 1830818 14063 Anne H 1 1831225 I don't know how objectively good this site is, but it sounds reasonable and boils down to a not-unexpected: "Sometimes people react to blue cheese, sometimes they don't. If you do, don't eat it.";) http://www.allergynursing.com/questions2/cheese.html Thu Aug 24 21:16:53 -0700 2006 1818439 11980 MikeG 1 1897649 Hi, can anyone help me? I love blue cheese very much and eat it all the time. I purchased some crumbly blue cheese a week or so ago that has turned VERY blue. I tasted some, and it is quite good, even tangier than usual. Is it ok to eat? It has been in the refrigerator since its purchase, but nonetheless has definitely changed color. I don't want to poison myself, but I'd hate to throw it out if it is still edible. Help? Sat Sep 23 23:14:14 -0700 2006 1818439 42645 oldbarry 1 1898054 Bleu cheese used to creep me out, too. Mold? Really? But, like many of my now-favorite foods, I "thought" I should like it, so I started ordering bleu cheese dressing on my salads. I liked it, grew to love it, then moved on to the bleu cheese crumbles you get in the supermarket. Soon enough, I was seeking out better bleus. Still not a connoisseur, but I do love a good bleu now. Sun Sep 24 04:05:05 -0700 2006 1818439 12513 Divamac