DATE: 11/16/05

CONTACT: Dottie Ryan, 1-866-999-6283; dryan@sudiainc.com

Libby Hoyle, (864) 656-5713 or lhoyle@clemson.edu

WRITER: Diane Palmer, (864) 656-4741; spalmer@clemson.edu

Clemson’s Blue Cheese makes Foodways finals

CLEMSON – Clemson University’s blue cheese was among the finalists in the Southern Foodways Alliance (SFA) cheese contest held Oct. 28 in Oxford, Miss.

Judges touted the cheese as the blue-veined “text book blue cheese.” It was among 53 artisan cheese entries, made from cow, goat and sheep milk.

SFA is made up of a diverse group of cookbook authors, anthropologists, culinary historians, organic gardeners, food journalists and home cooks.

Clemson's original blue cheese was aged in Stumphouse Mountain Tunnel beginning in 1941.  The cheese was manufactured on campus and then transported to be cured in the tunnel. In 1956, the Agricultural Center in Newman Hall was built. Its rooms were designed to duplicate the tunnel’s temperature and high humidity. Since 1958 all curing has been done on campus.

Clemson’s blue cheese is an artisan cheese, made the old fashioned way. Each 288-gallon vat makes a batch of about 240 lbs., which is then salted, waxed and aged for six months. When it is ready, each hoop is scraped and packaged by hand.

The cheese can be purchased at the university’s Hendrix Student Center Eastside Food Court. You may also call 1-800-599-0181 to place an order.

The contest was sponsored by the Southeast United Dairy Industry Association (SUDIA). For more information, visit www.southeastdairy.org/.

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