SEMI-HARD CHEESES 157 



open spaces within the cheese. Accurate adjustment of 

 temperature and relative humidity in the ripening rooms 

 to salt and water-content in the cheese is essential to 

 proper ripening. These conditions are furnished by the 

 unique natural conditions of the caves of Roquefort. 

 The production of such cheeses elsewhere depends either 

 on the discovery of another locality with closely similar 

 conditions or on the artificial production and control of 

 the necessary temperature and relative humidity. This 

 has been done on an experimental basis by the use of 

 cold storage apparatus combined with proper humidifiers. 



The differences between working with sheep's and 

 with cow's milk lie in the making process rather than in 

 the ripening. Sheep's milk freshly drawn shows a higher 

 acidity than cow's milk, probably on account of the acid 

 reaction of its greater casein content. With nearly 

 double the total solids of cow's milk, the yield to one 

 hundred pounds is much greater, consequently the drain- 

 age of the curd is much more easily handled. 



Once made and salted, the cheeses require very nearly 

 the same conditions of ripening. The resultant products 

 are alike in appearance and texture. In flavor, cow's 

 milk Roquefort differs in character from sheep's milk 

 cheese to such a degree as to be recognized by taste. 

 The difference was found by Currie l to be due to an actual 

 difference in the combination of fatty acids present. 



Although these differences in character are recognizable 

 by the expert in testing the cheese, as well as by chemical 

 analysis, cow's milk Roquefort would satisfy that large 

 proportion of consumers who use such cheese only in 

 connection with other fairly high flavored foods. The 



1 Currie, J. N., The composition of Roquefort cheese fat, 

 Jour. Agr. Research, 2 (1914), 6, pages 429-434. 



