Roquefort facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Roquefort |
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 Roquefort  Texture of Roquefort |
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| Country of origin | France |
| Region | Aveyron |
| Town | Roquefort-sur-Soulzon |
| Source of milk | Ewe (sheep) |
| Pasteurised | No |
| Texture | Semi-hard |
| Aging time | 5 months |
| Certification | AOC: 1925 |
| Named after | Lua error in Module:Wikidata at line 70: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). |
Roquefort (French pronunciation: [ʁɔkfɔʁ]) is a famous blue cheese from southern France. It's made from sheep milk. Even though other blue cheeses exist, only cheese aged in the natural Combalou caves in Roquefort-sur-Soulzon can be called Roquefort. This is protected by European Union law, meaning it has a special "protected designation of origin."
This cheese is white and has blue mold veins. It tastes tangy and creamy, with a slightly salty flavor. Roquefort has a unique smell and taste. It doesn't have a hard rind; the outside part is edible. A typical wheel of Roquefort weighs about 2.5 to 3 kilograms (5.5 to 6.6 pounds). It takes about 4.5 liters (1.2 US gallons) of milk to make one kilogram of cheese. In France, people sometimes call Roquefort the "King of Cheeses."
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History of Roquefort Cheese
Legend says that Roquefort cheese was found by accident. A young shepherd was eating his lunch of bread and sheep's milk cheese. He saw a pretty girl and ran off to meet her, leaving his meal in a cave. When he came back months later, a special mold had changed his plain cheese into Roquefort!
People have enjoyed cheeses from this area for a very long time. In 79 AD, a Roman writer named Pliny the Elder wrote about popular cheeses from the region. Some people think he might have been talking about an early version of Roquefort.
By the Middle Ages, Roquefort was already well-known. On June 4, 1411, King Charles VI of France gave the people of Roquefort-sur-Soulzon the only right to ripen this cheese. They had been doing it for centuries.
Production of Roquefort grew a lot over time. In 1820, they made 300 tonnes (about 330 tons) a year. By 1914, this had jumped to 9,250 tonnes (about 10,200 tons).
In 1925, Roquefort was the first cheese in France to get an "Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée" (AOC) label. This meant strict rules were set for how it could be made and named. In 1961, a court decided that only cheese ripened in the natural caves of Mont Combalou in Roquefort-sur-Soulzon could use the name Roquefort. This stopped other cheeses from copying the name.
How Roquefort is Made
The special mold that gives Roquefort its unique blue veins is called Penicillium roqueforti. This mold naturally grows in the soil of the local caves. In the past, cheesemakers would leave bread in the caves for weeks. The mold would grow on the bread, and then the dried bread was used to make a powder for the cheese. Today, this mold can be grown in a lab, which helps make sure every batch of cheese is consistent. The mold is either added to the cheese curds or sprayed into holes poked in the cheese.
Roquefort cheese is made only from the milk of the Lacaune sheep breed. Before the AOC rules in 1925, sometimes a little cow's or goat's milk was added. As mentioned, it takes about 4.5 liters (1.2 US gallons) of milk to make one kilogram of Roquefort.
The cheese is produced in the département (a region like a county) of Aveyron and parts of nearby areas like Aude and Lozère.
As of 2009, there are seven companies that make Roquefort. The biggest one is Société des Caves de Roquefort. They own several caves and let tourists visit. They make about 60% of all Roquefort cheese. Roquefort Papillon is another well-known brand. The other five producers are smaller, each with one cave.
In 2005, about three million cheeses were made, totaling 18,830 tons. This makes Roquefort France's second most popular cheese, after Comté.
Making Roquefort cheese involves many people. About 4,500 people herd special sheep on 2,100 farms. These farms are in a specific grazing area across the Larzac Plain and nearby hills. In 2008, about 19,000 tons of Roquefort were produced. Most of it was sold in France or to other European countries like Spain.
Eating and Other Uses
In the region around Aveyron, Roquefort is used in many recipes. You can find it in sauces for meat, savory tarts, quiches, and pies.
Interestingly, the Penicillium roqueforti mold in the cheese does not produce the medicine penicillin. However, in old times, shepherds in the countryside would sometimes put this cheese on wounds. They believed it helped prevent serious infections like gangrene because it has other helpful proteins.
Rules for Roquefort (AOC)
The French rules called Appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC) make sure Roquefort is always made the right way. Here are some of the main rules:
- All milk must be collected at least 20 days after the sheep have given birth.
- The sheep must graze in a specific area, mostly in Aveyron. At least 75% of their food must come from this area.
- The milk must be whole and raw (not heated above 34°C or 93°F). It can only be filtered to remove large bits.
- The rennet (which helps milk turn into cheese) must be added within 48 hours of milking.
- The Penicillium roqueforti mold used must come from the natural caves of Roquefort-sur-Soulzon in France.
- The cheese must be salted using dry salt.
- The entire process of ripening, cutting, packaging, and cooling the cheese must happen in the town of Roquefort-sur-Soulzon.
Special Ingredients and Health
Roquefort cheese has a lot of a natural substance called glutamate. It has 1,280 milligrams per 100 grams of cheese.
Some studies have looked into the health benefits of Roquefort. A study in 2012 found that Roquefort contains compounds that can help reduce inflammation in the body. Another study in 2013 suggested that proteins from Roquefort cheese might help fight certain types of infections.
See also
