What really IS bleu cheese?

[Jinx]

Could someone tell us what IS bleu cheese, really? What are the clumps, and what makes it blue? Is it an edible mold, perhaps?

• Jinx

[Ice_Wolf]

From this site:

The blue mold in these cheeses is due to mold spores from Penicillium roqueforti or Penicillium glaucum, etc. Originally each of these cheeses were produced in caves in their respective areas, where the mold was naturally present.
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Most blue cheeses today are either injected with the mold, as with Roquefort, or the mold is mixed right in with the curds, as it is with Gorgonzola, to insure even distribution of the mold. Most of these cheeses must still be aged in the original caves where they were developed to bear the name.

[Speaker_for_the_Dead]

All I know is that with a pair of Wheat Thins, some sausage (the kind you don’t have to cook), and butter, it is delicious.