222 The Hook of the Coat. 



The milk, after being strained through a cloth, is 

 poured into a copper lined with tin, where it undergoes a 

 certain heating to prevent it from turning sour. Rennet is 

 then added to separate the curd, the process being assisted 

 by agitation of the mass, and the whey withdrawn. The 

 curds are then cut up with a wooden knife, worked up 

 into a sort of paste, and placed in cylindrical moulds of 

 earthenware, with holes at the bottom. After the moulds 

 have been about one-third rilled a thin layer of mouldy 

 bread is introduced, which is followed by another quantity 

 of curd, upon which more bread is sprinkled, and so on to 

 the top of the mould. This -pain moisi, as it is called, is 

 added in order to produce the blue veins which are so 

 highly esteemed in this cheese, and which are due to the 

 propagation of a kind of fungus (Penicillium glaucum) 

 out of the bread, which is specially prepared for the 

 purpose. 



The moulds being rilled, the cheese is closely pressed 

 in them, fresh curds being taken to fill up any space ren- 

 dered vacant by the compression. The cheeses are then 

 put into wooden boxes and left in a warm, damp place, 

 where they are turned twice a day. From here they are 

 taken to the drying-room, where they are wrapped round 

 with linen bands to keep them from falling to pieces, laid 

 on boards, and left to dry, being frequently turned. The 

 required desiccation is effected in from fifteen to twenty 

 days, after which they undergo a salting process. This 

 consists in sprinkling salt upon one side of a cheese, 

 and placing other cheeses upon it, to the number of five, 

 and the next day reversing them and repeating the process 

 on the other sides. - They are then, after a couple of days, 

 rubbed over with a rough cloth to work in the salt, and 

 placed in caves, still in piles of five, where a kind of glu- 

 tinous mould forms upon them termed rebarbe, a substance 

 that has some value, and is sold as a tonic and stimulant 



