Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1894-01-03
WHY ZKsXR H7SIyE1
CHEESE MADE In CAVES
HOW THE FAMOUS Roo UEFoR1
Is MANUFACTURED.
An Interesting Process, 1000 Years
Old, Largely Carried on In DARK
Mountain Cayerns

their milking quality, and the bulk ol
the cheese is yet made of this kind Of
milk, but recently, as the demand for it
has increased, some cows milk is used,
without any difference materially in the
quality of the product. 1t is not the
milk, or any special preparation OF it,
upon which the character Of the cheese
depends, but the unique process OF cur-
ing in these caves, in which the temper.
4; ure is precisely the same every day In
the year; the atmosphere is pure and OF
an Interchangeable moisture, so that the
special germs which cause the ferments.
ton always act in precisely the same
way, and thus the cheese never varies In
quality. So that whether cows OF
sneep's or goats milk is used, the cheese
is always Roquefort.
The mountain on which the village Of
Roquefort, France, is situated, is called
Larzac, and is about twenty-five miles in
length and nearly 5000 feet high. The
soil Is chiefly limestone and the fertility
of it IS only moderate. The natural pas
ture is thin, but it is made up by crops
of clover, sanfoin, lucern and mixed
grains, as tares and oats, or rye and peas.
Taese mixed crops, under good culture,
yield abundaatly, aud afford the larger
part of the subsistence of the sheep, OF
whica about 800, 900 are kept to supply
the milk. By close breeding this race
OF sheep has become specially prolific of
milk, rich in fat and caseine, having five
and seven per cent. respectively Of these
clements of cheese. 1t is not so sweet as
cows milk.
This cheese ia what we call "halt
skim," that is, the evenings milk is
skinned after being heated to near
boiling, ana set until the morning. TIL,
fresh milk and the skinned evenin g's
milk are warned up to ninety degrees
and then curdled by the addition OF u
large spoonful of renuet to fifty quarts
CT 12J pounds OF milk. The heating
and the quantity. of rennet used are
varied as the weather may be warm or
damp, as this has some effect upon the
behavior of the milk as is we'll known TO
chcescmakers. The curd, when sufli.
c;catly firm, is cut to liberate the whey,
which is dipped oG, and the curd IL lift-
ed into the m0ulds. These are Of earth
cnUare, and glazed, cylindrical in form,
and pierced with holes for the drainage
Of the whey. They are eight inches in
diameter aud three and half deep, thus
making a cheese that weighs five pounds
when fully cured. AS the molds are
filled, the curi IS iaoculated with fer
mon; made of dried moldY bread pow
der,d, this being wei distributed among
the curd by the fingers as the curd i;
place in the mold. The curd Is
heaped above the edge Of the mold
three inches, SO that as It shrinks the
cheese will Just fill the mold.
\ second mold is then filed in the
bme way and placed on the first, and
the curd is covered with plate Of lead,
which serves to press it aud get rid OF
the excess of moisture from it. When
this has been effected, the cheese will
have shrunk within the limits of It's
mcld. The whey drains from the
cheeses into channels cut in the table
upon which they are laid, and is re-
moved. The apartment in which this
work is done is al outer cave, inclosed
by wall in front.
Here the cheese stays until it is drained
of the whey, being turned twice a day.
A special part of the process at this stage
is the warming and moistening Of the
rooms by means of vessels filed with
steaming warm water, frequently re-
plenished. About three days completes
the drainage of the cheese, and il is thea
moved to the drying room, which is an
airy, cool apartment furnished with
pol trit rln he yuh ba
cheeses freed from the molds are laid.
They are turaed morning and evening
for two or three days, when they are
taken into the caves for the special treat
ment to which they are subjected, and
which has the effect of giving to this
raw curd delicate aud delicious favor
and mellowness.
The caves being formed by the dis
placement, fracture, and heaping together
of vast number of rocks, are made up
of an intricate labyrinth of open space,
aud narrow passages, through which cur.
rents of cold air are continually passing.
These air currents are controlled by
closing up some of the passages, leaving
openings that may be closed or shut as
the wind outside may make desirable.
Some OF the spaces are arched over with
masonry, but all are profoundly dark,
and the visitor sees only the little glim-
mering lights hic&erlng in the darkness
as he passes the open portal OF one OF the
caves where the women. dimly seen, gre
scraping the mold from the cheeses or
turning them or moistening them, aud in
their curious ways aiding the wonderful
germs at work to effect the slow changes
in the curd.
The temperature OF the caves is kept
at sixty degrees by the use of the veuti-
lators, and the moisture is sustained at a
humidity of forty eight degrees. When
the cheeses are brought into the caves
they weigh eighteen per cent. of the
milk used.
They are now laid on the ground on
clean straw to be gradually cooled down
to the temperature of the cave. They
then go to the sailing room, where they
are rubbed with salt on one face, which
is turned to the ground; a second cheese
is salted in the same way on one face and
laid on the first; third one is then
salted and laid on the second one. In
this way the cave is filed with cheeses. In
twenty.four hours the cheeses are salted
on the other face and reversed aud
placed as before. This frequent revers.
ius is to keep a certain quantity of mois-
ture in the cheese and develop the
--oSth of the special fungus whlca has
oeen sown in the curd. This Is the COM
r