A Cheese Primer: From Blue to Bleu - You Stanky Thang

Regardless of how you spell it, bleu (guess which I prefer?) cheese gets its blue veins from the mold Penicillum.  There are a few famous bleu cheeses: Roquefort (the King of Bleu) is a sheep's milk cheese from France and can only be aged in  certain caves.Gorgonzola is its Italian cousin, made from cows' milk.  As with all cheese, the younger, the milder, but I have to say one of my favorites is a young gorgonzola called Gorgonzola Dolce.  It is an excellent melting and blending cheese that we use in some of our rich sauces at http://www.lulasforlunch.com .Stilton, the English version of these royal bleus, is made from pasteurized cow's milk, and has a rare sibling, Stilton White.  North America's most famous bleu, Maytag, was brought into production by none other than the washing machine magnate himself when he heard of its invention at Iowa State  University.  Though it is made from modern homogenized milk, it is also aged in caves.I discovered bleu as a young child - my mother loved it - and was fortunate enough to be able to order it from Clemson University where they created it in labs!  No other bleu will ever taste like my Clemson Bleu.  I also have a new, mild favorite, called Cambazola - sort of a blend of Camembert and Bleu.  We use Amish Bleu in our Adult Mac 'n Cheese in the picture above.   What's your favorite bleu?  Let me know at http://www.lulasforlunch.com/blog !