• Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Snapchat
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

MsMarmiteLover

  • Food
    • Recipes
    • Vegetarian
    • Vegan
  • Travel
    • France
    • Italy
    • Spain
    • UK
  • Wine
  • Gardens
  • Supperclubs/Events
  • About
    • Published Articles
    • Books
  • Shop
    • Cart

Discovering Danish cheese in Aarhus

July 24, 2013 23 Comments Filed Under: Cheese, Christmas, craft, Food

Innoculating the cheese curds with the P. roqueforti bacteria at the Castello dairy
Left: A very proud Bent Hanson who manages the Gjesing dairy. Right: Elise Borregaard, a female cheese maker at Castello.

Bang in the geographic centre of Denmark, on the Jutland peninsula, lies a city called Aarhus. It’s the smallest place that can still be called a city.

Shortly after Denmark won a historic victory at the Eurovision song contest earlier this year, I went there to visit dairies and to find out more about Danish cheese, particularly Danish blue, the Castello range of soft blue and white cheeses, and the Castello range of decorated cream cheeses.

I was impressed by the dedication of the guys that ran the dairies. They are ruthless about quality; every day each batch of cheese is tasted and if it isn’t up to scratch, it’s binned. Good cheese is expensive to make: in general it takes around six to ten litres of milk to make one kilo of cheese. For Danish blue it takes 515 litres of milk to make 66 kilos of cheese.

Every 2 or 3 days the entire dairy is cleaned, from the ceiling down. Cleanliness and hygiene is paramount when dealing with dairy.

What is cheese?


It’s basically preserved milk; the only way of keeping milk for travelling purposes. Michael Pollan in ‘Cooked’ says: “…like many other fermentations, cheese was from the beginning, a boon to mankind: a perishable foodstuff that has been processed in such a way as to render it more digestible, more nutritious, more durable and more flavorful, than the original.”

Rasmus Tholstrup himself.

A brief history of Castello cheeses:


In the blue cheese family tree, Danish blue or Danablu as it’s known in Denmark, is one of the more recent members of the blue-veined dynasty. The earliest is probably Roquefort, of which there are references in literature (Pliny) from AD 79. The British Stilton was created much later, in the 18th century. Danish Blue was invented by Marius Boel in the 1920s when he was trying to make a Roquefort cheese, made out of ewe’s milk, but from cows milk. Production started in 1949 and became part of Arla foods in 1986. It’s now one of the best known and most popular blue cheeses in the world.
Castello Creamy Blue, born in 1893, on the other hand, is more the descendant of the softer, creamier Gorgonzola Dolce (800AD). It was developed by the glamorous Tholstrup family (one of the descendents was married to Roger Moore of James Bond fame) from Denmark who were adventurous travellers. Inspired by Italian cheeses, Rasmus Tholstrup returned to Denmark to make Castello blue cheese.

Left: the amount of P. roqueforti needed for one of these huge tanks of curds.




What are the blue veins on blue cheese?


It’s a kind of mould, but a good mould from the blue mould culture. Just a tiny amount is enough to turn a huge vat of cheese curds into blue cheese after ageing. To aid the process, the cheeses are pierced with stainless steel needles. This ensures a good spread of the blue veins.
You know the white furry ‘skin’ around Brie or Camembert? That’s a kind of mould too.
Mould can be very good for you. It’s the process behind all fermented foods, such as sourdough culture, which is helpful for the gut microbiome.
Penicillin is a mould and it is said, prior to the discovery of penicillin, that shepherds in the Roquefort area used to pack wounds with blue cheese to deter infection.
Moulds, however, in the production of Blue Castello, need controlling. For that reason there is strict quarantine between sections of the Gjesing dairy. The whole factory is air-pressured to prevent outside moulds. Workers must change clothes when they go from a blue mould area to a white mould area.

One of the hardest things when making blue cheese, is to ensure that the veining is evenly distributed; it starts from the interior and spreads outwards. People are disappointed if they get a wedge without some blue veins.  Each type of blue cheese has its signature piercing, for instance, Creamy Blue has a star shape piercing.

Left: The ø which means this batch is Organic. Right: rich and creamy Castello Jersey blue cheese.

What kind of milk do they use?

