Blue cheese: types, how to eat it and why Blue Royale is crunchy

Short answer: blue cheese is cheese ripened with the Penicillium roqueforti culture: piquant, salty, with a sharp yet creamy taste. The best known are Roquefort (France, sheep’s milk), Gorgonzola (Italy), Stilton (England) and Dor Blue (Germany, the most popular in Ukraine). It is eaten with sweet wine, honey, pear and nuts. Blue Royale snEco is blue cheese in crunchy dried form: the same mould and the same taste, but without a fridge or a knife.

What blue mould is and whether it is safe

Penicillium roqueforti is a noble culture that is added to the milk or to the cheese curd; during ripening the wheel is pierced with needles to let air inside, and the mould grows into blue-green veins. This is not the mould that appears on forgotten bread: it is edible, does not produce harmful toxins in cheese, and it is exactly what gives the sharp “piquant” taste. Blue cheeses have been eaten for hundreds of years and are safe for healthy adults; caution is advised only for pregnant women and people with weakened immunity — as with any soft cheese.

Types of blue cheese

What to eat blue cheese with

• Sweet: honey, figs, pear, grapes, dates — a contrast of salty and sweet. The classic pairing is Dor Blue with pear.
• Nuts: walnut, pecan.
• Wine: sweet and dessert wines (Sauternes, port, ice wine), full-bodied red, sparkling. Wine snacks.
• Spirits: rye whisky, cognac, brandy. Whisky snacks.
• In dishes: sauce for steak and pasta, salad with pear and rocket, risotto.
• On a cheese board: always last, the sharpest. How to build one.

Calories and macros

Fresh Dor Blue: approximately 20 g of protein, 30 g of fat, 350 kcal and 2–3 g of salt per 100 g. Blue Royale snEco in dried form: 31.7 g of protein, 51 g of fat, 1 g of carbohydrates, 589 kcal and 6.2 g of salt per 100 g. A 14 g mini pack has 4.4 g of protein, 82 kcal, 0.9 g of salt. This is the fattiest flavour in the range and therefore the closest to the “keto ideal” of 70% fat; more details — keto snacks.

Why Blue Royale is crunchy

Blue cheese is soft, moist and the hardest to dry: it contains a lot of fat and water. In a vacuum at 36–38 °C the water leaves, while the mould and flavour remain; the bite puffs up and becomes crunchy, with a characteristic piquant aftertaste. In 2026 snEco updated the recipe — Blue Royale 2.0: the bites became larger in volume and lighter. Ingredients: cheese (cow’s milk, salt, lactic acid cultures, mould culture Penicillium roqueforti). This is a flavour “for gourmets”: you either love it or you don’t, so it is best to start with a mini pack.

snEco formats

Mini pack 14 g, 500 g pack for wine bars and cheese boards, a box of 25 mini packs. Other flavours — range guide.

Questions and answers

Is it safe to eat blue cheese?

Yes, Penicillium roqueforti is a noble edible culture. Caution is advised only for pregnant women and people with weakened immunity.

What to eat Dor Blue with?

With pear, honey, figs, walnuts, sweet wine and port.

What is Blue Royale snEco?

Blue cheese in dried crunchy form: the same mould and taste, 31.7 g of protein, no fridge needed.

What to try

Dried snEco Cheese “Blue Royale”, 14 g €2.47 Dried snEco Cheese “Blue Royale”, 500 g €60.50 Dried snEco Cheese “Primaggio”, 28 g €3.30

Author: Pylyp Gryshyn, co-founder of snEco, head of production