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Fermentation Atlas

Cheese from France, the high Jura mountains

Bleu de Gex Haut-Jura / Bleu de Septmoncel PDOBleu de Gex Haut-Jura

Raw milk from Montbéliarde or French Simmental cows is set with calf rennet at no more than 30 °C. The curd is moulded by hand in a cloth-lined mould, not pressed, and dry-salted in a tub for at least three days. Pierced between days 7 and 15 to let air in for the blue mould, it ripens at least 21 days on spruce boards. Made in 7 steps over 33 days – 41 days. The longest step, ripen on spruce boards, takes at least 21 days (Ministère de l'agriculture 2014) and runs at 6–14 °C (Ministère de l'agriculture 2014). Salt is at least 0.8 % (Ministère de l'agriculture 2014). Selected lactic cultures and the raw-milk flora, including heterofermentative bacteria that open small holes in the paste and Penicillium roqueforti and Penicillium glaucum, the blue-green veins do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main stepat least 21 daysSet[cdc-gex2014]Ripen on spruce boards
Temperature6–14 °CSet[cdc-gex2014]Ripen on spruce boards
Saltat least 0.8 %Set[cdc-gex2014]Dry-salt in tubs
Fully documentedCheese33 days – 41 daysPDO (EU); appellation recognised by the Nantua court in 1935Family: Blue-veined cheese family (Roquefort as template)More blue cheesesMore from France

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe specification fixes limits, not a recipe. Each wheel weighs 6–9 kg at sale.
Raw cow milk · Montbéliarde or French Simmental cows; at most two consecutive milkings within 24 h; never heated above 40 °C[cdc-gex2014]
Calf rennet · Only rennet from calf stomachs is allowed[cdc-gex2014]
Selected lactic cultures[cdc-gex2014]
Penicillium glaucum and Penicillium roqueforti[cdc-gex2014]
Coarse dry salt · Rubbed on daily for at least two days in salting tubs[cdc-gex2014]
Ripening cultures (cellar only)[cdc-gex2014]
Starter: selected lactic cultures plus the native milk flora; Penicillium added to the milk or curd

Total time across the recorded steps: 33 days – 41 days

Start
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What changes: Starting material: raw milk from the evening and morning milkings

Step 1 of 7
Collect raw milk from two milkings
Time
up to 36 h
Set
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Penicillium roqueforti
Penicillium glaucum
Penicillium

Milk cooled only to 10–18 °C must be used by noon or midnight of the next day.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

What makes this one different

Bleu de Gex is a large unpressed blue made from mountain milk. With no press, the whey is drawn out by days of dry salting in tubs, which also round its edges. Its veins are pale and even, and it can be sold after three weeks despite its size.

Milk
Raw milk from Montbéliarde or French Simmental cows fed on hay and pasture; no silage
Paste
Blue, uncooked and unpressed; at least 52 g dry matter and 50 g fat per 100 g dry matter
Ripening
At least 21 days from making
Size
Flat wheel with rounded edges, 6–9 kg, 31–35 cm across; "Gex" moulded into one face

Related ferments

Safety

This is a raw-milk blue cheese. ANSES advises pregnant women, young children, people over 65 and people with weak immunity not to eat raw-milk cheeses other than hard cooked ones, because of Listeria, Salmonella and Shiga-toxin E. coli. Cooking the cheese removes the risk.

Hazards the sources name: Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella and Shiga-toxin-producing E. coli (risks ANSES names for raw-milk cheeses).

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

Administrative records show blue cheese made in Jura mountain chalets by the late 18th century, sold as Gex, Septmoncel or blue cheese of the Haut-Jura. Village fruitières took it up beside Comté and Morbier. A 1928 US bulletin notes that the mould was not added with mouldy bread as for Roquefort and that wheels then weighed 14–15 pounds. A Nantua court recognised the appellation on 24 July 1935.

  1. [cdc-gex2014] Ministère de l'agriculture, Cahier des charges de l'appellation d'origine « Bleu de Gex Haut-Jura » ou « Bleu de Septmoncel », notice AGRT1413740V, in force since Implementing Regulation (EU) No 618/2014 (BO-Agri)spec
  2. [inao-gex] INAO, product page « Bleu de Gex Haut-Jura ou Bleu de Septmoncel » (AOP)gov
  3. [doane1928] Doane C.F., Lawson H.W., revised by Matheson K.J. 1928, Varieties of cheese, descriptions and analyses, USDA Bulletin 608archive
  4. [anses2022] ANSES 2022, Fromages au lait cru, quels risques pour la santé et comment mieux les prévenir (8 April 2022)gov