Castello uses cows milk and produces both organic and non-organic cheeses. The milk is homogenised, which is a method of boiling milk. This breaks down the fat globules into smaller more regular cells which improves the texture of cheese. Goats’ and sheeps’ milk naturally have smaller fat globules. Homogenisation also whitens and strengthens the cheese.
Most of the milk is from local dairies in Denmark but the Jersey blue and Jersey white cheeses use the fattier rich milk from Jersey cows.
Some of the ‘Unika’ range of artisan cheeses that Castello make, in collaboration with chefs such as Noma’s René Redzepi, use raw milk. These aren’t yet available in the UK, but I’m hoping!

Left: A notice board in the dairy where employees can say whether they had a good day or a bad day. Cute, eh? Right: mini blue cheeses.

When should I eat blue cheese?

The Danish, Germans and Norwegians are the only nations that eat blue cheese for breakfast. Hardcore! They love it on crispbread and in open-faced sandwiches. But the biggest blue cheese scoffers are the Finns.

Mostly people eat blue cheese after dinner, although it’s also wonderful as a sauce, a salad dressing or crumbled on salads.
It matches very well with sweet wines, champagne and honey.
Blue cheese is served at royal weddings… maybe they will serve it to contestants at the Eurovision song contest next year?

Left: Korsvej Dairy produces: chive covered cream cheese. Right: my favourite – pineapple, papaya and almond cream cheese!
Decorated Cream Cheeses:


The popularity of cream cheese varies geographically: for instance Northern Germans won’t eat it but Southern Germans can’t get enough.  And cottage cheese sales are going up thanks to the Dukan diet.
I’ve always loved cream cheese but I was shocked to find out that there is virtually no dairy and mostly stabilisers in the most popular brand of cream cheese -Philadelphia. A cheesemaker in London once told me: “It should be sold in a pharmacy not a food shop”. 
I tasted several of the decorated cream cheeses made by Arla. I sneered at the Castello Pineapple Halo, dismissing it as ‘seventies’. But, after tasting it, I loved the unusual flavour and so did my family when I served it on a cheese board, for it disappeared within minutes. The chive encrusted and black pepper encrusted cream cheeses were also good and work well with smoked salmon for instance.Cheese globally:


There are vast parts of the world that don’t eat cheese at all. China is a huge future market as they start to adopt Western diets in addition to their native diets. Like with the discovery of the New World, cultural assimilation goes both ways. They bring us sushi and dim sum, we give them cheese, bread and wine.
Cheeses from Arla are shipped abroad, as opposed to flown, to America, Mexico and Australia.
You may have seen ‘Puck’ in glass jars in the chilled section of ethnic food stores, which is also made by Arla; it sells well in the Middle East as it doesn’t need refrigeration. Puck makes a fantastic dip.
The UK is the biggest market for Danish blue cheese after Scandinavia. We have a sophisticated palette for strong cheese.

Next post: How to create the perfect cheese board 

Recent posts

midsummer supper club June 17th 2023 Msmarmitelover

My next supper club: midsummer June 17th

May 28, 2023

I organised a street party for the Coronation

May 10, 2023

The Seafood Shack in Ullapool, Scotland.

May 4, 2023

Previous Post: « Super Freekeh
Next Post: How to create the perfect cheese board »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Anonymous

    July 24, 2013 at 10:59 am

    So interesting & I want to try the chive covered cream cheese now. I may have to rethink my commitment to Philadelphia!

    Reply
    • Kerstin Rodgers

      July 24, 2013 at 12:03 pm

      I know, I was shocked. Shall definitely be more careful about my cream cheese in future.

      Reply
  2. Anonymous

    July 24, 2013 at 11:09 am

    Having lived in France for many years, found it fascinating that the P. roqueforti bacteria is used in both Danish Blue and Roquefort. I actually much prefer Danish Blue. Great post.

    Reply
    • Kerstin Rodgers

      July 24, 2013 at 12:04 pm

      All blue cheeses stem from the original roqueforti culture. I've got a little bag and I'm going to have a go at making a Kilburn blue cheese!

      Reply
  3. Anonymous

    July 24, 2013 at 11:15 am

    Lovely pictures MsML!
    I've never seen cream cheese so colourful and in the shape of donuts, but I'd be interested to try. I imagine it looked gorgeous on your cheese board 🙂
    Hope you are well

    Gina

    Reply
    • Kerstin Rodgers

      July 24, 2013 at 12:05 pm

      the shape of doughnuts…! Indeed! They do add another good shape to the cheese board as well as tasting pretty good too.

