Bleu d'Auvergne

Bleu d'Auvergne is a blue cheese of the Auvergne region, specifically the Monts du Cantal area of south-central France. Wikipedia documents its Appellation d'Origine Controlee as granted in 1975. The cheese is made from cow's milk — pasteurized versions are permitted, though some raw versions exist — and carries the same Penicillium roqueforti mold as Roquefort, but on cow's rather than sheep's milk, which gives it a milder, creamier character. The Wikipedia page repeats a popular legend of its discovery: a shepherd, leaving his bread-and-cheese lunch in a cave, returned to find that the mold from the bread had inoculated the cheese — the origin, by tradition, of the local blue technique. Bleu des Causses and Roquefort are the more famous southern relatives.

A wedge of Bleu d'Auvergne shows a pale ivory paste threaded with irregular blue-green veins. The texture is creamy and moist, softer than Roquefort; the flavor is peppery and mushroomy with a mild tang, earthy rather than sharp. The blueing is irregular — some bites carry more mold than others, which is part of the cheese's character. Eaten as a table cheese, crumbled over salads or steaks, or melted into sauces; pairs naturally with sweet wines like Sauternes.

Bleu d'Auvergne is a blue cheese built around the internal growth of Penicillium roqueforti. The mold is added to the cow's milk at the outset; after the curd is cut and lightly pressed, the wheel is pierced with needles — the piquage — to create air channels through the paste. Oxygen enters through these channels during affinage, allowing the blue mold to grow internally; the growth follows the channels, which is why the veining is irregular and streaked. P. roqueforti secretes proteases and lipases that break down the proteins and fats of the paste; this enzymatic activity is what softens the texture and produces the peppery, earthy, creamy flavor. The cow's-milk base — milder and higher in moisture than sheep's milk — is what makes Bleu d'Auvergne softer and less aggressive than Roquefort, which uses the same mold on sheep's milk.