🧀 Danablu

Danablu (Danish Blue) is a Danish blue-veined cheese with a protected geographical indication (PGI), made from Danish cow's milk. According to the specification, it is a full-fat or extra-full-fat mould cheese, semi-firm to soft, ripened by blue mould. ³

Look. Its fat in dry matter is at least 50% (dry matter at least 52%) or at least 60% (dry matter at least 56%). Danablu is a flat cylinder about 20 cm across weighing about 3 kg, or a rectangular block about 30 by 12 cm weighing about 4 kg. The surface is white to slightly yellowish or faintly brownish, with no true rind, only a dense, somewhat firm outer layer, and it is not coated with paraffin or plastic emulsion. The paste is white to slightly yellowish, marbled with fairly evenly spread blue-green veins along the piercing channels and in holes and cracks; there are no fermentation holes. ³

Making. Raw Danish cow's milk is fat-standardised, homogenised and pasteurised or thermised. An acid starter, a blue mould culture and, after souring, rennet are added. The curd is cut, filled into moulds, drained, salted, pierced and ripened for at least 5 weeks. ³

Taste and texture. The texture is loose but not crumbly, soft throughout, cuttable and spreadable, a little firmer towards the outside. The taste is clean and piquant, strongly marked by the blue mould; it can be sharp, somewhat salty and sour, with a slightly bitter tendency. ³

Origin and labelling. The geographical area is Denmark. According to the specification, the cheese was developed by Marius Boel around 1920, who introduced homogenised cheese milk around 1927, and the name Danablu was officially fixed in 1952. The name has been protected in the EU since 1996. The label may be supplemented with "Danish Blue Cheese" or its translations. ³

A boy's experiment. Blue cheese had been made in Denmark since around 1875, but the specification credits Marius Boel with Danablu itself. As a boy on a farm in Salling he noticed mouldy cheeses and tasted them out of curiosity. He grew the mould on bread, dried and ground it, and added the powder to fresh curd. In 1914 he bought the Marslev dairy, began making blue cheese the next year, and by the 1920s reached about 1,000 cheeses a day. ³

Why the milk is homogenised. In 1927 Boel took the idea from 9 % coffee cream, which felt creamy despite its low fat because it was homogenised. The cheese became richer, more piquant and whiter, and held water better. During the Second World War an American university patented the method and tried to charge a fee on Danish cheese, but this was refused once it was shown that Boel had used it 20 years earlier. ³

Why it matters to you. Danablu comes in two levels, at least 50 % or at least 60 % fat in dry matter, so the second is the richer one. Rules set up from 1934, when producers formed an association and began regular grading for export, still shape the cheese. The taste can be sharp, so its maker Castello suggests melting it over steak or serving it with apple, pear or dark chocolate to soften it. The NHS advises pregnant women to avoid soft blue cheese unless cooked. ³⁴⁵