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Bleu de Gex is a blue cheese made from the unpasteurized milk of Montbeliardes cows.
The milk is heated to 80 F (27 C), Rennet is added, then the curds are cut to the size of small peas, and moulded. It is dry-salted over a period of 4 to 6 days. It can be ripened in as little as 3 weeks, but is usually allowed to mature 2 to 3 months at 54 F (12 C). During this time, the cheeses are turned 3 to 4 times a week. The name GEX is stamped in the rind of each cheese. The rind also develops a white powder on it.
When young the cheese is very mild; as it ages gets more robust. The cheese is yellowy inside, and semi-firm, with pale blue-green veins.
It is made in the Haut-Jura, which straddles the Ain and Jura départements in the Franche-Comté region on the Swiss border.
It is made in a wheel shape, 14 inches wide and 3 to 4 inches tall. (34 - 35 cm x 8 - 10 cm), depending on the cheesemaker. The average cheese weighs 12 to 14 pounds (7.5 kg).
There are four dairies making it:
- Coopérative fromagère de l'Abbaye (in Chezery-Forens);
- Coopérative fromagère du Haut-Jura (in Les Moussières);
- Fromagerie Rietmann Laitier (in Villard Saint Sauveur);
- Vagne Fromageries (in Poligny).
Some people feel that the flavour of the cheese is influenced by the violets that the cows are allowed to eat while grazing in the Haut-Jura pastures, though people unaccustomed to munching on violets themselves might not recognize the taste at first.
This is an EEC Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) cheese.
Cooking Tips
Melts very well.
Equivalents
1 cup, crumbled = 1/4 pound = 115g
History
Bleu de Gex is said to have its roots in cheesemaking done by monks at Saint Claude's Abbey in the 1200s. Historically, it was left to develop mould naturally, but that was a bit hit and miss, so it is now inoculated with Penicillium roqueforti or Penicillium glaucum.
Also called:  Bleu de Septmoncel
Bleu du Haut-Jura Bleu de Gex (French)
See Also
Protected Designation of Origin
Other entries for Blue Cheeses
Beenleigh Blue Cheese, Bleu d'Auvergne, Bleu d'Causses, Bleu de Basque, Bleu de Gex, Bleu de Termignon, Blue Wensleydale, Buffalo Blue Cheese, Byland Blue Cheese, Cabrales Blue Cheese, Cambozola Cheese, Canterbury Blue Cheese, Caradon Blue Cheese, Cashel Blue Cheese, Cornish Blue Cheese, Crème de Saint Agur Cheese, Danish Blue Cheese, Devon Blue Cheese, Dorset Blue Vinney, Dunsyre Blue Cheese, Exmoor Blue Cheese, Fourme d'Ambert Cheese, Fourme de Montbrison Cheese, Gorgonzola Cheese, Guler Cheese, Harbourne Blue Cheese, Lanark Blue Cheese, Maytag Blue Cheese, Mrs Bells Blue Cheese, Oxford Blue Cheese, Penicillium Glaucum, Penicillium Roqueforti, Point Reyes Blue Cheese, Roquefort Cheese, Saint Agur Cheese, Shropshire Blue, Somerset Blue Cheese, Stilton, Strathdon Blue Cheese, Troo Bloo You Cheese, Valdeón Cheese
Other entries for Semi-Firm Cheeses
Appenzeller Cheese (Quarter Fat), Ardrahan Cheese, Asadero Cheese, Botton Cheese, Brunost Cheese, Caerphilly Cheese, Cantal Cheese, Carrigaline Farmhouse Cheese, Cheshire Cheese, Chèvre, Chihuahua Cheese, Cotherstone Cheese, Criollo Cheese, Danbo Cheese, Danish Fontina Cheese, Edam Cheese, Farmer's Cheese, Fontal Cheese, Gaperon Cheese, Grimbister Cheese, Jalapeño Cheese, Leerdammer Cheese, Liederkranz Cheese, Livarot Cheese, Maasdam Cheese, Manchego Cheese (Mexican), Monterey Jack Cheese, Morbier Cheese, Mozzarella Cheese, Pavé d'Auge Cheese, Pavé d'Isigny Cheese, Pavé de Berry Cheese, Penyston Cheese, Quartirolo Cheese, Queso con Loroco, Ricotta Salata Cheese, Tetilla Cheese, Vacherin Fribourgeois, Wensleydale Cheese
Other entries for Cheese
Affinage, American Cheeses, Casu Marzu, Cheese Rinds, Creamery, Double/Triple-Cream Cheese, Extra-Hard Cheeses, Firm Cheeses, Goat's Milk Cheeses, Mexican Cheeses, Pate (of a Cheese), Processed Cheese, Queso Fundido, Rennet, Sheep's Milk Cheeses, Skim-Milk Cheeses, Smear-Ripened Cheeses, Soft Cheeses, Surface-Ripened Cheeses, Sweet Curd Cheeses, The Crumblies, Truckle, Washed-Curd Cheeses, Washed-Rind Cheeses, Yak Cheese, Yeel Cheese
Other entries for Dairy
Butterfat, Butter, Milk, Nondairy Topping
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