The typical appearance of the blue mold cheese varieties is due to the growth and development of the mold Penicillium roqueforti.
Cheeses in this family include Roquefort, which is made only in the Roquefort area of France from sheep’s milk, and its cow’s milk counterpart, blue in the United States, Stilton in England, and Gorgonzola in Italy.
The earliest makers of blue cheese used bread to begin production of the distinctive mold and then wait patiently for the veins of mold to grow and spread naturally between the curds. On later times mold growth is often induced with Penicillium spores.
These cheeses are aged in places where the mold is allowed to grow on the cheeses rounds or blocks so that it can give the cheese its flavor naturally.
A good blue is always flavorful but is never sour or harsh. The older the cheese, the more pungent is the flavor and the more dense the veining.
Blue mold cheese
Note: blue mold cheeses also called blue-veined cheeses or simply blue cheeses.
