We went to visit the little village of Roquefort sur Soulzon in Aveyron located at the bottom of a rock. Roquefort is an AOC designated cheese , (protected name & protected area). The peculiar cheese of Roquefort is made from the raw milk of a particular sheep : the Lacaune sheep. There’s a process where the penicilium roqueforti found in those particular caves is introduced in the cheese, the cheese is made in the farms nearby and the penicilium found in those only mountains is given to the farmers. The cheese then come to the cave, it is white at that time. The whole process of maturation, processing and packaging is made in the caves.
You can learn more here.
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There is a very cute legend of how the cheese
was invented. Once upon a time a young shepherd was eating his bread and cheese
when he saw a pretty young girl passing. He left his snack and went after her.
After a couple of months he returned and remembered his bread & cheese.
What happened between them during this time, we don’t know but what happened to
the cheese left in these humid caves was the birth of the Roquefort Cheese. It
had of course turned blue due to the moist but the shepherd ate it anyways…
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We drove to the village where I had booked a
tour in the Cave de Roquefort Société, the most known from the 5 or 6 caves in this 2km long
village. We saw the full process of the cheese making. The Roquefort cheese is
not exported in large quantities and we can only find few samples of this extraordinary
cheese in the supermarkets .
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We would usually find the Sociéte or the
Papillon brands in Spain. I love Roquefort with some bread butter and a glass of
red wine. It is best eaten simple, in Roquefort they just have it that way with
no butter. The salty creamy cheese with its bluish veins can be quite strong for
some but for us fans of it, it is a delicacy.
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| Les fleurines. Natural in the mountains, those are the secret behind the cheese! |
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| The different cheeses made in the cave. You get the green one everywhere, the golden pack one in few in France and the middle one is only available at the Société Cave. We has a wondeful cheese tasting. |
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| Thanks for the wonderful visit and explanation! |
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| Penicillium Roqueforti |
