Whether it’s a crumbly Stilton or a creamy Gorgonzola, any foodie knows that a cheese board just isn’t complete without a blue cheese.
But these classic varieties could look very different in the future.
Scientists from the University of Nottingham have come up with a way to create different colours of blue cheese.
Despite looking pretty wacky, these technicolour versions taste just like the real deal, according to Dr Paul Dyer, who led the project.
‘I think it will give people a really satisfying sensorial feeling eating these new cheeses and hopefully might attract some new people into the market,’ said Dr Dyer.
Scientists from the University of Nottingham have come up with a way to create different colours of blue cheese
While blue cheeses from different countries around the world might look and taste very different, they are all made using the same fungus – Penicillium roqueforti.
As the fungus grows, pigmented spores grow through the cheeses, giving them both their blue colour and flavour.
However, until now, the way in which this blue pigment is produced has remained unclear.
In their new study, the team found that a biochemical pathway gradually forms the blue pigments, starting at a white colour, which progressively becomes yellow-green, red-brown-pink, dark brown, light blue, and finally dark blue-green.
Using food-safe techniques, the team were able to ‘block’ this pathway at certain points, creating strains with new colours.
‘We’ve been interested in cheese fungi for over 10 years and traditionally when you develop mould-ripened cheeses, you get blue cheeses such as Stilton, Roquefort and Gorgonzola which use fixed strains of fungi that are blue-green in colour,’ Dr Dyer said.
‘We wanted to see if we could develop new strains with new flavours and appearances.
‘The way we went about that was to induce sexual reproduction in the fungus, so for the first time we were able to generate a wide range of strains which had novel flavours including attractive new mild and intense tastes.
In their new study, the team found that a biochemical pathway gradually forms the blue pigments, starting at a white colour, which progressively becomes yellow-green, red-brown-pink, dark brown, light blue, and finally dark blue-green
Once the team produced the cheese with the new colour strains, they then used lab diagnostic instruments to see what the flavour might be like
‘We then made new colour versions of some of these novel strains.’
While the new colour versions looked impressive, one key question remained – how did they taste?
Once the team produced the cheese with the new colour strains, they then used lab diagnostic instruments to see what the flavour might be like.
‘We found that the taste was very similar to the original blue strains from which they were derived,’ Dr Dyer reassured.
‘There were subtle differences but not very much.’
Volunteers from across the university tasted the cheeses, revealing some interesting impacts of the different colours.
Volunteers from across the university tasted the cheese, revealing some interesting impacts of the different colours
‘We found that when people were trying the lighter coloured strains they thought they tasted more mild,’ Dr Dyer said.
‘Whereas they thought the darker strain had a more intense flavour.
‘Similarly, with the more reddish brown and a light green one, people thought they had a fruity tangy element to them – whereas according to the lab instruments they were very similar in flavour.
‘This shows that people do perceive taste not only from what they taste but also by what they see.’
The team will now look at working with cheesemakers in Scotland and Nottinghamshire to create the new colour varieties of blue cheese.
