Bleu
des Causses
Name od Group of Producers
B.P. 9
12004 Rodez Cédex
Aucert
27 rue Georges Besse ZI le
Brézet-Est 63 100 CLERMONT-FERRAND
Tel: (33 4) 73.17.33.80
Fax: (33 4) 73.29.03.96
Blue-veined whole cow's milk cheese in the form of a flat cylinder weighing 2.3 to 3 kg.
Geographical area: Rouergue, with two extensions: the Quercy causses (limestone plateaux) to the west and the Lozère causses and part of the Margeride granite massif to the east.
The Causses blue cheese's origins are as old as those of Roquefort. The rural inhabitants of the causses customarily placed their cow's milk cheeses in natural cavities in the limestone scree. These cavities faced north and were swept by drafts of cool, damp air. This cheese was first called Bleu d'Aveyron.
Causses blue cheese is made by traditional methods: whole milk, generally used raw, is curdled at 30xC; the curd is cut and stirred, then placed in moulds perforated with holes. After the cheese is seeded with Pénicillium mould, it is allowed to drip, salted, brushed, then stabbed with needles to allow the mould to grow under the effects of the cave's cool air. The ripening takes from 3 to 6 months, with a 70-day minimum.
