The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1894-03-24
Rocquefort and Its Cheese.


its Rocquefort cheese. If you take train
or better, as we did, a bike-at Bezieres
and journey TO station Tournemire, on the
road to Clermont Ferrand, you find your
self at the foothills of Rocquefort. If you
look up the mountain side you will see
Rocquefort perched above some cliffs. In
the mountains is huge cave, and in this
cave all the cheese made in the neighbor-
hood, as well as much from the departments
Lozere, Herault, Gard, and Tarn, is pre-
pared. There is no other such cave, no
such cheese as Rocquefort, 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 goats,
in this cavern. Returning some time alter
ward he found, to his surprise, that his
cheese not only was not dried up or rotted,
but tasted better than before Resides,
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 re-
suits very satisfactory As far back as
1870 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, mp
ward of 10,OOO,OOO pounds.
Rochefort, or Rocquefort, is prepared
from sleeps milk exclusively, and goat
or cows milk may make good cheeses, but
they won't make Roehefort The sheep
are named larzares, 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
five to forty-fve pounds of cheese. The
lambs are hot left long with their own
dams, but are either sold, brought up on
the bottle or by other sheep. The sheep
are milked 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 qaite, up to the
boiling point. Otherwise tie milk and
curds are treated as in the preparation Of
other cheeSes, except that little crust
crumbs of bread are mixed with it to pro-
duce 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 certain degree
of dryness il reached it is removed to the
cave, Here it gets those little touches
that make it Rocquefort against all the
worlds art. Why? How? Nobody
knows. Except this-the cave is regular,
all the year round, in temperature, and
has air draughts running in it from Janu-
airy to January. 1t is supposed that the
temperature is due to openings into sub
terranean caves, and the moist air to waters
to some underground sea. At all events,
some very happy natural combiDatios giyes
the peculiar results, and no efforts Of art
have ever even partially succeeded in at
tanning them. If the temperature changed
the fermentation would change; if the
moisture was more, it would make the
cheese so soft that it would not keep to-
gether, and if less would be too dry.
The cave is owned by joint stock com
pany. This company buys the cheese from
peasants and farmers for 30 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
so utilized that $4,000 square yards of
surface have been obtained. During the
six months that it takes to make the cheese
it has TO pass through many processes.
Erst of all it must be rubbed three days
with fine salt : and as often as the melted
salt, mingling with the cheese, make mass
of soft matter, this is scraped away 1t is
then taken to a machine filed 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 s104 to Sl25 year. The cave Is so
cold and damp that the women must wear
wooleus winter and summer. Itis- curl
Gus sight in summer to see these women
clad as one finds women clad only in north
ern latitudes in winter
The people are -saean, hospitable, and
good-natured. They have only very
vague notion, however, of what tho world
thinks of their cheese. They know it is
good they prepare it because it is the only
means of prosperity. The Paris prices,
however, or those of London, Chicago, and
New York, appear to them absolutely in
,redible. There lisa rugged rusticity among
he hills. The people are simple as the
peasants of Palestine in the time of Christ
Fhey take off their hats and bow their
heads as Millet has told US in his beautiful
picture of the angelus.
A vacation for some one,
Mrs clark-How is the contested viii
ase coming on, Mr.. Dover ?
Mr.. Dower-It's all settled aud in my
avor.
Mrs. Clark congratulate yon. Isup-
r.