Blue Stilton Cheese: Thanks to Happenstance, Blue Cheese Was Born
Saturday, September 4th, 2010Also known as the King of British Cheeses, Blue Stilton Cheese is highly regarded as a versatile cheese that complements a wide variety of flavor. It is a rich, strong-flavored British Blue Cheese that is best served with a robust red wine.
With one look, you will immediately know that it is Blue Stilton cheese because of its blue-green running veins running across the cheese. Although usually made from pasteurized cow’s milk, it can also be made from sheep’s or goat’s milk that inspires a strong stir among tasters.
Story has it that blue cheeses are actually a product of providence. It was believed that an unfortunate cheese maker left a half-eaten rye in the cheese caves. Returning to the caves after a few weeks or months, the cheese maker found that the molds on the bread also settled on the cheese. The brave pioneer tasted the mold-infested cheese, and instead of throwing it away, blue cheese was born.
Stilton is a creamy blue cheese marbled with rich blue veins whose rich flavor mellows with additional aging. It is known for having a sharp after taste, which complements many foods as well. Because Stilton cheese is not pressed, it remains crumbly and flaky, making it a perfect ingredient for salads, pastas, and pizzas. Stilton is sometimes found on desert platter with its creamy taste adding to the variety of flavors.
Stilton cheese is one of the few protected origin cheeses made from pasteurized milk. It is made by heating the milk with rennet, allowing curdling. Stirring with the mold in with the curds, cheese makers make sure that the mold is evenly distributed in the cheese. The fun part of making Stilton cheese is when metal rods are inserted at random points on the cheese, in order for the air to get in. The rods are left in the cheese until it begins to grow mold from the bacteria.
In Britain, Blue Stilton cheese is usually served during Christmas where it is enjoyed with a rich wine. There is just a magic that happens in your mouth when you eat a pungent blue mold with salty cheese crystals while chasing it with a delicious Port, with all its sweet and fruity goodness. Blue Stilton’s unique kick offsets the sweet Port, while the wine tones down the strong blue making it less powerful and more tamed to the tongue.
Thanks to serendipity, we can now enjoy a delightful cheese while sipping by the fire during the unseasonably cold winter. Holidays will be warmer with the Blue Stilton, as it warms the cockles of your heart with every gulp of wine. But if Christmas is too long a wait, make everyday a holiday and get Blue Stilton Cheese today! Go buy it at your nearest cheese shop.