Французский голубой сыр Рокфор: Тарихы мен ерекшеліктері

French blue cheese

The cheese is white, tangy, creamy and slightly moist, with veins of blue mold. It has a characteristic fragrance and flavor with a taste of butyric acid; the blue veins provide a sharp tang. It has no rind; the exterior is edible and slightly salty. A typical wheel of Roquefort weighs between , and is about thick. Each kilogram of finished cheese requires about 4.5 liters of milk to produce. In France, Roquefort is often called the "King of Cheeses" or the "Cheese of Kings", although those names are also used for other cheeses. In 79 AD, Pliny the Elder praised the cheeses of Lozère and Gévaudan and reported their popularity in ancient Rome; in 1737, Jean Astruc suggested that this was a reference to an ancestor of Roquefort. The theory was widely taken up, and by the 1860s was being promoted by the Société des Caves. Others have dismissed the idea, on the grounds that Pliny does not clearly identify a blue cheese. There is no clear consensus on the meaning of Pliny's description—it has been variously interpreted as a reference to fromage frais, cheese pickled in grape juice, and even fondue, as well as a reference to Roquefort. By the middle ages, Roquefort had become a recognized cheese. On 4 June 1411, Charles VI granted a monopoly for the ripening of the cheese to the people of Roquefort sur Soulzon as they had been doing for centuries. By 1820, Roquefort was producing 300 tonnes a year, a figure that steadily increased throughout the next century so that by 1914 it was 9,250. In 1925, the cheese was the recipient of France's first Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée when regulations controlling its production and naming were first defined. In 1961, in a landmark ruling that removed imitation, the Tribunal de Grande Instance at Millau decreed that, although the method for the manufacture of the cheese could be followed across the south of France, only those cheeses whose ripening occurred in the natural caves of Mont Combalou in Roquefort sur Soulzon were permitted to bear the name Roquefort.

The mold that gives Roquefort its distinctive character (Penicillium roqueforti) is found in the soil of the local caves. Traditionally, the cheesemakers extracted it by leaving bread in the caves for six to eight weeks until it was consumed by the mold. The interior of the bread was then dried to produce a powder. In modern times, the mold can be grown in a laboratory, which allows for greater consistency. The mold may either be added to the curd or introduced as an aerosol through holes poked in the rind. Roquefort is made entirely from the milk of the Lacaune breed of sheep. Prior to the Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée (AOC) regulations of 1925, a small amount of cow's or goat's milk was sometimes added. Around of milk is required to make one kilogram of Roquefort. as of 2009, there are seven Roquefort producers. The largest volume brand by far is Société (marque) made by the Société des Caves de Roquefort (a subsidiary of Lactalis), which holds several caves and opens its facilities to tourists, and accounts for around 60% of all production. Roquefort Papillon is also a well known brand. The five other producers, each holding only one cave, are Carles, Gabriel Coulet (marque), Les Fromageries occitanes, Vernières and Le Vieux Berger. Around three million cheeses were made in 2005 (18,830 tons) making it, after Comté, France's second most popular cheese. Penicillium roqueforti does not produce penicillin. However, due to the presence of other anti inflammatory proteins,

The Appellation d'origine contrôlée regulations that govern the production of Roquefort have been laid down over a number of decrees by the INAO. These include:

According to a 2012 study, Roquefort contains anti inflammatory compounds. A study from 2013 found that proteins from Roquefort cheese inhibit chlamydia propagation and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) leukocyte migration.