| Mold has been around for millions of years and | | | | rice and provide the enzymes that are needed |
| while certain varieties of it can be quite harmful to | | | | for making the sugar the yeast needs to grow. |
| our health, there are other varieties that have | | | | The mold has an immensely important role in the |
| been used by human beings for years in order to | | | | creation of sake and any brewer proud of his |
| improve our quality of life in one way or another. | | | | drink is sensitive about its handling. Depending |
| It has been used in foods, medicines, and to help | | | | upon the flavor wanted in the sake, the koji |
| decompose organic matter. | | | | creation process can be affected by different |
| Many different kinds of foods have been made | | | | temperatures, the kind of rice used, the mineral |
| with mold over the years, one of the most | | | | content of the water, and other factors seriously |
| famous of which is cheese. Blue cheese was | | | | affect the final product. |
| invented quite by accident a long time ago when | | | | Penicillin was created by Alexander Fleming back in |
| mold had started to grow in a block of cheese | | | | the early 1900s by accident and it has been used |
| that had been left to age. It is salty, crumbly and | | | | by countries worldwide since then in order to help |
| is a somewhat acquired taste, if the blue mold | | | | the human body fight all kinds of infections. While |
| veins of the cheese do not stop you from tasting | | | | some people have been known to be allergic to |
| it in the first place. Roquefort and gorgonzola are | | | | penicillin, allergic reactions are not so common as |
| also made with molds. The culturing of just the | | | | to stop doctors from prescribing it. |
| right kind of mold to make these blue cheeses | | | | Aside from the uses that human beings have |
| has become a science over the years and these | | | | made of mold, its natural role is to decompose |
| moldy cheeses are often referred to as the kings | | | | dead organic matter in its natural environment. |
| of cheese. | | | | This is one reason that it often finds its way into |
| Aspergillius oryzae or koji-kin, as it is known in | | | | our homes, because our homes tend to be made |
| Japan, has been used for centuries to create the | | | | of wood and sheetrock that has paper on it. This |
| Japanese alcoholic drink of sake. Without the | | | | is what mold feeds on and until we start making |
| magical koji, they say, there is no sake. Sake is | | | | our homes out of synthetic materials, we will |
| not the only type of drink that uses the koji mold | | | | probably have a hard time keeping mold out of |
| as an ingredient. It is sprinkled on top of steamed | | | | them. |