Mouldy Cheeses

Cashel Blue

The “Irish Roquefort” this is a tasty and creamy blue, still hand made by the Grubb family in Ireland today. Smoother and less tangy than Roquefort this is one of the cheeses that convince you that France isn’t the only place you can find good cheese.

Roquefort

The history and development of Roquefort is quite fascinating and we have long considered making a pilgrimage to Roquefort-sur-Soulzon in the south of France to visit the Combalou caves where the ewes milk cheeses are matured. Roquefort has Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée status meaning that only cheese made in the caves in this region can bear the Roquefort name.

In the old days bread used to be put in the caves until it went mouldy and then used as the mould strain in the cheese itself. For ten years the cheese was banned in Australia by bureaucrats who worried about the possible E.coli risks of cheese made from unpasteurized ewe’s milk. My heart goes out to all Australian cheese fans denied the creamy, salty, tangy bliss of a Roquefort hit during this dark age. The simple fact of the matter is that cheese made from unpasteurized milk tastes better. Pasteurizing may boil out any bacteria in the milk but it also changes the chemical structure of the milk and boils out much of the flavour as well. Personally we would rather risk E.coli than go without superb tasty cheeses like this one.