🔬 You see when producing blue cheese like Roquefort, Gorgonzola, or Stilton, cheese makers will add a special fungus called Penicillium roqueforti. This fungus is saprotrophic, meaning it feeds mainly on dead organic matter, and can be naturally found in forest soil and wood. Although in cheese-making, the fungi used to inoculate the milk are grown commercially, cheese-makers are not picking Penicillium up from forest litter, don’t panic!⁠ ⁠ As Penicillium roqueforti grows and matures, it produces blue-coloured spores to reproduce, giving blue cheeses their characteristic colour. Although Penicillium can only grow in the presence of oxygen, it sporulates in cheese cavities, creating blue veins. Penicillium roqueforti also releases enzymes that break down fats and proteins, resulting in the creamy texture and tangy flavour of blue cheeses.⁠ ⁠ Blue spores are synthesized on structures that look a bit like small hands, called conidiophores. The spores then emerge from the tip of the « fi...