The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1920-08-31

W got ! good start IN a..
cheese making.
With the bugs catalorued .
comparatively easy to dis....
cases In which an inferior 49,
has been obtained. Pinho,es
aften seen. are the result Of -. g
grades Of milk, improper hand2ss.
or lack OF the necessary cults,.
The dairy division has found ~.
the use Of the missing bactefh 9
cultures will overcome soma ~ :. s
defects and improve the 0ayc, !. (
the cheese.
We Make Roquefort, ia
While the Swiss cheese my.t...
was being scientifically .unrsvsssi
advances have been made Il \.
other line Of cheese history -.
dairy division reports that 1 ~
to make the Roquefort variety Z
this country has been worked ~
Roquefort cheese, you know N.
for centuries been produced arou,s
the little French village Of Roops
fort. The flavor depends upon n.
development Of a certain kind 4
mold which is entirely diier,ns
from the ordinary green mos
which might be sprinkled on. 4,
from the mold which cheese On .
pantry shelf acquires.
RoQuefort mold is produced ~
means Of the peculiar caves, n
southern France. These caye,
have been formed by the slippins
rocks at the base Of the mountainst
Currents of cool air circulata
steadily through the underground
grottoes. keeping the atmosphen
damp and fresh. 1t takes two
months to get Roquefort chees.
ready for market, and a good psrt
of this time the cheese spends on
shelves in the caves, acquiring the
important mold.
In France, the mold is started
by a special kind of bread which
is moistened, allowed to- mold
dried and ground into powder
This powder is sprinkled over each
layer Of curds. Holes are punched
in the layer, so that the mold from
the bread, aided by the dampness
Of the atmosphere. spreads through
/ the cheese until the entire layer
is veined with blush green threads
Of mold.
The government scientists star.
ed their mold by taking some from
a piece of French cheese and In
sorting it into a loaf Of bread
This produced very good bread
crumbs, but America had nothing
like the caves of Roquefort. The
scientists tried ordinary refriger-
alton, but the mold failed to devel-
op properly, and in many cases did
not develop at all.
Reproduced Cave Conditions.
i Finally, they realized that the
exact cave conditions-tempea-
ture, humidity and ventilation
must be reproduced artificially.
and after years eof experimental
work a special air-conditioning up
paratus was perfected which TOOK
the place of the caves.
| Besides the caves Of Roquefort,
}! the French thought that Sleeps
| milk was requisite for making
i Roquefort cheese. Half a million
sheep are pastured near Roquefort
just to provide milk for the nearby
1 cheeseries. :,
Dairymen here tried cows milk
as a basis for Roquefort cheese,
land it was successful. With the
equipment developed by the gov
eminent, Roquefort cheese has In
the last year been made CONNER
cially from cows milk for the first
time in this country. 1t has been
put on the market to be sold 10
competition with French cheese
and is sold with good results.
! Our homemade Roquefort chess
is regarded by some connoisseuis
as a little too golden for classis
! beauty, but this is trifling nav
and has no appreciable effect upon
the taste.
The work of the dairy division
has aroused a good deal OF interes'
| in the cheese making. Several new
Swiss factories have been startea
| in California, while Wisconsin ana
Pennsylvania, always centers "
the American cheese industry, sex
new hope for America domina,ih1
the cheese business Of the worio.