COWS '-MILK ROQUEFORT CHEESE. 
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 being 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 
fine white color." 6 "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. 7 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 
,; Mane, V... Le Roquefort, p. 80. i Marre, E., Le Roquefort, p. 9o. 
