Roquefort

Roquefort cheese created in a cave near Roquefort, France

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Roquefort is a semi-hard blue cheese from the south of France. Only a limited area around the town of Roquefort can produce it.

According to legend, Roquefort cheese was discovered when a youth, eating his lunch of bread and ewes' milk cheese, saw a beautiful girl in the distance.

Abandoning his meal in a nearby cave, he ran to meet her.

When he returned a few months later, the mold, penicilin Roquefort, had transformed his plain cheese into Roquefort!

The youth tasted it anyway, and Roquefort cheese was born.

By the middle ages, Roquefort had become a recognized cheese.

On 4th June 1411, Charles VI granted a monopoly for the ripening of the cheese to the people of Roquefort~sur~Soulzon, as they had been doing for centuries.

The mould that gives Roquefort its distinctive character, peniciln roquefort, is found in the soil of the local caves.

Traditionally, the cheesemakers extracted it by leaving bread in the caves for six to eight weeks until it was consumed by the mould.

The interior of the bread was then dried to produce a powder.

In modern times, the mould can be grown in a laboratory, which allows for greater consistency.

The mould may either be added to the curd or introduced through holes poked in the rind.

Roquefort is made entirely from the milk of the Lacaune breed of sheep.

Roquefort goes well with fruits.

Fresh fruit such as pear work well, as well as dried fruit such as apricots.

You can pair it with nuts too, such as walnuts, hazelnuts and almonds.

Pair Roquefort with sweet wine, such as Sauternes or sweet wines from the Bordeaux region.

It goes well with red wine too, such as Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot.

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roquefort

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https://ko-fi.com/thetudorintruders

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Roquefort Cheese cave.

Photo credit: discover.blog.tourisme-aveyron.com