How blue cheese is made: ingredients and recipes. Blue cheese: benefits and harms

2024 Author: Isabella Gilson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:14

Blue cheese is a world-famous delicacy that has been enjoyed by many gourmets. There are a lot of varieties and types: camembert, dor blue, livaro and many others. The recipe for making such a product is quite ancient: cheeses with mold have been made for four thousand years. Mentions of them can be found even in Homer and Aristotle. How is blue cheese made, and where did this tradition come from?

History of occurrence

When people first mastered the technique of cooking such a dish as cheese, they ate it, of course, without mold, the presence of this component was considered a sign that the product was spoiled. According to legend, it was introduced by a shepherd from Roquefort. He simply forgot a piece of cheese in a cave, and when he returned there a few months later, he found it already covered with mold. The shepherd had no other food, so he had to try. The young man liked the taste of blue cheese, and he shared this new dish with his fellow villagers, who lateralso began to put the product in the caves. Of course, such a product appeared a little earlier, and this legend explains the appearance of one of the subspecies: Roquefort.

How blue cheese is made

Now, of course, no one puts food in the cave anymore. The ingredients for blue cheese are, in fact, the cheese itself and the mold. Not all are safe for human he alth. The following species are used in cheese making: Penicillium camemberti, Penicillium candidum (white), Penicillium roqueforti, Pencillium glaucum (blue). Each species has its own cooking technique. For the preparation of the cheese itself, fatty cow and goat milk is used. Sometimes sheep is also taken.

Cooking process of different types

White blue cheeses differ in that the crust only covers the product itself. It has a savory, spicy, sometimes nutty flavor. The cooking process begins with the curdling of milk. Then s alt is added there. White mold is either applied on top of the product (sprayed with a special solution) and left to mature, or simply placed in a basement with fungus-covered walls.

This category of cheeses includes brie, camembert, belly de chevre.

Recipes for making blue cheese involve introducing spores into the product with fine needles. Thus, in the process of maturation, it is distributed inside with bright inclusions. In the initial stages of preparation, the milk is also curdled and s alt is added, and then the whey is allowed to drain. After that, the fungus is already introduced. Duringripening, the room where such cheese is stored should be well ventilated. So the mold is better distributed over the head.

Such cheeses include Gorgonzola, Dor Blue, Stilton and Roquefort.

Less known are cheeses with so-called red mold (although it is more orange or pink). During the cooking process, fungal cultures are not added to curdled milk. Raw materials are placed in cold, damp basements, and the mold forms itself. The crust is regularly washed with brine and wine or cider (which gives it its characteristic color), brushed.

Epoisse, Livaro, Reblochon belong to the group of cheeses with red mold.

Is it possible to cook such a product yourself

If you are interested in how to make blue cheese at home, culinary recipes will come to the rescue. All of them roughly repeat each other. For approximately 500 grams as ingredients you will need:

1. 4 liters of high fat milk.
2. S alt to taste.
3. Sourdough (you can use sour cream), a little more than a glass.
4. Teaspoon of rennet (abomin or pepsin).
5. Mold itself. It can be ordered online, but some home cooks advise cutting off store-bought cheese.

You also need to have certain kitchen utensils:

1. Deep pan.
2. Colander.
3. Gauze.
4. Press and form.

When you have got everything you need, you can start cooking. It consistsfrom several stages:

1. Stir warm milk and sourdough, add rennet and mold culture.
2. After a few hours, put the resulting mixture in a colander covered with gauze. Then hang the gauze with the mass over a saucepan or basin, in a dark, cool room, so that all the whey is glass. This process usually takes several hours.
3. The next step is to put the future cheese under the press. He must lie there for at least 12 hours.
4. Add s alt to the product, place in a mold and leave for 2-3 days. During this time, the cheese must be constantly turned over. The temperature should be between +5 and +10 degrees.
5. After three days, put the cheese into a mold with holes. Mold can only grow if it receives oxygen. In this form, the product will need to be left for about 20 more days.

Now you know how blue cheese is made at home. This is a long and painstaking process, but at the end of it you will be able to boast that you have prepared an exquisite and expensive delicacy with your own hands.

Options for eating blue cheese

Such a product, due to its piquant and rich taste, will go well with tart wine. The s altiness and spice of the cheese are well shaded by honey and fresh fruit. Cheeses such as gorgonzola or dor blue are often used in pasta sauces or pizza toppings.

It can also be added to salads, canapes or toasts. Cheese with white mold can evenserve as a base for soup.

The British eat blue cheese with celery and drink port wine, in Denmark they combine it with biscuit or bread.

Is this product safe for he alth

The benefits and harms of blue cheese primarily depend on the quantity and quality of the product. A small portion will help the body absorb the calcium that enters it (the substances contained in the mold will help with this). Also, some components of this cheese accelerate the production of melanin, which protects the body from ultraviolet rays. The beneficial properties of fungal bacteria do not end there. They also have a beneficial effect on the intestinal microflora, improving digestion, thinning the blood, improving its flow. Blue cheese is also rich in protein, which is a building material for muscles.

It may seem that no medication is needed with this product, but the benefits can turn into harms if you consume more than 50 grams per day. Bacteria can suppress the intestinal microflora, and instead of improving digestion, cause dysbacteriosis. In addition, mold can be allergic. The delicacy should be completely excluded during pregnancy and lactation, as an infection may develop.

The benefits and harms of blue cheese are also determined by the expiration date (it must be fresh) and composition. It should contain only natural ingredients.