The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1909-12-01
Roquefort Cheese
Methods Of Transforming Sleeps
Milk Into an Export Product

consumes annually about 92,459 gal
Ions of sleeps milk, from which Ia
produced about 3797 metric tons OF
cheese (metric ton. equals 2204!6
pounds. This amount is handled in
some $50 diaries in the Aveyron and
adjoining departments and the herds
of sheep from which the supply Is
obtained are estimated at 100000.
The milk must be pure unskimmed
sleeps milk unadulterated with
water or with any other milk. In
%spectors r employed and instru-
ments used to detect fraud. The
green hills Of the Aveyron, which fur
nish fine pastures for feeding the
sheep, play no small part in the quail
ity of the milk and the celebrity of
Roquefort cheese. ..I
An average Of 100 1iters Gone liter
equals 1.0567 quarts) of Sleeps milk
will produce about t~wenty-four kilos
(kilo equals 20 pounds)s Of fresh
cheese, whereas in the departments
Of the Rhone, the Puy-de-Dome, and
the Cantal it requires 100 liters Of
cows milk to make fifteen kilos OF
imitation Roquefort cheese. These
limitations comprise the Forme de
Cantal, Bleu d'Auvergne, Bleu de
Gex, etc. R%oquefort cheese has a
more delicate taste and rich butter
color, while the limitations have a
bitter taste, soon become a deep yell.
low after cutting, and when exposed
to heat turn nearly black. Rogue
fort cheese can be exported to torrid
countries, while it is said that cheese.
manufactured partly with cows milk.
could not Withstand the t~ransporta-
ton and the temperature.
The diaries are in dry and airy
spots, and the whitewashed walls,
cemented floors and screened win
dows all conduce to cleanliness. The
dairy consists Of three rooms, in the
second of which a temperature OF
sixty-tLree degrees Fahrenheit is re-
corded by the thermometer the year
round. The milk is first heated to a
temperature Of over ninety degrees
Fahrenheit and curdled by the addi-
ton of rennet. The curds pass
through various processes of draining,
sailing, moulding, ETC., but to state
this generally gives only a slight idea
of the time and care necessary. From
start to shipment 1t requires fifty to
sixty days to turn out a satisfactory
product. The various operations
might be briefly stated as follows:
% Treatment Of the milk-skim-
ming, heating, curdling, dividing the
curds, draining, putting into moulds
and scattering with powder Of stale
bread crumbs, tasting, hardening;'
(2) treatment of cheese at, factory
receiving and weighing, first and Sec
ond sailing, brushing, piercing and
classifying. placing in caves, first
turning, maturing in caves second
turning, second classifying, matur-
ing continued, third and last turning
before expedition.
The preparation of the bread is a
long and interesting part of the
process. A special kind of bread is
moistened and left to mould in a caye
for about two months. It is then cut
into small pieces, dried, ground and
bolted. The powder thus obtained is
scattered over the layers of curds as
they are placed in the moulds. This
makes the blush green streaks'in the
cheese and helps to give Roquefort
its aroma - y
The caves perform an important
part of the fabrication Of this cheese.
It Is largely by maturing and mellow
ing in them that Roquefort cheese Is
celebrated throughout the world for
it's delicate flavor and peculiar aroma.
These caves are excavations, some
natural and some artificial, followed
out in the side of the steep and rocky
mountain which dominates the little
village clinging to it's side. They are
cold and damp, but ventilated by the
air which %penetrates through the ifs.
sures, in the stratified rocks. Some
caves are very large, measuring fifty
seven meters long by nine meters
wide and fourteen meters high.
There are several stories in each cave
containing shelves on which the
cheese is placed. .. iii
These stories communicate by
means Of stairways and elevators for
carrying the merchandise. One Is
impressed by the strange and mourn.
full silence with which the workers
or c%abanieres underground carry on
their operations. They seem to miss
the air and sunlight, the noises of the
outside world, and ever speak in low
tones. They wear a peculiar costume,
consisting of a blouse a short skirt
reaching to the knees, wooden stock.
ings and usually the sabots or wooden
shoes so common among the peasants
Of France.
After the cheese mellows or ripens
for about forty-ive days in the cave
it Is ready for shipment or to be
placed in the refrigerating rooms,
which are cooled by an ammoniat
process operated by electric machin.
cry. All Roquefort cheese destined
for export is selected with the great.
est ARE. The countries importing
the largest quantities of Roquefort
cheese are the United States, Ger.
many, Denmark, Sweden, Norway and
Canada, which purchase more than
100000 worth annually. The
United States is one of the best cus.
fnrors tho oynortotiore th;tbo, -