Community hub
Recent from talks
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Roquefort
Roquefort (French pronunciation: [ʁɔkfɔʁ] ⓘ; Languedocien: Ròcafòrt) is a sheep-milk blue cheese from southern France. Though similar cheeses are produced elsewhere, EU law dictates that only those cheeses aged in the natural Combalou caves of Roquefort-sur-Soulzon (in the Occitania region) may bear the name "Roquefort", as it is a recognised geographical indication, and has a protected designation of origin.
Roquefort is white, tangy, creamy and slightly moist, with veins of blue mold. It has a characteristic fragrance and flavor with a taste of butyric acid; the blue veins provide a sharp tang. It has no rind; the exterior is edible and slightly salty. A typical wheel weighs between 2.5 and 3kg (5.5 to 6.6lbs), and is about 10 cm (4 in) thick. Each kilogram of finished cheese requires about 4.5 liters of milk to produce. In France, Roquefort is often called the "king of cheeses" (French: roi des fromages) or the "cheese of kings", although those names may apply to other cheeses.
According to legend, Roquefort cheese was discovered when a youth, eating his lunch of bread and ewes' milk cheese, saw a beautiful girl in the distance. Abandoning his meal in a nearby cave, he ran to meet her. When he returned a few months later, the mold (Penicillium roqueforti) had transformed his plain cheese into Roquefort.
In 79 AD, Pliny the Elder praised the cheeses of Lozère and Gévaudan and reported their popularity in ancient Rome; in 1737, Jean Astruc suggested that this was a reference to an ancestor of Roquefort. The theory was widely taken up, and by the 1860s was being promoted by the Société des Caves. Others have dismissed the idea, on the grounds that Pliny does not clearly identify a blue cheese. There is no clear consensus on the meaning of Pliny's description—it has been variously interpreted as a reference to fromage frais, cheese pickled in grape-juice, and even fondue, as well as a reference to Roquefort.
By the middle ages, Roquefort had become a recognized cheese. On 4 June 1411, Charles VI granted a monopoly for the ripening of the cheese to the people of Roquefort-sur-Soulzon as they had been doing for centuries.
By 1820, Roquefort was producing 300 tonnes a year, a figure that steadily increased throughout the next century so that by 1914 it was 9,250.
In 1925, the cheese was the recipient of France's first Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée when regulations controlling its production and naming were first defined. In 1961, in a landmark ruling that removed imitation, the Tribunal de Grande Instance at Millau decreed that, although the method for the manufacture of the cheese could be followed across the south of France, only those cheeses whose ripening occurred in the natural caves of Mont Combalou in Roquefort-sur-Soulzon were permitted to bear the name Roquefort.
Roquefort is made entirely from the milk of the Lacaune breed of sheep. Prior to the Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée (AOC) regulations of 1925, a small amount of cow's or goat's milk was sometimes added. Around 4.5 L (1+1⁄4 US gal) of milk is required to make one kilogram of Roquefort.
Hub AI
Roquefort AI simulator
(@Roquefort_simulator)
Roquefort
Roquefort (French pronunciation: [ʁɔkfɔʁ] ⓘ; Languedocien: Ròcafòrt) is a sheep-milk blue cheese from southern France. Though similar cheeses are produced elsewhere, EU law dictates that only those cheeses aged in the natural Combalou caves of Roquefort-sur-Soulzon (in the Occitania region) may bear the name "Roquefort", as it is a recognised geographical indication, and has a protected designation of origin.
Roquefort is white, tangy, creamy and slightly moist, with veins of blue mold. It has a characteristic fragrance and flavor with a taste of butyric acid; the blue veins provide a sharp tang. It has no rind; the exterior is edible and slightly salty. A typical wheel weighs between 2.5 and 3kg (5.5 to 6.6lbs), and is about 10 cm (4 in) thick. Each kilogram of finished cheese requires about 4.5 liters of milk to produce. In France, Roquefort is often called the "king of cheeses" (French: roi des fromages) or the "cheese of kings", although those names may apply to other cheeses.
According to legend, Roquefort cheese was discovered when a youth, eating his lunch of bread and ewes' milk cheese, saw a beautiful girl in the distance. Abandoning his meal in a nearby cave, he ran to meet her. When he returned a few months later, the mold (Penicillium roqueforti) had transformed his plain cheese into Roquefort.
In 79 AD, Pliny the Elder praised the cheeses of Lozère and Gévaudan and reported their popularity in ancient Rome; in 1737, Jean Astruc suggested that this was a reference to an ancestor of Roquefort. The theory was widely taken up, and by the 1860s was being promoted by the Société des Caves. Others have dismissed the idea, on the grounds that Pliny does not clearly identify a blue cheese. There is no clear consensus on the meaning of Pliny's description—it has been variously interpreted as a reference to fromage frais, cheese pickled in grape-juice, and even fondue, as well as a reference to Roquefort.
By the middle ages, Roquefort had become a recognized cheese. On 4 June 1411, Charles VI granted a monopoly for the ripening of the cheese to the people of Roquefort-sur-Soulzon as they had been doing for centuries.
By 1820, Roquefort was producing 300 tonnes a year, a figure that steadily increased throughout the next century so that by 1914 it was 9,250.
In 1925, the cheese was the recipient of France's first Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée when regulations controlling its production and naming were first defined. In 1961, in a landmark ruling that removed imitation, the Tribunal de Grande Instance at Millau decreed that, although the method for the manufacture of the cheese could be followed across the south of France, only those cheeses whose ripening occurred in the natural caves of Mont Combalou in Roquefort-sur-Soulzon were permitted to bear the name Roquefort.
Roquefort is made entirely from the milk of the Lacaune breed of sheep. Prior to the Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée (AOC) regulations of 1925, a small amount of cow's or goat's milk was sometimes added. Around 4.5 L (1+1⁄4 US gal) of milk is required to make one kilogram of Roquefort.