Everyone knows that blue cheese is a delicacy, but far from all this delicacy has been tried. This happens for completely different reasons: rejection, fear, lack of awareness, and sometimes a simple lack of money. The average customer is scared away by the smell of cheese, as it were spoiled, and the taste is not at all the same as that of brine or cream cheese. But his connoisseurs will answer that mold cheese is a gourmet product that you need to eat rarely and in small portions. Only then can you truly enjoy this dish, which at first glance causes the most natural aversion.
What types of cheese are there?
Blue cheese is made from the most fatty milk, usually cow’s, but sometimes sheep’s or goat’s cheese, like the famous Roquefort cheese. There are several types of mold cheese:
- with a white moldy crust - cheeses of this kind ripen in the cellars, where "noble mold" covers all the walls, and at the same time the crust of cheese heads ("Brie" and "Camembert");
- with blue mold - blue mold is also considered noble, it can be seen on a slice of cheese in the form of small patches. To prepare such cheese, a fungus is introduced inside the head, and in order for the mold to spread better, metal needles are additionally stuck ("Gorgonzola", "Roquefort", "Ble de Koss");
- washed with a crust (red mold) - this piquant mold cheese is treated with special fungus cultures that color the crust in yellow, orange or red.
Is mold cheese good for you?
If you use it in small quantities, yes. For example, such cheese with garlic is completely safe and ready to eat. It contains a large amount of vitamins, phosphorus and calcium, as well as protein and amino acids. Nutritionists claim that bacteria in cheese improve digestion. Which is very necessary for most of us, given irregular nutrition and stressful situations. And Turkish scientists have proved that mold cheeses contain a special substance that accumulates under the skin, promotes the production of melanin and protects the skin from sunburn. That is, as we see, there is still a benefit from such cheese. Maybe this benefit is not so great as we would like, but, nevertheless, some positive aspects are still present.
How to eat mold cheese?
Cheese should be at room temperature. It goes well with crispbread, crackers, fruits and vegetables, or just cook the baked cheese in the oven. The British love to add it to soup, the Italians - to pizza, and the Danes simply eat with bread. There can be many options, but the result is always the same - an exquisite dish for real gourmets! If you often visit European countries, you should definitely notice that such cheese can be found in many catering establishments . But in our cafes and restaurants, such a dish is treated with caution.
Is there any harm from such cheese?
Blue cheese is made using penicillin-type fungi that help cope with many inflammatory diseases and are not harmful in themselves. But if you eat mold cheese daily more than 50 grams, then it is likely to earn dysbiosis and allergies. It is strictly forbidden to use mold cheese for pregnant women, as this negatively affects the fetus and can cause its death. You should not give cheese to small children, this can cause the development of a specific disease - listeriosis. Anyway, mold cheese is better to eat once a month, then you will never have health problems. And remember that cheese is an important food product, and mold cheese is no exception. Try different varieties and you will appreciate it.