Today’s Spotlight is on Moldy Cheese.

While all cheese can grow mold, some cheeses are made with mold to enhance flavor and texture. These cheeses include Brie, Roquefort, Gorgonzola, Stilton, Camembert.

Cheese is not mold nor is it the by-product of mold. Some cheese varieties like blue cheese have specific species of mold that are intentionally added during the cheesemaking process to enhance the flavor of texture. The mold added to these cheeses can be thought of as a special ingredient.

The mold used in these cheeses comes from the Penicillium genus, which also includes the mold that produces penicillin. The mold is added during the cheesemaking process and can be thought of as a special ingredient. The mold can create a thick outer rind and soft, creamy interior for Brie. It can also create distinct bluish veins in blue cheese.

The mold can be added to the curd during production, which causes a white bloom to grow on the surface. The cheese then ripens in 4 to 9 weeks. The longer it is stored, the softer it becomes.

You can tell if cheese is moldy if you scrape it and it collapses on itself. Mold feels soft and thready. Calcium lactate might look like powdery smudges on the surface of the cheese. If you touch it, it will feel gritty. Soft cheeses, such as cottage cheese, cream cheese, and ricotta, with mold should be discarded. The same goes for any kind of cheese that’s shredded.

Mold generally can’t penetrate far into hard and semisoft cheeses, such as cheddar, colby, Parmesan, and Swiss. If you find mold on these cheeses, you can cut away the moldy part and eat the rest. You should cut off at least 1 inch (2.5 centimeters) around and below the moldy spot.

 

History

Blue cheese was invented by accident in the 7th century.  The story goes that a shepherd in Roquefort, France left a half-eaten loaf of bread in a cave.  When he returned, he found that the mold on the bread had turned the cheese into blue cheese.  After trying it and liking it, he decided to recreate it.

Another story says that a man owned a cave near Roquefort and rented space to local farmers to store their cheese. One year, all the cheese in the cave got a blue mold. Instead of throwing it out, they sold it as a rare delicacy. The blue mold used for cheese is Penicillium roqueforti and Penicillium glaucum. These molds cannot produce toxins in cheese because of the combination of acidity, salinity, moisture, density, temperature, and oxygen flow.

The history of moldy cheese is thought to have started when a cheesemaker left a half-eaten loaf of bread in a cave in Roquefort, France. When the cheesemaker returned, he found that the mold from the bread had transformed the cheese into blue cheese. The cheesemaker tried the cheese and liked it, so he decided to recreate it.

The caves where the cheese was stored had naturally controlled temperature and moisture levels, which were favorable environments for varieties of harmless mold. Although molds are generally dangerous to eat, some types are used in cheesemaking to develop flavor and texture. These types of molds are perfectly safe to consume. Other examples of external mold-ripened cheeses include Brie, Camembert, Trillium, and Little Lucy Brie. The maker inoculates the milk with Penicillium candidum, the signature white mold.

 

A Delacy

Moldy cheeses like blue cheese are a delicacy because they have a unique flavor and texture that comes from mold. The mold eats the proteins and sugars in the milk, which causes chemical changes that create the flavors and textures. For example, the mold in blue cheese creates bluish veins and the mold in Brie creates the thick rind and creamy interior. The mold in these cheeses is a specific strain that is added during the cheesemaking process. The mold is safe to eat because it is grown in a controlled environment and does not produce hazardous mycotoxins.

The moldy flavor may be an acquired taste, but it is similar to wine in that there are many layers of flavor in addition to the mold. The mold on bread is from random spores in the air, but the mold on cheese is a specific kind that was used to make cheese.

 

Fun Facts about Moldy Cheese

Mold is used to make some cheeses, including Roquefort, blue, Gorgonzola, Stilton, Camembert, and Brie. The mold on these cheeses is safe to eat. Mold on other types of cheeses should not be there. Discard any soft cheese showing mold.

Cheeses with mold often contain more salt than other cheeses. The combination of salt, blue veins, and whole milk creates a flavor that makes people want to eat more.

Moldy cheese can be created by encouraging mold to grow or injecting bacterial cultures to grow mold. Mold can be on the surface of cheese or developed internally.

Different cheeses mold differently. Cheeses with higher moisture, such as cream cheese, can mold within two or three weeks. More rigid varieties of cheese, such as Parmesan, can take up to 10 months to mold.

For some foods, such as hard cheeses, you can cut away the mold part. However, mold can be dangerous for your health.

 

Consumption

Mold is an essential ingredient in cheese making and contributes to the flavor, aroma, and texture of cheese. Some cheeses, like blue cheese, have specific species of mold that are intentionally added to enhance the flavor and texture. Other cheeses, like Gorgonzola, Stilton, Brie, and Camembert, are injected with mold before they ripen.

The rate at which cheese molds depends on the type of cheese. Cheeses with higher moisture, like cream cheese, can mold within two or three weeks. More rigid varieties of cheese, like Parmesan, can take up to 10 months to mold.

Most mold that grows in cheese is fairly harmless. However, mold’s roots can more easily penetrate into softer foods, so any soft cheese, like goat cheese, that contains mold should be discarded.

You can cut away the moldy part and eat the rest of the cheese. For hard and semisoft cheeses, like cheddar, colby, Parmesan, and Swiss, you can cut off at least 1 inch (2.5 centimeters) around and below the moldy spot.

 

Celebrating Moldy Cheese

National Moldy Cheese Day is celebrated annually on October 9th. It’s a day to celebrate cheeses that are supposed to have mold in or on them. While the thought of eating moldy food may gross some people out, many popular cheeses wouldn’t exist without mold.

Some famous people have been huge fans of moldy cheeses, including Charlemagne, Frankish Royalty, and the 8th century.

Some cheeses that are celebrated on National Moldy Cheese Day include: 

Gorgonzola, Stilton, Roquefort, Brie, Camembert, Blue cheddar, Roelli’s Red Rock.

Let us know in the comments what you favorite moldy cheese is.