      Reply
  4. North London Eater

    July 24, 2013 at 11:38 am

    Fascinating, and it's making me properly hungry. Love the photos too.

    Reply
    • Kerstin Rodgers

      July 24, 2013 at 12:06 pm

      Thanks North London eater from a Norf Weezy eater!

      Reply
  5. SallyC

    July 24, 2013 at 11:52 am

    "They are ruthless about quality; every day each batch of cheese is tasted and if it isn't up to scratch, it's binned. Good cheese is expensive to make: in general it takes around six to ten litres of milk to make one kilo of cheese. For Danish blue it takes 515 litres of milk to make 66 kilos of cheese." Do you really mean 'binned' as opposed to e.g. 'sold on, unbranded, to be retailed as e.g. less expensive cheese/used in cooking or prepared meals/or even, for animal feed?' If not, I really hope they are turning out at least 99% acceptable quality or that's a pretty dreadful waste of milk and all the other resources used to make a batch.

    Reply
    • Kerstin Rodgers

      July 24, 2013 at 12:07 pm

      Actually you are right much of the offcuts are used in 'crumble' packages that they sell in Denmark, a bit like smoked salmon off cuts. Very useful and cheaper too.
      Other bits are dried and used in cheese flavourings. Personally I'm a big fan of cheese 'powder'.

      Reply
  6. drumshag

    July 24, 2013 at 4:30 pm

    I love love blue cheeses. Thanks to you I’m going get myself some of the Danish stuff this weekend.

    Reply
    • Kerstin Rodgers

      July 25, 2013 at 9:13 am

      Blue cheese is supposedly healthy for you!

      Reply
  7. Camilla @Fab/Food4All

    July 24, 2013 at 9:48 pm

    Gosh I had no idea Castello cheese was made in Aarhus, it's where my mum is from!

    Reply
    • Kerstin Rodgers

      July 25, 2013 at 9:12 am

      It's a nice town Aarhus.

      Reply
  8. miss piggy

    July 28, 2013 at 4:46 pm

    after your supper club i bought the pineapple and papaya round cheese. it took a small piece .yum. but when i looked down it had all gone. delicious!

    Reply
  9. Anonymous

    July 28, 2013 at 4:49 pm

    All food with a hole in the middle is slimming imho. Doughnuts, polo mints and round cream cheese. My book on this theory will be published soon I think. I will be famous. And thin.

    Reply
    • William Jones

      August 3, 2013 at 11:29 am

      This blog is a great combination of suitable and useful information for Melbourne Restaurants Here I have found the information for which I was looking for long time.

      Reply
  10. Anonymous

    August 5, 2013 at 3:16 pm

    There are other strains of blue available, but roquefortii is by far the most common. I'm trying to cultivate some of my own blue strains at the moment using mouldy bread at the moment. It's been … interesting!

    Kilburn Blue sounds like a great idea, let me know if you need to borrow any equipment or anything. It can get expensive!

    Reply
    • Kerstin Rodgers

      August 6, 2013 at 5:32 pm

      Wow that's awesome. And I would like to know the precise definition of 'interesting' within this context!
      Yes I would love to borrow equipment!

      Reply
  11. Anonymous

    August 5, 2013 at 3:39 pm

    The vast majority of blue cheese comes from penicillium roquefortii, however there are other strains, such as penicillium glaucum, a slightly greener blue which is used to make gorgonzola. I'm currently trying to grow my own strains the traditional way, by directly inoculating cheese with mouldy bread. It's been … interesting!

    Kilburn blue sounds ace, let me know if you need to borrow any equipment, as they can be quite expensive!

    Reply
  12. Anonymous

    August 5, 2013 at 3:41 pm

    Oops, I thought my first comment hadn't gone through and now realised you must moderate comments! Please delete the first one and this one … or all of them, argh! Eejit!

    Reply
    • Kerstin Rodgers

      August 6, 2013 at 5:33 pm

      Yes I do moderate the comments because I was getting so much spam. It seems to have more or less stopped now, I guess Google have gotten more efficient. But thanks so much for commenting, great to hear your feedback.
      Lets arrange soon for the creation of 'Bleu de Kilburn'.

      Reply
  13. Amber Tesia

    August 15, 2013 at 7:07 pm

    Great piece; incisive and informative. I love my cheese so I found your article interesting and fabulous. When are you going to do the next one? I need my cheese fix!

