cows -MILK ROQUEFORT CHEESE, 5 



the market. To many this quality is not pleasant, and yet it is 

 doubtful whether Roquefort cheese can be successfully ripened 

 without a high percentage of salt in it. Other conditions bemg the 

 same, the higher the percentage of salt the slower the ripening, and 

 vice versa. 



Defects. — The most common defects of Roquefort cheese made from 

 cows' milk are: The high moisture content, too little or too much 

 salt, the lack of mold, the lack of piquancy, and a color which is too 

 yellow. Cheese is not likely to become waxy and tough unless it 

 has been subjected to excessive ventilation and to too low a relative 

 humidity. Cheese which is gassy sometimes develops offensive fla- 

 vors, possibly due to an excessive oxidation of the fat. Roquefort is 

 quite soft as compared with other cheeses, and as a result the sur- 

 faces and edges are quite easily broken by handling during the curing 

 process. 



One of the essential qualities of a Roquefort cheese is that the 

 color be white rather than yellow. The natural color of sheep's 

 milk is white rather than yellow. Marre speaks of it as having "a 

 fme white color." " "The cheese is too yellow" has been the most 

 common criticism of cows'-milk Roquefort. 



Because of cheaper milk the cows'-milk Roquefort cheese upon 

 which the data in the bulletin are largely based was made during 

 the months of June and July, rather than in the winter months, 

 when the natural color of the milk is more white. In the experi- 

 mental work at Grove City more attention has been given to the 

 considerations of flavor, mold, salting, etc., and less attention to 

 color, which seemed of minor importance. Experience in marketing, 

 however, has shown that color is of much greater importance than 

 had been anticipated. 



From chemical analysis there is reason to believe that not a great 

 deal of fat is removed in the manufacture of Roquefort, although 

 authorities agree that some of the fat is removed. Marre, in this 

 connection, states that the sheep's milk should preferably be par- 

 tially skimmed, and that unless this operation is carried to the 

 extreme the quality of the cheese is not appreciably impaired, while 

 the drainage of the curd is favored. Without this procedure the 

 cheese, which should be white and light, will be yellowish, compact, 

 and dense as glue.^ On the other hand, a milk skimmed too much 

 gives a dry curd, without adherence and without flavor. 



Flavor. — A salty and piquant flavor is the chief characteristic of 

 this cheese and allied blue-mold cheeses of this group. A good 

 cheese should be sapid, sweet, and fragrant. A Roquefort cheese 

 should not have a strong, pungent flavor. This condition may 



« Marre, E., Le Roquefort, p. 80. » Marre, E., Le Roquefort, p. 9.'i. 



