Tuesday, February 14, 2012

cheese please | roquefort

Here's the deal, I love cheese.
I want to actually learn a little more about different types of cheeses and thought I'd share with you all along the way (this is for you G). I can promise one post a month on a new cheese, maybe more, we'll see. This is my blog people and I work organically.

Since this is the first post I thought I'd start with a special one. It's special for two reasons, first being it's currently my favorite cheese and second because I get share with you a few selects from a French farm that I had the absolute pleasure of visiting! Their sheep's milk is sold to make Roquefort cheese. They fed me one of the most amazing meals I've ever had. It was full of their cheese, housemade patés, bread, wine and so much more. I am ever grateful for meeting them and that amazing day. Enjoy a few images from their beautifully charming home and (family run) farm.






















Roquefort
taste: sharp, tangy, salty, rich/intense
texture: semi-soft, creamy, slightly moist
milk: raw sheep
rind: no rind
region: Aveyron, France
notes: This classic blue is one of France's most popular cheeses. European law states that it can only be called Roquefort if it was aged in AOC (appellation d'origine contrôlée) certified caves. I love the French. The molding is a greenish blue color.

The legend of how this cheese was created goes: There was a young farm boy eating his lunch of bread and ewe's milk cheese when he was sidetracked by a beautiful girl. He stashed his lunch in a nearby cave and ran to meet her. When he returned to his lunch months later he found his regular cheese had transformed into this rather fantastic moldy cheese.

Happy Valentine's Day.



{cheese from Feast; research sources Cowgirl Creamery, Wiki, other}