Is Blue Cheese Actually Mold?

If you love eating cheese, you'll find that the cheese board offers a wide array of options with a range of colors and textures. One cheese often stands out from a beautifully curated cheese plate with crackers, baguettes, spreads, and preserved meats — blue cheese.

Blue cheese’s unique appearance with colorful marbling makes the variety stand out from the crowd. Many people would say that enjoying blue cheese is an acquired taste; let’s take a look at what is so special about this beloved dairy product.

What Makes Blue Cheese Blue? 

 Blue cheese is a collective term describing cheeses made with cow’s, goat’s, or sheep’s milk with the blue mold spores Penicillium.

Once the cheesemakers remove the whey from the cheese mixture, they place the curd into wheels. This is where they inject the penicillium fungus into the cheese and pierce the cheese core with steel needles, exposing the mold to oxygen to grow to form the visible blue veins. Salt is added to prevent spoilage.

 The cheese wheel is then cured in a damp and dark environment. Depending on the variety, this process can range from a few weeks to several months. 

So, Is It Safe to Eat Blue Cheese?

It is perfectly safe to eat blue cheese, as the digestive process destroys the active spores in the cheese. Keep in mind, though, if you are lactose intolerant or have a milk protein allergy, you should stay away from blue cheese as it contains milk.

Types of Blue Cheese 

Each blue cheese variety is unique, offering a distinctive appearance, texture, and pleasantly appetizing flavor and aroma. 

These differences come down to the cheesemaking process, the type of penicillium fungus used, the curing process, and how the molds spread and form their marbling pattern. 

Get the recipe: Wedge Salad with Blue Cheese Dressing

French Roquefort 

This is the first blue cheese on record. The blue Penicillium roqueforti molds were discovered in the Roquefort-sur-Soulzon caves in France.

Roquefort cheese uses sheep’s milk and cures for up to 9 months. This semi-hard, moist, creamy, and crumbly cheese offers a combination of flavors — sharp, tangy, savory, and salty, with a bitter undertone from the mold and a hint of sweetness from the sheep’s milk.  

Roquefort can be consumed on its own, sprinkled on salads, pizzas, and steaks, or used to make dips, sauces, and dressings.  

Gorgonzola

Gorgonzola is a type of cow’s milk from northern Italy. Cheesemakers combine cow’s milk and penicillium mold to age the cheese for 30 to 60 days. 

 The texture can range from semi-soft and crumbly to soft and creamy, depending on the number of days aged.

Use it as a melting cheese for toast, pasta, and risotto, or as a spread for sandwiches and an ingredient to make dips and sauces.  

Danish Blue Cheese

Danish blue cheese is also a lighter variety for the blue novice b. This semi-soft cheese has a short aging period of 8 to 12 weeks, resulting in less spicy and salty flavors than other varieties. 

This blue cheese pairs well with animal-based proteins like steak. It also elevates the flavors of pasta, stews, and soups.

English Blue Stilton

Stilton is a pale, semi-soft and crumbly ivory cheese with a sharp flavor that you will find with tanginess, spiciness, earthiness and savory all in one. The Stilton takes at least nine weeks in the making. 

This cheese pairs well with pears, walnuts, salads, dressings, dips, sauces, and soups. But nothing beats the cheese and wine combination Stilton and a glass of sweet sherry. The cheese fat coats the mouth, and the wine adds a fuller mouthfeel creating a delectable culinary experience.

Maytag Blue Cheese

Maytag Blue cheese is pungent, nutty, earthy, and tart. It is locally produced in Iowa using cow’s milk. While it is slightly crumbly, it is soft enough to be used as creamy topping for salads and pizzas.

How to Use Blue Cheese

The crumbly varieties add a burst of flavor to salads, like our Roquefort Pear Salad, and appetizers, such as our Bacon-Wrapped Dates with Blue Cheese. They are also ideal for making cheese butter to go with the mains, cheese sauces, and fondue or butter. 

Crumbly blue cheese also puts a new spin on stuffed meatballs, burger patties, and roasted portobello mushrooms, amplifying the umami and saltiness of these foods. 

Blue cheeses with softer and creamier textures are ideal for making savory cheesecakes, dressings, dips, and gravy to complement meats. 

 Related:

• What Is Burrata and How Is It Made?
• Why Does Swiss Cheese Have Holes?
• How Does Milk Become Cheese?