The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-02-25
RoCaUEFoRT AND IT'S CHEESE.
Made at One Place in France, but
Known Throughout the World.
I7ro,, Tho Cg,toaoo paoord

From the Chicago Record.
Out of RocqueforJ, little village of 800
souls, situated in the department of
Aveyren, Southern France the world gets
it's Rocquefort cheese. If you take a
train or better, as we did, bike-at
Bezieres and Journey to station Tourne-
mire, on the road to Clermont Ferrand,
you find yourself at the foothills of Roc
quefort. If you look up the mountain
side you will see Rocquefort perched
above some cliffs. In the mountains is a
huge cave. and in this cave all the cheese
made in the neighborhood as well as
much from the departments Lozere,
Herault, Gard, and Tarn, is prepared
There is no other such cave, no such
cheese as Rocq uefort, for the cave it is,
and no skill of man or woman, that gives
Rocquefort its peculiarities of taste and
color.
A shepherd lad. so runs. the legend, left
quite large piece of bread and cheese,
prepared from the milk of his own E6Ats.
in this cavern. Returning some time af-
terward he found. to his surprise that
his cheese not only was not dried up or
rotten, but tasted better than before
Besides, the bread crumbs left in contact
with the cheese caused the greenish- blue
veins found now in the famous cheese.
The villagers. told of this result, tested
its truth with results very satisfactory
AS far back as 1910 Rocquefort's cheese
was famous, and it is mentioned in many
ancient chronicles. The worth of the
cavern to the little village will be seen in
the yearly production upward of 10000
900 pounds.
Rochefort, or Rocquefort, is prepared
from sleeps milk exclusively and goats
or cows milk may make good che ases,
but they won't make RochefOrt. The
sheep are named LaZares, and originally
belong in the high tablelands, or plateaus,
which border the farm They eat little,
are easily satisfied, and yield per capita
yearly thirty-fve to forty-fve pounds of
cheese. The lambs are not left long with
their own dams, but are either sold.
brought up on the bottle, or BY other
sheep. The sheep are MIXED morning
and evening. The milk, as soon as it is
taken from the sheep, is Immediately
placed over the fire and heated almost,
but never quite, up to the boiling point.
Otherwise the milk and curds are treated
as in the preparation of other cheeses,
except that little crust crumbs of bread
are mixed with it to produce the blue
veins alluded to above. 1t is not true, as
sometimes urged, that this color comes
from Alpine herbs.
After the cheese is made it is put into
rooms TO dry. AS soon as a certain de-
gree of dryuess is reached it is removed
to the cave. Here it gets those little
touches that make it Rocquefort against
all the worlds art. Why2 HOWE No.
body knows. Except this-the cave is
regular, all the year round. in tempera-
ture, and has air draughCs running in it
from January to January. 1t is supposed
that the temperature is due to openings
into subterranean caves, and the moist
air to waters to some underground sea.
At all events, some very happy natural
combination gives the peculiar results,
and no efforts of art have ever even
partially succeeded in attaining them If
the temperature changed the fermenta-
tion would change; if the moisture was
more, IL would make the cheese so soft
that it would not keep together, and if
less would be too dry
The cave is owned by a Joint stock COM
pany. This company buys the cheese
from peasants and farmers for 80 or 100
miles around. OF course, great care must
be taken in preparing, and only experts in
testing are sent out TO buy. The cave is
fitted up with oak shelves, on which the
Cheeses are placed, In this way it has
been 80 utilized that $1,000 square yards
of surface have been obtained. During
the six months that it takes to make the
cheese it has TO pass through many pro-
cesses. First of all it must be rubbed
buibt udOS N4Ju INC Sdlbi anu dS O1Gtu DIS
the melted salt, mlngling with the cheese,
makes mass of soft matter, this is
scraped away. 1t is then taken 10 a ma
chine filled with needles and run by
steam Here it is pricked full of little
holes, into which afterward the air of the
cave penetrates. All the work is done by
women, who besides bed and board, get
500 10 1928 year. The cave is so cold
and damp that the women must wear
woolens winter and summer. IL is a Gu
rious sight IN summer to see these women
clad as one finds women clad only in north
ern latitudes in winter.
The people arc clean, hospitable and
good natured They have only very
vague notion, however. of what the world
thinks OF their cheese. They know IL rs
good they prepare u because 10 Is the
only means Of prosperity The Paris
prices, however, or those OF London, chi
cago aua Now YORK., appear ~ them alb
sOlutcly Incredible. There is a rugged
rlsticitY among tho hills. The people are
simple "a the peas ants Of Palestine ln the
time Of Christ They take on their bals
ana bow their heads AZ Mllet has t0id us
ln bic beautiful picture Of the apgelus.