Blue cheese, known in French as bleu ("blue"), is a general classification of cow's milk, sheep's milk, or goat's milk cheeses that has had Penicillium cultures added so that the final product is spotted or veined throughout with blue or blue-green mold. Some blue cheeses are injected with spores before the curds form and others have spores mixed in with the curds after they form. Blue cheeses are typically aged in a temperature-controlled environment such as a cave.
   Much like wines, many bleu cheeses such as Roquefort, Gorgonzola, and Stilton are a protected designation of origin in the European Union, meaning they can bear the name only if they've been made in a particular region in a certain country. Similarly, individual countries have protections of their own such as France's Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée and Italy's Denominazione di Origine Protetta.
   The characteristic flavor of bleu cheeses tends to be sharp and a bit salty. The smell of this food is widely considered to be pungent, even compared to other cheeses. They can be eaten by themselves or can be crumbled or melted over foods.

Culinary Uses

• As a condiment served with Buffalo Wings, although "bleu cheese dressing" may contain no actual cheese.
• Crumbled into salad.
• As a dressing (again, actual cheese content is questionable, but there are several varieties of "chunky" dressing available) served with raw vegetables, specfically carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, etc.
• Crumbled (and/or melted) onto grilled beef steaks, specifically New York and Kansas City Strips.
• On hamburgers, especially covered with cajun seasoning to form the "Black and Bleu" burger.
• Crumbled (and/or melted) onto grilled or roasted lamb.
• It can be used to flavour a risotto or a polenta. Mixed with other famous Italian cheeses it forms the condiment for pasta quattro formaggi.

History

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