Week 2 in France

Cheese is very popular in France, it is used in many desserts and dinner recipes.  Societe is a company that makes their cheese inside a cave.  The cave has been used to make Rouqefort Cheese for several years.  The cave system Societe uses to produce Roquefort Cheese is a well developed combination of traditional storing methods, and improved penecillium mold cultivation using rye bread. Inside the cave we were able to see remninants of the old wooden storage shelves that had long been replaced. During the tour we were able to taste three different forms of the cheese. Each form of the cheese had a specific form of penecillium cultivated for a specific taste. The cheese is similar to blue cheese in America, but it is more rich and flavorful. In America most cheese is developed and processed in a factory using new sciences, and technology. I find it interesting that Societe has been able make Roquefort cheese inside of a cave for over a 100 years without drastically changing the production method. The penecillium is grown using rye bread, and cultivated and selected in a lab. The cultivation method allows them to sell Roquefort Cheese throughout the year.  In France there seems to be a great desire to continue the use of traditional production methods, and this is not only aparent in the Societe Cheese Company, but  in French agriculture as well.