According to legend, a young shepherd boy fell asleep in a cave while enjoying his lunch. When he awoke, he saw a beautiful woman scamper past the opening of the cave. He ran after her, enraptured by her beauty, leaving behind his meager lunch of bread and cheese. Months later, he returned to find the cheese had grown a unique blue mold, and, in a moment that went down in gustatory history, he took a bite. His daring, the story goes, led to the creation of blue-veined cheeses.

In traditional French cheese making, the cheesemaker leaves a local loaf of sourdough bread, teeming with starter cultures, in underground caves rich with penicillium roqueforti. He lets the bread get moldy, then grinds up the moldy loaf, and mixes the breadcrumbs with the curd of the milk. The cheeses are then aged in the caves were the bread went moldy, further encouraging the development of blue veins. (Most cheesemakers now use a penicillium roqueforti that is made in labs, because it makes for more consistent veining.)

The name Roquefort is synonymous with the caves in the Averyon department in southern France, where the cheeses are still aged. In order to be legally called "Roquefort," the cheeses must adhere to a number of rules established by the federal standards of the Appelation d'Origine.

Local archeological evidence of cheesemaking (mainly ancient cheese strainers) date back to 2000 B.C.E. According to Pliny, the Roman scholar, Roquefort was already world-famous around 76 C.E. Furthermore, these specific caves have been used since at least 900 C.E. for the production of Roquefort.

The Société des Caves de Roquefort, where 60% of Roquefort is aged, are open to the public year-round. The hours vary greatly, so visit the website for more details.