Three Great Roquefort-Gorgonzola Alternatives

Substitute: San Ignacio Blue, Queso Cabrales and Roaring Forties

Dec 2, 2007 Larry Ervin

When recipes call for blue cheese, most often it's one of the big three --Roquefort, Stilton and Gorgonzola. Try one of these, crafted in places you might not expect.

If you love blue cheese, you have probably tried the “big three”: Roquefort, Stilton and Gorgonzola. Don’t stop there. Here are three more blues worth wrapping your mouth around, crafted in places you might not expect. If your cheese-monger can’t get these for you, try the Web sources listed for each.

Roaring Forties Blue (King Island, Tasmania)

Cows and beef cattle now outnumber King Islanders 45 to one. The grass they graze on is said to have germinated from seeds in straw mattresses washed ashore from some of the sixty sailing ships victimized by the “Roaring Forties.” That’s the locals’ name for the gale-force westerlies that pound through the Bass Straits between Tasmania and Australia (located at 40° south latitude).

King Island Dairy creates a boggling variety of cheeses, including six different blue cheeses. Full-flavored Roaring Forties Blue has a sweet, nutty character that made it champion of the 2006 Annual British Empire Cheese Show in Ontario, Canada, . The rindless cheese matures in a blue wax coating that retains enough moisture to create a smooth, creamy texture with a rich mouth feel. Order online from iGourmet website or eGourmetCheese website

San Ignacio Blue (Sante Fe, Argentina)

We can thank the monks who spread not only the Roman religion but also the techniques for making cheese wherever their missionary zeal took them. Notably the followers of St. Benedict, the Benedictine, Cistertian and Trappist monks developed many of the world's great cheeses. The followers of St. Ignaceous, the Jesuits, can probably be credited with bringing cheese-making techniques to South America. The cheese masters at San Ignacio bring penicillin roquefortii mold spores from France to make blue cheese by the same methods as their Jesuit forbears.

Made from pasteurized cow's milk, San Ignacio Blue has a creamy yet crumbly texture. Enjoy the lusty flavor with a ripe pear, crusty French bread and a glass of Port or Sauterne. Here’s a plus: at a third the price of Roquefort, San Ignacio Blue is a blue light special. Order online from iGourmet.com.

Queso Cabrales (Asturias, Spain)

If you try it at its complex best, you may join me in nominating Cabrales to expand the “big” list to four. The character varies because Cabrales is handmade in small family-owned dairies in the Asturias principality on the Bay of Biscay in northwest Spain. Asturians are predominantly Celts. In fact the region is sometimes described as “Ireland with sun.”

Though sometimes made from cow’s milk alone, ask for Cabrales that has been made with sheep and goat’s milk added. Depending on the dairy, the milk may be raw or pasteurized milk, the cheese aged from two to six months in humid limestone caves where the natural molds penetrate the cheese giving it a dizzying tang. Order online from iGourmet.com, MasterCaviar.com, ColorsOfSpain.com or in the UK, from Norbiton.co.uk.

For some great recipes for these and other blue cheeses, check out::

Guinness Onion Soup with Cashel Blue

Pasta with Salmon and Gorgonzola

Blue Cheese Stuffed Medjool Dates

Soft Polenta with Three Cheeses

For more international food ideas, explore the Cuisine of Spain,and the International Gourmet Food Guide. Or if you want go to the source for Roaring Forties Blue, read this Travel Guide to Tasmania.

The copyright of the article Three Great Roquefort-Gorgonzola Alternatives in Gourmet Food is owned by Larry Ervin. Permission to republish Three Great Roquefort-Gorgonzola Alternatives in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

King Island Cows