The Black Sheep Blog of Cheesemaking

[theblacksheepschool]

Growing Penicilium roqueforti

So how does blue cheese get its blue?  With a fungus known as Penicilium roqueforti. Conventional cheesemakers add blue to their cheeses by introducing freeze dried, lab raised spores of roqueforti to their milk. But how did cheesemakers sing their blues before the days of DVIs?

Well it turns out that roqueforti not only makes cheese moldy, but also bread.   Bread, however, plays host to dozens of species of fungi that also makes it moldy...but that’s just the case with commercial yeasted bread. Sourdough bread, naturally resistant to most fungi because of its acidity, is perfectly suited to the growth of roqueforti.  And when introduced to sourdough bread, spores of penicilium roqueforti will consume it, and turn it blue, just like cheese. That blue bread can then be used as a source of spores for making dozens of different blue cheeses. Find out more about the process of growing your own blue fungus in The Art of Natural Cheesemaking

[theblacksheepschool]

Making Mason Jar Marcellin

A photo series showing the different stages of the making of this traditional French lactic curd cheese. Find out more about the making of this phenomenal cheese in my book: The Art of Natural Cheesemaking

Fungal development on the Curd:

These 4 photos taken over the course of 4 days show the development of raw milk’s indigenous Geotrichum candidum on the curd as it ferments in the pot:

Straining and salting the curd

These Photos show the curd being hung in cheesecloth.  The curd loses much of its moisture, and begins to show the growth of cream coloured Geotrichum on the outside of the cheesecloth after only one day of hanging. 

Cheeses curing in their pots over 1 week:

The drained and salted curd is then packed into mason jars once it has the right consistency. These photos show the development of the Geotrichum rind on the cheeses in their covered pots over the course of 7-10 days of curing at room temperature.

Finished Cheeses:

The Geotrichum candidum has fully established itself on the rind.  The cheeses are now placed to age in their mason jar caves in a refrigerator for at least one month. After one to two months, the fungus will transform the soft lactic curd into a delectably creamy cheese with a perfectly melted texture, and a similar flavour to Camembert