Welcome to Fact or Fiction, a new online column in which we dive into the truth behind some well-accepted foodie wives’ tales – and reveal whether they’re fact or fiction. Cheese is made of mold. Fact and Fiction. For this one, we consulted Simon Lehrer, cheesemonger at The Wine Merchant, and a human encyclopedia of all things cheese.
His answer: Sort of. “The cheese is made from milk, but then mold can set up either on the outside (like on any of the white cheeses that you see such as Brie or Camembert, that blooming white rind is mold) or on the inside (when you see the little bits of blue in blue cheese, that’s mold as well). However, most cheeses don’t have mold, and of those that do, it’s less than 10% of the cheese.”
For more cheesy insight from Lehrer, check out what artisan cheeses he recommends for spicing up your sandwiches at home in The Art of the Sandwich: A better slice.
This article appears in Aug 1-31, 2010.