Cheeses

Blue-veined cheese

Blue-green veins course through the paste like intricate ribbing — blue-veined cheeses are the most powerful and noble expression of France's cheesemaking terroir.

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Blue-veined cheeses, known as 'blues', are inoculated with moulds of the genus Penicillium roqueforti (or Penicillium glaucum), which develop a characteristic network of bluish or greenish veins throughout the paste — hence the term 'persillé'. The paste remains soft to semi-firm, creamy and unpressed. The curd is inoculated during moulding; during maturation in a cool, damp cellar, it undergoes piquage — needles pierce the wheel to let air in and stimulate the mould. In Auvergne, this tradition alone boasts three PDO (AOP) cheeses: Bleu d'Auvergne, Fourme d'Ambert and Fourme de Montbrison. Bleu du Vercors-Sassenage, milder and made from three milks, completes this heritage in the French Prealps.

AOCPDO Auvergne Bleu d'Auvergne Born of a 19th-century cheesemaker's intuition, Bleu d'Auvergne rivals Europe's great blue cheeses… AOCPDO Franche-Comté Bleu de Gex Haut-Jura Since the 14th century, the cellars of the Haut-Jura have guarded the secret of a subtle blue cheese… AOCPDO Midi-Pyrénées Bleu des Causses Bleu des Causses: a cheese from the natural caves of Aveyron, a tradition documented since the 16th… AOCPDO Rhône-Alpes Bleu du Vercors-Sassenage In the forests and karsts of the Vercors, this discreet blue cheese perpetuates a cheese-making… AOCPDO Auvergne Fourme d'Ambert One of France's oldest cheeses — Gallic druids are said to have already known it. Mild, creamy, elegant… AOCPDO Rhône-Alpes Fourme de Montbrison Twin sister of Fourme d'Ambert, separated since 2002 into its own PDO (AOP) — a discreetly blue-veined… PDO Midi-Pyrénées Roquefort King of cheeses, according to Diderot — born in the natural caves of Combalou, Roquefort has reigned for…