The making of this cheese is relatively recent, only appearing in the markets in the middle of the last century. The story goes that an Auvergnat farmer sprinkled mould from rye bread on his milk curd and then pierced the curd with a needle. This allowed the air through and the curd developed blue veins. In 1975 it was granted an AOC certification. The smell is strong and attests its pungent taste. The taste is pastoral, grasses and wild flowers...delightful. The pate is uncooked and not pressed, with a sticky, moist and crumbly texture and veins of blue mould.