Blue Stilton Cheese – The King of British Cheeses
Thursday, September 9th, 2010Blue Stilton Cheese is one delicious cheese referred to as the King of British Cheeses because of its versatile taste complementing several flavors and recipes. It is a rich, strong-flavored British Blue Cheese that is best served with a robust red wine.
With its unique blue-green veins running all over the cheese, Blue Stilton is hard to miss. 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. So people either hate it or love it.
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. And when he returned a few weeks or months later, he found that the mold covering the bread had transplanted itself onto 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.
This British blue is one of the few protected origin cheeses made from pasteurized milk. The milk is mixed with rennet, for curdling. The milk is then stirred with the mold in, making sure that it 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.
It is part of the British tradition to serve Blue Stilton during Christmas, and often chased with a rich red 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. That unique kick of Stilton offsets the sweet Port, while the wine makes the strong blue seem less powerful and more shaded.
If not for that happy accident, we would never be able to experience a delicious cheese by the fire during the cold season. Holidays will be so much better with Blue Stilton cheese warming the cockles of your heart. But if Christmas is just too far off, make everyday a holiday by getting Blue Stilton Cheese today! Go buy it at your nearest cheese store.