Olivier Poels 5:40 p.m., October 20, 2021
Before the Bleu d'Auvergne was Roquefort.
In many villages of Auvergne, in the 19th century, we used to produce cheeses of the Roquefort type, that is to say with blue veins - penicilium roqueforti (imitations of cow's milk).
Not benefiting from the famous caves which saw the birth of Roquefort, the producers did not obtain such convincing results.
It is to a certain Mr. Roussel that we owe the discovery of the technique that allowed the production of Bleu d'Auvergne on a regular basis: he was first interested in the shape of the cheese and its size, he therefore chose to use sheet metal molds, which are more efficient than wooden ones.
He then had the brilliant idea of using the bluish mold that grows on rye bread to "seed" the cheese.
Another brilliant idea: he pricked the cheeses with a knitting needle to let air in and mold to grow.
Is this pretty story true, or is it a legend?
I'll let you decide, because other versions on the origin of this cow's milk cheese exist and suggest that it would have been born a little earlier, on the volcanic lands of Auvergne.
The fact remains that it has been an AOP cheese since 1959.
Fun fact: the production of Bleu d'Auvergne was interrupted during the crisis of 1929 and the Second World War.
The recipe for potato gratin with Auvergne blue cheese:
Ingredients:
- 4 large floury potatoes
- 1 knob of butter
- 80 gr of Bleu d'Auvergne
- Pepper
1. Bake the potatoes in the oven with their skin in a sheet of aluminum foil
2. Cut them in half and gently collect the pulp with a spoon
3. Mix the pulp with the butter, the blue cut into fine cubes and pepper
4. Fill the potatoes with the mixture
5. Brown in the oven for a few minutes.