Happy Birthday!!!...
/Hello Cheese Enthusiast!
This July 26th, a very special birthday will be quietly celebrated around the globe for one very special lady…She may have been born in Southern France of simple means, but once the King of France fell to her charms (and her beautiful green eyes), she became nobility to the people of France…and soon, around the globe. So entranced by her, they referred to her as ‘Queen’, but today we simply refer to her as Roquefort.
It was on July 26, 1925 (95 years ago, Sunday) that Roquefort had finally received the official protection that had been so long in coming. Oh, there had been previous protections put in place, such as the original which was signed into French law on June 4, 1411 when King Charles VI of France declaring that only the villagers of Roquefort-sur-Soulzon could claim her as their own and that any others that tried to use her name would be punished (fined and/or imprisoned…not the cheese guillotine!). This protection was held in place by several other laws and rulings until the turn of the century when modern laws were enacted and government control of agricultural products in France beginning with the law of August 1, 1905, which granted the government authority to define the official boundaries for the production of certain agricultural products. A second law was passed on May 6, 1919, for the Protection of the Place of Origin. It specified the region and commune in which a given product must be manufactured, and gave the courts power to act in cases where the regulations were not being followed.
These rulings helped to create the appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC), which translates as "controlled designation of origin". It is the French certification, granted to certain French geographical indications for wines, cheeses, butters, and other agricultural products.
Because of its long recorded history, Roquefort was the first French cheese to be protected under this new ruling on July 26, 1925.
Photo courtesy of Chronicling America
But was this really necessary?...I (and many others) would scream YES!!! Just for a minute, take the example from a 1921 newspaper headline from the United States – “ACCEPTABLE ROQUEFORT CHEESE MADE IN UNITED STATES FROM COWS’ MILK” – This article goes on to say “The steady demand in this country for the green-mold varieties of cheese, especially Roquefort, has led specialists in the dairy division of the United States Department of Agriculture to experiment with the commercial manufacture of a domestic Roquefort cheese.” The article reports that one of the greatest technological hurdles that had to be overcome (in 1921) was that of being able to reproduce the temperature and humidity that were naturally found in the limestone caves of Roquefort-sur-Soulzon…This was finally able to be reproduced in a cheese factory in Grove City, Pennsylvania. The article goes on to say that “detailed technical information for commercial cheese manufacturers who desire to make Roquefort-type cheese is given. The bulletin may be had upon application to the United States Department of Agriculture” (you can read the full article here). The bulletin that they were referring to was USDA Bulletin #970.
Photo courtesy of Archives.org
Bulletin #970 – published Aug 29, 1921 starts off by citing, “Restricted importations of foreign cheese during the war period (World War I) increased the price of these products and created a demand for information concerning their manufacture”. You can read the entire bulletin here).
With the end of World War I, the world had become a smaller place and the need to implement these protections for the French Minister of Agriculture to take action was now…So you can see why adding this protection in place was so incredibly important.
Other countries such as Spain and Italy also took notice and developed protections of their food products as well.
Spain - Rioja (1925) and Sherry (1933) were among Spain’s first foodstuffs to be granted a protected status under what later became the Spanish Denominación de
Origen (DO) system.
Italy – In 1963, Italy awarded its first protected status known as Denominazione di Origine Protetta (DOP).
France went on to add one additional protection that many other protected cheeses do not enjoy…a guarantee on the quality and source of the milk.
Since 1930, Roquefort has also benefitted from the “Label Brebis rouge” (Red Ewe Label) which was created by the Confederation of Ewe Milk Producers, who ensure the sheep’s feed (forage and cereals in the winter, pasture the remaining time) and the use of Lacaune breed. This label guarantees the origin and the quality of Roquefort all around the world.
Throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s, the European Union (EU) was in the process of completing the creation of its single and barrier-free internal market. Protecting producers of foodstuffs against attempts by others to exploit the reputation of their products was a major concern. Against this background, an EU-wide solution had to be found. This meant adopting a uniform approach, establishing fair conditions of competition between producers while not undermining quality schemes already in existence. As a result, these three indicators were created:
Protected Designation of Origin - PDO: covers agricultural products and foodstuffs which are produced, processed and prepared in a given geographical area using recognized know-how.
Protected Geographical Indication - PGI: covers agricultural products and foodstuffs closely linked to the geographical area. At least one of the stages of production, processing or preparation takes place in the area.
Traditional Specialty Guaranteed - TSG: highlights traditional character, either in the composition or means of production.
The actual “birthdate” of the creation of Roquefort cheese may never be known, although there are some scholars that claim that it has been around since at least 79 A.D. even before this area was known as France, as during that time this region was known as Gaul.
The perfect pairing…Roquefort and Sauternes!
We are so very fortunate that the countries like France took these steps to protect these original food items so that their culinary heritage could be protected, ensuring that these food products could remain true to the original methods and recipes for generations to come.
Today, only seven producers of Roquefort remain in the world, Société® Roquefort is one of the oldest and has been a respected brand in France since 1863. I am proud and honored to work for the makers of Société® Roquefort.
A very special Thank You to my longtime friend Kathleen Shannon-Finn for the gift of the beautiful Société® Roquefort La Roquefortaise Cheese Guillotine that inspired this blog post
So with that being said, Happy Birthday Roquefort!
Ninety-Five has never looked sexier!
Until next week…
Trevor