    AX

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Primary Sidebar

MsMarmiteLover aka Kerstin Rodgers.

Chef, photographer, author, journalist, blogger. Pioneer of the supperclub movement.

This is my food and travel blog, with recipes, reviews and travel stories. I also stray into politics, feminism, gardening.

Subscribe to my mailing list

msmarmitelover

Kerstin Rodgers/MsMarmiteLover
Midsummer supperclub 17th June book tickets here h Midsummer supperclub 17th June book tickets here https://msmarmitelover.com/product/midsummer-supper-club-tickets-june-17th at London’s pioneering supper club. Tickets £50 BYO. Scandinavian inspired summery food. #supperclub #msmarmitelover #midsummer #northwestlondon #londonevents #popups
Tina sweating through a gig at Brixton academy cir Tina sweating through a gig at Brixton academy circa 1987 pic: kerstin Rodgers #rip #tinaturner #rockphotographer #kerstinrodgers #teenagephotographer
Attended an incredible talk with @frenchpete_1 on Attended an incredible talk with @frenchpete_1 on war photography in the Ukraine . Go to the exhibition @thebppa @thebargehouse in SE1 last few days 
Had to stop filming cos I was told off. The photographers would be less forthcoming if they were filmed I was told. 
Anyway @frenchpete_1 should be followed by a camera crew cos he’s a star.
For yesterdays lunch I made a blue cheese puff pas For yesterdays lunch I made a blue cheese puff pastry quiche and a little one with less blue cheese & no salt for my 7 month old granddaughter. She absolutely loved it. I’m enjoying seeing her experience and explore new foods with baby led weaning. Avocado, strawberries, kiwi & buttered crumpets are a hit. Pasta less so. Who is this child? Are we even related? #babyledweaning #quiche #homemadepuffpastry
Nice to be featured as The Great Read in The natio Nice to be featured as The Great Read in The national newspaper again. These are the stories I love to do: I go off on an adventure, take my time, interview people (especially women), photograph them in their environment and create recipes on site. This story cost me a lot more than I made as I had an accident and lost my excess. My own damn fault though! Loved loved loved having a campervan. Thanks for lending me it @camperdays.international and sorry about the hole in the side.  https://www.thenational.scot/news/23505593.foraging-seaweed-western-isles/
My terrace on a sunny May morning. The builders @l My terrace on a sunny May morning. The builders @lk.general.building left yesterday. They’ve been working since January. I had the awning installed, the encaustic Minton tiles removed and put back with green grout. The terrace was causing damp so this had to be done. My calamondin plant is looking lovely. The benches which I repaired with hard wood & I repainted using a mix of 2 colours. The marble table I bought in Suffolk at a car boot. Everything is still dusty & I’m waiting for the window cleaner to arrive.
Last but very heartfelt thankyou to @cideriswine f Last but very heartfelt thankyou to @cideriswine for their contribution of these beautiful dry ciders for the coronation street lunch. Gorgeously illustrated labels. #stcuthbertsrd #kilburn #london #cider #artisanaldrinks
When it comes to vodka I much prefer potato vodka. When it comes to vodka I much prefer potato vodka. It’s smoother. Artisanal distillery @devoncovevodka contributed some bottles to my coronation lunch which gave everyone a feeling of being at a classy party. Thanks so much. And also @rawfoodanddrink for arranging. If you want to read my blog post about how and why I organised this event, copy and paste this link: https://t.co/GWNNW2XKba #coronationstreetparty #biglunch #community #kilburn #london #forthepeoplebythepeople
I’ve been a fan of @luscombedrinks for years now I’ve been a fan of @luscombedrinks for years now. They sent a selection: elderflower bubbly, st. Clements orange 🍊 Sicilian lemonade, @belvoirfarm_uk lemonade, which were all delicious and just the tickets for the fortuitous mini-heatwave that occurred on the Sunday coronation lunch. #thankyou #community #coronation #streetparty #biglunch
Our street party. Double page spread in The Sun! T Our street party. Double page spread in The Sun! Tiny bit in the guardian. Decent pic in the Mail and The Star credit @asproider #coronationlunch #kilburn #stcuthbertsrd #kingscroftrd #fordwychrd #templarhouse
My coronation quiche with Broad beans, tarragon, s My coronation quiche with Broad beans, tarragon, spinach, cheddar. I used crème fraiche and blind baked puff pastry shells. I was up at 11 last night making these for todays street party, which featured in the mail, telegraph, mirror, metro courtesy of photographer Gavin Rodgers @asproider
