Working Blue...

Upon my arrival at Artisinal I donned my hairnet, booties, gloves and crisp white jacket. Matt took me into the blue cheese cave- which is even stinkier then you are imagining and yet smells amazing at the same time.

The first thing we tackled was the reasons for flipping cheese, more specifically the blue cheese I was working with. Cheese that is aging naturally emits butter fats and whey throughout the aging process. If left unattended these liquids will settle on the bottom of the cheese and cause discoloration and an inconsistency of flavor that is unattractive and not very tasty. 

The Blue Cheese I spent the most time with last night was Roquefort. There are three classes of Roquefort Blue Cheese and are classified much like fine scotches. The first is wrapped in Gold, Carles and is considered to be the most premium. The second is wrapped in black, Papillion and is the second most premium. The third is wrapped in green, Societe B and is considered the third most premium. These cheeses weigh on average 3 pounds and are also wrapped in plastic which helps maintain moisture levels and contain the rather messy and stinky whey and butter fats that come out. Roquefort ingredients contain ewe's milk, water and rennet.

I also was asked to flip the Blue Stilton from Tuxford and Tubbett farms. These are not as wet and do not emit butterfat and whey but still need to be flipped at least once a week. The idea behind flipping many cheeses it seems is that you want both ends of the cheese to be perfectly flat. If a dome on the top of the cheese begins to form again it leads to inconstancy of flavor and also makes it impossible to cut the cheese (Hee!!) perfectly. Blue Stilton is roughly 10-12 pounds and is wrapped in paper. Through the aging process the paper does tear away to reveal a goldish brown rind.

The most glamorous blue cheese I saw was a wheel about 4-5 pound thick wrapped in Sycamore leaves. Below is my hairnet glam shot with said Sycamore leaf wrapped blue cheese. Also enjoy pictures of Roquefort, Papillion.

After some less educational but highly useful cardboard box breaking down and ice pack replenishing, I was allowed to help prepare and attend and break down one HELL of a opening masterclass. I will be writing more about that tomorrow as it really is worthy of it's own post...and I forgot my wine sheet at work. The class was a look at Foie Gras and cheese. Hold on to your booties people it was one hell of a show.....