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Cashel Blue Cheese is a farmhouse Irish cheese made near Cashel in County Tipperary, Ireland. It's made on the farm of Jane and Louis Grubb, with milk from their herd of Holstein-Friesian cows. They started making it in 1984; production has doubled every year since then.

The milk is pasteurized and cooled down to 90 F (32 C), at which point "Penicillin roqueforti" bacteria is added. It is then curdled with a vegetarian rennet and let sit for an hour. The curd is then cut, let sit for another hour, then drained, and put into moulds where it drains for another 2 to 3 days. When dry, it is salted and pierced with long stainless steel needles that make holes. The holes let air in so that mould can develop from the bacteria all the way through the cheese. It is then aged for 6 months. (It is also available aged only 10 - 16 weeks.)

Before packaging, the cheese is washed to remove blue mould that will have developed on the outside. The cheese is made into 3 pound (1.5 kg) wheels that are 4 1/2 inches tall x 4 1/2 inches wide (12cm x 12 cm.) The wheels are sold either whole or sold cut into quarters. However it's sold, it is wrapped in gold foil.

The cheese is moister and less salty than Roquefort. It is thick and creamy, the colour of butter. The version that is aged only 10 to 16 weeks is even creamier and softer.

The makers of the cheese recommend particularly the ones that are made between July and October, when they are aged between 16 to 20 weeks. [1]

Though originally intended only for the Irish market, much is now exported to the UK and America.

Cooking Tips
Melts well and retains flavour well in cooking.

Nutrition
Fat content 54%

Equivalents
1 cup, crumbled = 1/4 pound = 115g

Literature & Lore
"Louis Grubb, who makes Cashel Blue, thinks his cheese is 'not worth tasting until it's six to seven weeks old. In my view the optimum is three to four months. Neal's Yard sell it at eight months. The older it is, the fewer people will eat it, but those who do go into raptures.'" -- Bedell, Geraldine. An Irish Round. Manchester: The Observer. 9 March 2003.

Acknowlegements

See Also:

Farmhouse Cheese

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, Buxlow Paigle, 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, Huntsman 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