Seaweed foraging at Spring tides in the Outer Hebr Seaweed foraging at Spring tides in the Outer Hebrides with @outerhebrideanforager Fi bird. She’s cutting sea spaghetti. I drove my campervan @camperdays.international from london to the Hebrides- using my gas stove to cook foraged and local ingredients. A real food safari. With the sea spaghetti I made a sea spag vongole with giant parlourdes picked up from the sand at the same time. Great fun, beautiful weather and, the day of the full moon, a wonderfully low tide. This was on south Uist.
More flavours, the flavour thesaurus is a plant-ba More flavours, the flavour thesaurus is a plant-based version of the original. Beautifully constructed, designed and written by @nikisegnit it’s vegetarian rather than vegan but recommended for both. She widens the sensory vocabulary around plant flavours in this book- encouraging new delicious sounding combinations. Now she includes new categories such as flower & meadow, caramel roasted, zesty roost- just the words make me salivate. #foodbooks #bookstagram #newbooks
Yesterday I attended @marmaladeawards @dalemainman Yesterday I attended @marmaladeawards @dalemainmansion I found out so much about marmalade. I’m going to make it this winter. I found out the worlds best maker is Japanese, in fact I was most impressed by the Japanese marmalades in general. Everyone wore orange. I must have tasted 50 marmalades. I met Paddington’s sister, karen jankel who is michael bond’s daughter, born in the same year as Paddington. She gave a charming talk on Paddington, mentioning how the queen insisted on having real marmalade sandwiches in her @launerlondonofficial handbag during the shoot. The house itself is Tudor and Georgian. I stayed in my campervan from @camperdays.international in the car park, cosy in the rain. Another freewheeling adventure. #yorkshire #marmalade #travel #food #ontheroad #campervan
I had a piece in @thetimes on Sunday about being a I had a piece in @thetimes on Sunday about being a vegetarian rather than a vegan. How I still need butter. And how restaurants & plane meals are now vegan rather than vegetarian. But, there are still more the double amount of vegetarians as vegans in the UK. I’ve written a vegan cookbook V is for vegan (link in bio) and am a big fan of vegan foods. I’ve not eaten meat for over 40 years. This is a sustainable diet, in terms of longevity. Vegans that I knew from the early noughties have reverted to meat eating. #newpuritanism? #vegetarian #vegan #foodwriter
Scrambled croft eggs (bright yellow yolks) with a Scrambled croft eggs (bright yellow yolks) with a seaweed that tastes just like truffle. Just done a little kelp foraging at low tide with @thetempleharris’ Amanda Saurin. Isle of Harris. Turquoise sea, white sand, cloud hovering just above. @camperdays.international @roosterpr
I went to Wembley in north west london to talk to I went to Wembley in north west london to talk to Sophie of @tobia.teff she uses the iron-rich, gluten free teff grain from her homeland Ethiopia. She showed me how to make injera, the Ethiopian flatbread which is fermented. She also talked about the coffee ceremony, 3 cups, which they pair with toasted barley or, currently, popcorn! I’d love to visit Ethiopia and find out more about their ancient food culture, history, 3.5k year old monarchy and religions.
Doing a spring budget recipe cooking demo for @bre Doing a spring budget recipe cooking demo for @brentcouncil Willesden library. I’ve been doing this a few times a year for the last few years. Wouldn’t it be great if they had a kitchen set up permanently. Libraries are community centres and could be used to teach how to cook from scratch.
Mother’s Day flowers from @siennamarla who is ex Mother’s Day flowers from @siennamarla who is experiencing her own first Mother’s Day with Ophelia. I’m still living in chaos & work was slow yesterday due to rain. Only another month…
Last week I did a wild foraging walk with @luciath Last week I did a wild foraging walk with @luciathewildkitchen in Kent @kent_downs_aonb just outside Canterbury. I’m going to help out during her May wild asparagus workshop. This chef lived in France, is a brilliant forager and cook. Her campfire meal of lentils, wild garlic raitha and a dukkah of alexanders, Parmesan was genuinely delicious not worthy like so much foraged food.
Load More... Follow on Instagram

Archives

Copyright © 2023 msmarmitelover