Blue cheese is a favorite in many cultures.
Blue cheese is renowned for its creamy texture, pungent flavor and distinctive blue-green veined appearance. Kosher blue cheese is like any other blue cheese, except that it must be derived from kosher animals and prepared according to Jewish dietary laws to be certified kosher.
Kosher Law
Kosher law states that meat and milk must come from a mammal that is cloven-hoofed and chews it cud. Therefore, any cheese made from a kosher animal's milk can be kosher.
Blue Cheese
Blue cheese is made from either cow's milk or goat's milk. Since both animals are considered kosher, the milk used to make blue cheese is also kosher.
Rennet
Blue cheese is made with rennet, a complex enzyme found in the stomach of mammals. When rennet is added to milk, it coagulates into large curds. The rennet used to make kosher blue cheese must be derived from a kosher animal.
Lipase
Lipase is an enzyme extracted from the tongue of mammals that speeds fat breakdown and enhances flavor. Strong-flavored blue cheese often contains calf lipase. Since a calf is a kosher animal, lipase is acceptable in making kosher blue cheese.
Preparation
Blue cheese made from kosher milk must follow kosher food preparation laws to be certified kosher, including keeping meat and milk separate and not adding non-kosher ingredients. The rennet and lipase used from kosher animals must also be harvested according to kosher law.
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