Blue cheeses. Mediterranean / Getty Images via Canva Pro.
A blue cheese is a cheese that has veins or blotches of blue in it, caused by the presence and growth in it of the Penicillium mould. As a result of the mould, it will have a distinctive coloration, aroma and taste.
How strong are blue cheeses?
There are many varieties of blue cheeses — some are very mild, some are tangy, some kick like a mule.
When you see a blue cheese described as “aggressive”, that’s cheese-tasters’ code for “it’s going to clear your sinuses.”
Sometimes, food writers will suggest to people that if they don’t like blue cheese, they should try a particular one because it is very mild, but in my experience, if people have decided they don’t like blue cheese, you are wasting your time. Their mind is made up, even though it may be just a visual thing, seeing all the blue mould in the cheese.
Cooking Tips
What is surprising to most people is that blue cheeses are make very good cheeses to cook with. They add a complex, gutsy zest to dishes.
Some blue cheeses are creamy like soft butter, making them ideal for packing into the cavity of a pear for dessert. Others are crumbly, ideal for use as a garnish on dishes.
Crumble some blue cheese on top of a bowl of cream of celery soup.
Equivalents
1 cup blue cheese, crumbled = ¼ pound = 115g
Storage Hints
Wrap tightly in tin foil and refrigerate.
Some blue cheeses
- Beenleigh Blue Cheese
- Blackstick’s Velvet Cheese
- Bleu Bénédictin Cheese
- Bleu d’Auvergne
- Bleu de Basque
- Bleu de Bresse
- Bleu de Gex
- Bleu de Termignon
- Bleu des Causses
- Blue Wensleydale
- Buffalo Blue Cheese
- Buxton Blue Cheese
- Byland Blue Cheese
- Cabrales Blue Cheese
- Cambozola Cheese
- Canterbury Blue Cheese
- Cashel Blue Cheese
- Colston Bassett Stilton Cheese
- Cornish Blue Cheese
- Danish Blue Cheese
- Devon Blue Cheese
- Dolcelatte
- Dorset Blue Vinney
- Dunsyre Blue Cheese
- Ermite Cheese
- Exmoor Blue Cheese
- Fourme d’Ambert Cheese
- Fourme de Montbrison Cheese
- Gorgonzola Cheese
- Guler Blue Cheese
- Harbourne Blue Cheese
- Jindi Deluxe Blue Cheese
- Lanark Blue Cheese
- Lancashire Blue Cheese
- Maytag Blue Cheese
- Mrs Bells Blue Cheese
- Oxford Blue Cheese
- Penicillium Glaucum
- Penicillium Roqueforti
- Point Reyes Original Blue Cheese
- Roaring Forties Blue Cheese
- Roquefort Cheese
- Saint Agur Cheese
- Saint Agur Cheese Crème
- Shropshire Blue
- Stilton
- Strathdon Blue Cheese
- Valdeón Cheese