from
Behind the French Menu
by
Bryan G. Newman
behindthefrenchmenu@gmail.com
Roquefort cheese.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/milstan/5304118608/sizes/m/ FF
What makes the Roquefort cheese special?
What makes the Roquefort cheese special?
This cheese is the famous, blue-veined, semi-soft, 33% fat, sheep's cheese, made with unpasteurized milk. It has a medium to strong flavor and has no rind. It is slightly pungent, crumbly, and somewhat moist. The cheese comes from the village of Roquefort-sur-Soulzon in the department of Aveyron in the Occitanie.
This is the cheese that many call the king of cheeses and was the first cheese to be awarded an AOC (in 1925), and that was before the first wine carried those initials. The cheese is aged for five months before it may be sold in the natural damp, aired caves that are close to the village.
Roquefort is one of France's oldest known cheeses; it was probably already appreciated by the Romans when they occupied France in 121 BCE. Roquefort is not unique because it is a sheep's cheese or because of its age; however, it is unique as it is the first recorded blue-veined cheese inside or outside France.
Roquefort cheese aging.
When discussing blue cheeses Roquefort's name will always come up and I read an article recently where Roquefort was compared to English Stilton. However, Roquefort and Stilton are not the same at all! Their tastes and texture are very different. Even more to the point, Stilton is a cow’s milk cheese and Roquefort is a sheep's milk cheese. Both are excellent blue veined cheeses and much appreciated on their own or with a glass of Port and a few grapes but there the similarity ends.
The village of Roquefort-sur-Soulzon
The village of Roquefort-sur-Soulzon may have given its name to the cheese but today since there are less than 700 inhabitants in Roquefort-sur-Soulzon you may be sure that most of the farmers come from outside the town. The cheese is ripened in the local limestone caverns called Causses; these caverns are part of the Parc Naturel Régional des Grands Causses. You may visit the park, with its mineral and hot springs and see the limestone caverns. For a few Euros you may try the cheese and or buy one. If you speak French you may still have some difficulty listening in on the local’s private conversations that is because many of them, amongst themselves, speak the local Occitan dialect, the traditional language of the area.
Entrecote with Roquefort Sauce and French Fries.
The Grands Causses Regional Natural Park has an English language website.
https://www.parc-grands-causses.fr/en
When in the area you will also find other local blue-veined sheep’s cheeses on sale. They are not made in Roquefort-sur-Soulzon and have no AOP on their label; however. some are very good, and they are also much less expensive! Do not forget that within the Midi-Pyrénées there are many excellent cheeses and three more that hold the AOP grade. These are the cow’s milk Bleu des Causses. the cow’s milk Laquiole, and the goat’s milk Rocamadour.
Salad with Roquefort and walnuts
If you are looking for a local wine to accompany your Roquefort cheese, consider the Entraygues-Le-Fel AOP and Estaing AOP these are whites, roses, and reds that were probably originally planted in Roman times.
Entraygues Le Fel AOP
Also, try the red and rose Marcillac AOP wines. This is a wine brought to the Mediaeval village of Conque 125 km (78 miles) away from Roquefort by the monks who also saw their abbey become a major stop on the Saint-Jacques de Compostelle pilgrimage on the way to Spain.
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