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Gluten-free Blue CheeseI received the following question in our feedback section, maybe someone out there knows the answer:
I replied that blue cheeses are generally made with the Penicillium Roqueforti mold, which is usually grown on stale bread. I'm not sure if any of the gluten from the bread makes it into the cheese, but I imagine it's possible. There are some other blue cheeses not made from P. Roqueforti, such as Gorgonzola, but I do not know whether the mold used for that cheese (P. Glaucum) is also grown on bread. Anyone know the answers to these queries? Reply to this in the forums or simply enter your reply below as a comment! Bookmark/Search this post with:
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Roquefort and stale bread.
Only one Roquefort maker still aquires the mold in a traditional way,Papillon, all others use cultured mold. Even with Papillon, don't worry too much, as this is merely to obtain a starter literally only a few fractional particals of bread make it into the cheese, and to top it off the traditional loaves are made with rye with just enough wheat to hold them together, It's very low gluten bread. Eat blue cheese with abandon my friend.
Rye has gluten
Sorry, but gluten is found in Rye, Wheat and Barely. Rye bread is NOT low gluten bread. AND several US makers of Artisan Blue Cheese list that their Blue Cheese still is made with a process that leaves gluten in their cheese.
Here is the response from one of these companies
"Yes, our Blue Cheese does contain traces of gluten. Historically mold is produced from a gluten based procedure. We are look to science to keep working toward a gluten free mold."
Even traces of gluten can make people with Celiac disease VERY sick. Think of the person with the severe peanut allergy, some people with Celiac react this severely to even traces of gluten.
Blue cheese and gluten
I suppose the romantic image of Parisian rag pickers also collecting stale bread which cheese makers would use to make blue cheese may have, in the distant past, have some validity.
HOwever, I can assure you that in the industrial age we find ourselves in, commerical sources of Penicillium roquforti produce the spores in sterile fermenters on highly refined medium (not stale bread...)
Indeed, one aspect of this possible myth ignores what I consider one of the interesting side lights. The original strain of Penicillium roqueforti occurs naturally in caves in which these cheeses were aged in previous centuries. The particular cave thus conferred a unique taste to cheeses aged there. Take a look at my blue cheese page if you are interested in trying to clone some blue cheese for yourself...
Davif.
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