Buy Fresh Blue Cheese

Be Sure To Buy Fresh Blue Cheese

When looking at blue cheese, you want to make sure you buy fresh blue cheese. Usually blue cheeses are wrapped in tin foil to keep them from drying out, so any moisture created by the bacteria during fermentation gathers on the rind. Scrape this off before serving. If blue cheese develops too much white mold, it is normally accompanied by a bitter, damp and moldy smell. This is an indication of poor handling. Let your nose be your guide. If it smells bad, return it for a refund or a better batch of cheese!

If your cheese has been wrapped in plastic wrap either by the seller or you for a long period of time, be sure to pat the cut surface of the cheese with a damp paper to absorb salt which can get pulled to the surface.

Use Your Nose!

Another way to make sure that your blue cheese is fresh and of good quality is by checking its aroma. How does it smell?

• 1. Soft-ripened cheese should smell like bacon, beef, or buttermilk. It should not smell like ammonia.
• 2. Creamy-crumbly cheese should smell like fresh milk, grass, or pungent. It should not smell like ammonia or very strong.
• 3. Firm cheese should smell like toasted nuts, smoky or sweet. It should not smell very strong or gamey.

Storing Blue Cheese

Once you get your blue cheese home, you want to make sure you store it properly. Firm blue cheeses such as Stilton should be wrapped in waxed paper and then either placed in a re-sealable plastic bag or plastic wrap. Then store it in your refrigerator drawer. All other blues should be placed unwrapped into an airtight plastic container with a few holes poked into it and then stored in your refrigerator drawer.

History of Blue Cheese

Blue (also spelled bleu) cheese refers to cheeses that are ripened using blue mold and they have been made since the time when Romans ruled the world. The creation of bleu cheese was really a matter of chance. Before refrigerators, cheeses were stored in cellars and caves…wherever a person could find to help keep the cheeses cool and preserve them longer. The constant temperatures in these storage areas combined with humidity to create a wonderful breeding ground for wild molds and yeasts.

There are dozens of blue cheeses made from various countries around the world. Each has its own history and its own particular recipe. One of the most well known types of blue cheese is Roquefort (from France). Legend has it that Roquefort was created over 2000 years ago by a shepherd. Distracted by thoughts of his lady love, he left some cheese and some bread behind in a cave he had sheltered in during inclement weather. When he came back, his cheese had a greenish mold that spread through the center of the cheese. Being thrifty, he gave it a try and pronounced it delicious!

The story of another well known blue cheese, Gorgonzola (from Italy), is that an innkeeper found mold in his cheese that he had stored in his cellar for a few weeks. Not wanting to cut into his profit margin, he served it anyway. The customers loved it!

Stilton (from Great Britain), was created through a gradual process of trial and error. Lady Beaumont of Quenby Hall in Leicester was responsible for recording the recipe for this cheese. This cheese can only be made in three counties in England and is only made by seven creameries. It is well noted for its unique taste. The rind should be dry and rough with visible pierced holes, but the cheese shouldn’t be cracked or split. The rind is edible, but not particularly tasty. The inside of the cheese should be creamy in texture and straw yellow in color.

These are just some of the blue cheeses that are available. For a more complete list, check out Wikipedia. If you are looking at cheese and aren’t sure if it is a blue cheese, here is what you should look for:

• 1. It should have blue, green, dark blue or grey veins throughout the cheese.
• 2. It should have blue, green, dark blue or grey veins throughout the cheese.
• 3. The amount of veining, blue dots or lines is fairly consistent in the cheese.

Uses for Blue Cheese

Wondering how you can use blue cheese? It is a versatile cheese and can be used in casseroles, fondue, grilled cheese sandwiches, polenta, pasta, risotto, and on vegetables. It is also great to eat by itself!

Blue Cheese Differences

Blue cheese can have different textures: creamy, creamy-crumbly, or firm.

• 1. The creamiest blue cheeses include Sage Blue, Cambozola, and Blue Castello. These are quite mild in flavor.
• 2. Roquefort, Gorgonzola Dolce, Gorgonzola Dolcelatte, Point Reyes Bleu Cheese, Maytag Blue, Bleu d’Auvergne, Roaring Forties Blue, and St. Agur are some examples of creamy-crumbly cheese. They have a thin rind or no rind and look moist. Their flavors have a wide range from tangy to sweet to pungent and usually salty (but remember you can use the damp paper towel on the cut edges to help with that).
• 3. Fourme d’Ambert, Shorpshire and Stilton are examples of firm cheeses. They range in flavor from earthy to beefy to smoky and they tend to be mellower in flavor. These are usually packed in foil or displayed as whole wheels.



In a nutshell, you can use your own natural cheese preferences to guide you in your choices. If you like creamy, mild cheeses, then go for the creamy blues. If you like firm, earthy cheeses, then try out the firm blues. The creamy-crumbly cheeses are going to be the most pungent and if you aren’t crazy about blue cheese, you probably want to stay away from them.

Allergy Information

A word of warning. If you are allergic to penicillin, you may want to be careful eating blue cheese as the mold strain most often used to make blue cheese is Pencillium roqueforti. Another blue mold used is pencillium glaucoma and it is used to make Gorgonzola cheese. And of course if you are allergice to dairy, blue cheese shouldn't be on your list of things to eat.