Frederic Melton
Blue cheese is a unique variety of cheese with a strong flavour and a distinctive appearance. It is aged for a minimum of 60 days, resulting in a bold, sharp, salty and intense taste. Blue cheese is often paired with sweet items like honey, dried fruit, apple or pear slices, and walnuts. It is also commonly served with sparkling wines or champagne. Blue cheese is an excellent choice for a cheese platter, especially if you are serving multiple cheeses, as it adds a nice contrast in flavour and texture. The term blue moon refers to the rare occurrence of a second full moon in a month, and while the moon may not be made of blue cheese, it is a fun excuse to indulge in this delicious and distinctive variety.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Number of cheeses | 3-5 |
| Variety | Hardness, creaminess, type of milk, country of origin |
| Pairings | Honey, dried fruit, apple or pear slices, figs, walnuts, sugared nuts, baguette slices, raisins, almonds, whole grain crackers, dried cranberries, crusty bread |
| Preparation time | 30 minutes or less |
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What You'll Learn
Blue cheese is an acquired taste
Blue cheese is a nice addition to a mixed cheese platter, especially if you are serving four or five cheeses. It is best to include a variety in terms of hardness, creaminess, type of milk, and country of origin. Blue cheese is one of the best cheeses to pair with fruit. It goes well with honey, dried fruit, apple or pear slices, figs, and walnuts. For something special, try serving blue cheese with a cranberry and dried cherry sauce.
If you are serving a large number of people, it is recommended to buy cheese in half to one-pound portions. If you are serving a single cheese platter with various types of cheese, quarter-pound portions or even two-ounce portions will suffice. It is also recommended to set your cheeses out three hours before serving.
For a special treat, try a strong and spicy blue cheese from Northern Spain, made from unpasteurized cow's milk, or a creamy, buttery, salty blue cheese from Northern Italy that dates back to 879 AD. There are two types: dolce (sweet) and piccante (hot). If you are new to blue cheese, a good starter is a mild, creamy cow's milk cheese that combines the flavour of blue cheese with a Camembert-like texture. It is sometimes referred to as "blue brie".
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Pairing blue cheese with other foods
Blue cheese is a bold, sharp, tangy cheese with grassy notes and hints of mushroom. It comes in a variety of textures, from buttery to crumbly. This style of cheese can be paired with a variety of foods, including fruits, honey, and savoury jams.
When creating a blue cheese platter, it is nice to have one blue cheese if you are serving 4-5 cheeses in total. If you are creating a single mixed blue cheese platter, pick a variety in terms of hardness, creaminess, type of milk, and country of origin.
Blue cheese pairs well with fruits like apples, pears, apricots, and figs. The combination of mild blue cheeses and green pears provides a fusion of contrasting textures and complementary flavours. The creamy texture and gentle sweetness of Gorgonzola Dolce or Danablu go well with the crisp and succulent bite of green pears. Stronger blue cheeses and apricots also go well together, balancing savoury and sweet elements.
Blue cheese can also be paired with honey, especially raw honey, which blends the distinct profiles of sweet and savoury in perfect harmony. The contrasting textures of crumbly cheese and smooth honey add a delightful complexity to the experience.
In addition to fruits and honey, blue cheese can be paired with nuts like walnuts, jams, and chutneys. It also goes well with prosciutto, providing a savoury allure to the bold character of the cheese.
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Blue cheese varieties
Blue cheese is a general classification of cheeses that have had cultures of the mould Penicillium added, resulting in a final product spotted or veined with blue, blue-grey, or blue-green mould. Blue cheese can be eaten on its own or spread, crumbled, or melted into or over foods. It is often paired with fruits such as figs, walnuts, pears, grapes, apples, and honey.
There are several varieties of blue cheese, with the five traditional classics widely regarded as staple products in their native countries. These traditional blue cheeses include:
- Roquefort: This is widely considered the original blue cheese, made with unpasteurized sheep milk. It is semi-hard and crumbly but also creamy, with dark white paste and bright blue-green veins. It has a pungent smell and a sharp, salty, and acidic taste.
- Gorgonzola: This is the most famous variety of blue cheese, made with Penicillium Glaucum. It is an Italian variety that comes in two types: Gorgonzola Dolce, which is soft and creamy with a mild, buttery flavour; and Gorgonzola Piccante, which is hard and crumbly with a rich, intense flavour.
- Cabrales: Unlike other blue cheeses, this Spanish cheese is made with a combination of cow, goat, or sheep milk, as long as it is raw and unpasteurized. It has a dark, almost yellowish paste with extensive blue-grey veins and a firm, moist, and creamy texture due to its high-fat content. It has a robust, salty, and slightly spicy flavour that becomes sharper with age.
- Danablu: Often marketed as Danish Blue in the US, this blue cheese is made from full-fat pasteurized cow milk. It has a semi-soft, creamy, and crumbly texture with a mellow yet sharp and savoury flavour.
