Like stinky cheese? Then you’re in for a treat with the great selection of fragrant and savory American blues available today. Think you know everything there is to know? Here’s a quick quiz to test your blue cheese knowledge.  

What makes the cheese blue?
a.    Harmless mold
b.    Poisonous mold
c.    Blue dye
d.    None of the above

Answer: A
The bluish, greenish or even grayish veins in cheese come from desirable and harmless molds. Cheesemakers inoculate the milk or the curds with selected mold strains, often a strain of Penicillium roqueforti, which stay largely dormant for the first days or weeks of a blue cheese’s life. But early on, the cheesemaker will pierce the young white wheels to create air channels. The molds respond to this breath of fresh air by reproducing, establishing themselves in the openings in the cheese paste.

What makes some blue cheese so pungent?
a.    Cheese is wrapped in old socks
b.    Each type of mold creates its own pungent aroma
c.    Type of milk used
d.    None of the above

Answer: B
Choice of mold has a lot to do with it. There are dozens of strains of P. roqueforti and some are known to produce more pungent flavors. The starter culture and the enzymes it leaves behind also affect pungency. Cheesemakers can also influence pungency by crafting a particularly open-textured cheese, which allows lots of room for mold development. -Denise Shoukas