Thursday, November 09, 2006

The Roquefort Files

I reckon I can improve on yesterday's cauliflower soup, so I've gone out and bought some creme fraiche and Roquefort, plus a ciabatta loaf- I'll keep you posted later, when I polish off the rest.
The Roquefort looks great- should work a treat. It's sheep's cheese, treated with a mould called penicillium roqueforti. It dates back to at least 79AD, and was renowned throughout medieval Europe.
The mould metabalises the milk-fat, breaking up 10-25%. That releases short-chain fatty acids, which give the flavour, and the smell comes from breaking down the longer chains, which are converted into alcohols & methyl ketones.
Why wasn't chemistry this interesting at school?!

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