- Fourme d'Ambert: This French blue cheese from Auvergne is almost as old as Roquefort, dating back to Roman times. It is made from raw cow milk and has dark blue veins, a creamy texture, and a mild, mushroomy, and slightly earthy flavour.
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Blue cheese and wine
Blue cheese is a nice addition to a mixed cheese platter, especially if you are serving 4-5 cheeses. If you are creating a single mixed blue cheese platter, pick a variety in terms of hardness, creaminess, type of milk, and country of origin. Blue cheese is one of the best cheeses with fruit. It pairs beautifully with honey, dried fruit, apple or pear slices, figs, and walnuts. For something special, try serving blue cheese with a cranberry and dried cherry sauce.
Blue cheese can be an acquired taste, so if you don't like it at first, don't give up. There is a blue cheese out there for you! Blue cheese can range from sharp, hard, and crumbly to mellow, creamy, and salty. A good starter for those new to blue cheese is a mild, creamy cow's milk cheese that combines the flavour of blue cheese with a Camembert-like texture. It is sometimes referred to as "blue brie".
When pairing blue cheese and wine, it is important to consider the type of milk used to make the cheese and the acids in the cheese. If it's a strong blue cheese, it needs a bigger wine partner. Because blues can be both salty and strong, it helps if the wine is a little sweet or at least fruity. Sweet wines are often great matches. For cow's milk blues, Chardonnay and some Cabernet-based wines will work, especially fruity ones. For sheep's milk cheeses, some Cabernet-based wines work, as can Zinfandel.
There are two wine pairings for blue cheese that are so famous that you may not think beyond them: port and Stilton, and Roquefort and Sauternes. But this does not mean that you have to drink sweet wine with blue cheese. The veining in blue cheeses has a touch of bitterness that can be deliciously offset by a dessert or fortified wine. However, there are occasions when you eat blue cheese in a savoury dish or with other ingredients when a drier white or a red wine would work better. For example, a blue cheese and fresh fig salad is delicious with a smooth Italian white wine like a Gavi di Gavi. A wine like this would also work with pasta or gnocchi with a blue cheese sauce where the cheese is mellowed by the addition of milk or cream.
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Folklore about the moon being made of cheese
The idea that the moon is made of cheese has been a longstanding motif in folklore. While the notion has been around for millennia, it was likely never seriously believed, instead serving as an example of extreme credulity. The earliest record of this idea comes from a medieval Slavic fable, in which a ravenous wolf chases a fox, hoping to catch and eat it. The fox, using its wit, convinces the wolf that the moon's reflection on a pond is a block of cheese, and the wolf must drink all the water to obtain it. In his eagerness, the wolf drinks too much and bursts, leaving the fox alive. This tale has many variations, including a Servian tale, a Zulu tale, a Gascon tale, a Turkish tale, and a Scottish tale, all of which feature different characters but retain the central motif of mistaking the moon's reflection for cheese.
The phrase "the moon is made of green cheese" became a popular proverb in 16th- and 17th-century English literature, often used to mock the gullibility of "country peasants." It first appeared in John Heywood's 1546 collection of proverbs, and later in John Wilkins' 1638 book, where he wrote, "you may… soon persuade some country peasants that the moon is made of green cheese." The phrase "green cheese" refers to young, unripe cheese, rather than its colour.
The moon-cheese folklore has persisted in modern popular culture, with references in children's entertainment and cartoons, such as Tom and Jerry and Wallace and Gromit. Even NASA played along with the joke, claiming on April Fool's Day in 2002 that they had "proven" the moon was made of cheese, releasing a photoshopped image of the moon with an expiration date.
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Frequently asked questions
A blue moon platter of cheeses is a cheese platter that includes blue cheese. Blue cheese is a sharp, salty and intense type of cheese with blue veins. It is aged for a minimum of 60 days and goes well with fruits like apples, pears, figs, and walnuts, as well as honey.
It is recommended to set the cheeses out three hours before serving. You can pair blue cheese with fruits like apples, pears, figs, and walnuts, as well as honey. For something special, try serving blue cheese with a cranberry and dried cherry sauce. You can also sprinkle walnuts with sugar, salt, and pepper to create a glazed walnut dish to serve on the side.
There are many varieties of blue cheese to choose from, ranging from sharp, hard and crumbly to mellow, creamy and salty. When creating a mixed cheese platter, it is nice to include one blue cheese. Some specific types of blue cheese include:
- A strong and spicy blue cheese from Northern Spain, made from unpasteurized cow's milk, or blended with sheep and goat's milk.
- A mild, creamy cow's milk cheese that combines the flavor of blue cheese with a Camembert-like texture, sometimes referred to as "blue brie".
- A creamy, buttery, salty blue cheese from Northern Italy that dates back to 879 AD, with two types: dolce (sweet) and piccante (hot).
- Stilton or Cabrales, which are recommended by Glenda Bartosh for a "super blue blood moon eclipse".
- Gorgonzola, which is milder and creamier than blue cheese and has earthy flavors.
