Roquefort: What are the Americans Missing?
Before handing over to the new President, Barack Obama, the Bush administration slammed a heavy 100% import duty on French cheeses and a whopping 300% tariff on Roquefort, the famous creamy and salty blue cheese made from sheep’s milk. It is believed by some that this is in retaliation for the European Union’s ban on imports of US hormone-treated beef.
The French reaction
This has of course annoyed the French sheep farmers who reacted violently to a previous increase in 1999 when hundreds of them demolished a McDonald’s restaurant in Millau, the largest town in the southern cheese-producing department of Aveyron. There is even talk in the French Parliament about a heavy tax on imports of Coca-Cola concentrates which are produced in the US.
Well, I’m not going to get into a political discussion here, (that’s a relief – Beeble) but as we are doing a series on cheeses, I thought we could look at Roquefort this week.
The King of Cheeses
So what’s so special about Roquefort? Well, the French call it ‘the King of Cheeses’ and it is delicious. It can only be made using traditional, centuries old methods, with milk from the Lacaune mountain breed of sheep, grazed within 60 miles of the village of Roquefort-sur-Soulzon. It is a soft, moist, crumbly cheese and has blue-green veins running through it.
Nutrients are based on 100 grams
- Calories: 367.65 kcal
- Protein: 20.60 grams
- Carbohydrates: 2.94 grams
- Fibre: 0 grams
- Fat Saturated: 19.12 grams
- Fat Mono unsaturated: 8.53 grams
- Fat Polyunsaturated: 1.18 grams
- Calcium: 655.88 milligrams
- Phosphorus: 388.23 milligrams
- Sodium: 1797.06 milligrams
- Potassium: 91.18 milligrams
- Zinc: 2.06 milligrams
- Iron: 0.60 milligrams
- Magnesium: 29.41 milligrams
- Vitamin A: 297.06 micrograms
- Vitamin B1: 0.029 milligrams
- Vitamin B2: 0.588 milligrams
- Vitamin B3: 0.588 milligram
- Vitamin B6: 0.117 milligrams
- Vitamin C: 0 milligrams
- Vitamin E: 0.765 micrograms
- Folate (folic acid): 47.06 micrograms
(This should be the national cheese of Salt Lake City with that much Sodium – Beeble)
Health benefits
One serving – 1oz or 28g of Roquefort contains around 29% fat so you will need to eat it in moderation, but like all cheeses it is an important source of protein, containing 20%. This cheese is particularly useful for those who are allergic to cheese made from cows’ milk. It is also worth mentioning that cheese made from sheep’s milk contains twice as much calcium than that made from cows’ milk.
… but take care
Roquefort contains huge amounts of Sodium and in a serving of 28 grams you can expect to consume around 500 milligrams of sodium which is nearly a third of your recommended daily allowance. You better make sure that if you are fond of Roquefort that you have a diet very low in Sodium the rest of the time.
Also if you are pregnant you should avoid eating Roquefort and other blue-veined cheeses (e.g. Stilton and Danish Blue) and also soft mould-ripened cheeses (e.g. Brie and Camembert) this is due to the very slight chance of contracting listeria which can harm your unborn child.
Give it a try
If you’ve never tried Roquefort, give it a try: enjoy it on bread or crackers or use it in cooking. (See Recipes)
Sources and further reading:
February 3rd, 2009 at 9:21 pm
Dude, what did you do to that cheese?
didn’t someone say that it was tariffs that caused the great depression?