Bleu D'Auvergne

Bleu d'Auvergne is a blue-veined cow’s milk cheese from Central and Southern France. Perhaps uniquely amongst the French AOC cheeses, the development of Bleu d'Auvergne may be traced back to a single individual, Monsieur Antoine Roussel. Roussel was a cheesemaker from the small town of Laqueuille, west of Clermont-Ferrand. Upon his father’s death Antoine, as the eldest son, was forced to take over the day-to-day running of the family farm. The Roussels made a simple fourme-type cheese, the sale of which supplemented the meagre income they derived from farming. One day Antoine noticed that some of the cheeses had developed a natural blue veining. He was struck by how dramatically the blue mould improved the flavour of his product and decided that he would endeavour to encourage the growth of the mould in his cheese. After much fruitless experimentation with various aspects of production, he noticed that the rye loaves he kept near his cheeses were also turning blue. He hit upon the idea of using the mould on the rye loaves as a means of getting the blue moulds from the atmosphere into his cheese. By 1854 Roussel had a run-away success on his hands. As demand increased the price of Roussel’s cheese soared, and the family simply couldn't produce enough. Neighbors were quick to get in on the act and production soon spread throughout the region. Roussel’s cheese received the ultimate accolade in 1973 when Bleu d'Auvergne was awarded the AOC