I love “stinky” cheeses. Most weekends I head out early to one of our local Farmer’s Markets to pick up local produce and meats with my buddy Barbecue Bob. As I’m leaving the house my wife reminds me to pick a fresh baked French baguette and a stinky cheese for breakfast after our walk. It is becoming a ritual and a great way for me to try some new cheeses to tell you about.

Eppoisses Cheese

What Is A Stinky Cheese?

There are lots of cheeses that you could call stinky but I’m going to focus on the ‘washed rind’ stinky cheeses in this article. In the future I’ll look at some other cheese varieties that have a strong aroma but taste great but for now let’s look at some of the top stinky washed rind cheeses.

A “Stinky” cheese is an aromatic cheese where the rind has been washed with brine, marc (a fairly rough-tasting brandy made in the Burgundy region of France), wine, or beer.  The rind of one type of stinky cheese, Stinking Bishop, is actually washed with pear cider.  They are cured for no fewer than 60 days and are usually soft-ripened or semi-firm in texture category.

The resulting aroma from washing and curing these cheeses can best be described as “Barnyard.”  Other vivid adjectives that I’ve heard describing the smell of washed rind cheeses include stinky feet, mildewed laundry, warm animal and even unshowered for a week!  Needless to say, these cheeses must taste pretty darn good for anyone to want to overcome their smell and eat them. I have to say from my own experience; over time you start to acquire a fondness to the strong aroma. But why are these types of cheeses so stinky in the first place?

Washing a rind of a particular cheese creates an environment that inhibits mold growth. It also creates a bacteria friendly surface where the resulting aromas formulate. Now when I say bacteria, don’t think these cheeses are going to make you sick.  Not all bacteria are pathogens.  Keep in mind that yogurt contains beneficial bacteria.  That’s what “live and active cultures” means. One brand of yogurt even trumpets the name of the particular bacteria that they use to make their yogurt.

So, washing the rinds repeatedly inhibits mold growth and allows bacteria to thrive (molds kill bacteria - think of penicillin) and react with the cheese to form all sorts of complex, tasty flavors.  The cheese also develops a…distinctive…aroma.  Along with the flavors contributed by the bacteria, the solution used to wash the rind interacts with the cheese, sinks down into the cheese and becomes another part of the flavor profile.

Due to their pungent aromas, special care in wrapping and storing these cheeses should be considered to preserve family harmony and extend the life of the cheese. They will stink up your refrigerator, and unless your family is okay with the butter and ice cream smelling like feet, wrap them well. True fans and big cheese buyers purchase tiny shop refrigerators for these items.

What About Stinky Cheese Taste?

Now that we know why washed rind cheeses smell so funky, let’s talk about how they taste.  The effects of the strong aromas are what create the big and complex flavors that result from washing a rind.  The strong aroma of the cheese often does not hint at the flavor.  I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to eat anything that actually tastes like a gym bag full of sweaty clothes.

Often, washed rind cheeses taste much milder than their smell would indicate, with savory hints of fruit, grass and nuts and with a texture ranging from firm and slightly grainy to soft and smooth to runny and silky.  The thing to remember with all stinky cheeses is what your mom always tried to tell you, “You can’t judge a book by its cover!”  In this case, you can’t judge a cheese by smell alone and what one person considers stinky may be perfume to someone else.

With some washed rind cheeses you can eat the rind but many of them you can not and there are those who don’t like paying big bucks for these cheeses when you can’t even eat the rinds. My friend Cheesemonger Jack says

“Rind haters who feel they are being overcharged because they can’t eat a particular rind should stick to buying bananas without skin or pre-cut fruit salad…talk about an unfriendly bacteria environment…”

A little extreme response but you get the picture.

Since I knew Jack was a fan, I asked him to tell me the most stinky cheese he has ever sold and he said,

“The strongest smelling cheese I have ever smelled was “Vieux Lille”.  We were able to sell that cheese years ago but it is banned now. America is fearful of raw milk product. There are probably stronger smelling cheeses out there because who knows what evil lies in the hearts of men, but I have not had them.”

I did a little research about Vieux Lille and found out that one of the nicknames for it is “Stinking Pickle.”  I think that tells me all I need to know.  Then again, I never say never, and my mom wouldn’t want me to judge a book by its cover.

What is the Raw Milk Designation

I was intrigued by the “raw milk” designation.  I found that by USDA regulations, cheeses made with raw milk must be aged a minimum of 60 days.  The milk is considered raw because it hasn’t been brought up to the USDA requirement of 161 degrees F.  When the milk reaches this temperature, many of the enzymes and bacteria present in the milk are killed.  This results in a “safer” product, but lovers of raw milk cheeses also say it ultimately results in cheeses of less complexity.  In much of Europe, the milk used for cheese making is not required to be pasteurized, and the resulting cheeses tend to be more flavorful and complex.

I also asked him to put together a list of the 15 stinkiest cheeses he had eaten.  Nobody can really put together an objective list of the stinkiest cheese, or the stinkiest anything else for that matter.  Everyone’s palate is different, so he emphasized that this list is personal to him and is subjective.  Others might feel differently.

15 Top Stinky Washed Rind Cheeses

“The following list is merely my most interesting and not my favorites. Everyone’s nose and taste buds are legitimate and unique to their person and individual taste. Strong, perfect, right, wrong, stinky, old, young ….these are all words I ignore when these descriptive adjectives are used by a potential buyer. People should realize that what they might enjoy eating is not necessarily what any book or “expert” may suggest.”

1. AMI DU CHAMBERTIN - Burgundy
2. FIANCEE DES PYRENEES
3. EPPOISSES (BERTHAULT brand) - Burgundy
4. MUNSTER/GEROME – Alsace/Lorraine
5. TOMME de CHEVRE (GOAT MILK RACLETTE)
6. PONT L’EVEQUE - Normandy
7. TALEGGIO - Lombardy
8. VIEUX LILLE - Nord
9. SOUMAINTRAIN BERTHAUT (washed rind)
10. SCHLOSS - California
11. TROU DU CRU - Burgundy
12. ROBIOLA Lombardia (STAGIANATTO)- Lombardy
13. RACLETTE FRENCH (WHITE WINE WASH) – Franche-Comte
14. PAVIN - Auvergne
15. LIVAROT – Normandy

I have tried the Ami du Chambertin, Eppoisses, Pont L’Eveque and Livarot and will be adding them to the cheese page soon.  I hope to eat my way down the rest of the list, if they are all still available.

Related Topics

All About Cheese

Formaggio La Tur -  A Trio of Milks

I love goat cheese but I also enjoy cow and sheep’s milk cheese and now I can have them all in this meritage of cheese called La Tur. This Italian cheese from the Piedmont area was suggested to me by from my friend Jack who owns the cheese market at our local farmer’s market.

Looking for something spreadable on a French baguette for breakfast but a little stinky, Jack offered up this buttery, bloomy rind little cupcake of a cheese and it was everything I was looking for. It has a creamy consistency with a little bit of tang. You must let this cheese warm up to room temperature before consuming or you will loose all the flavor.

In Short

Type:  Equal parts cow, goat and sheep milk
Origin:  Alta Langa, Piedmont, Italy
Process:  Barely ripened (10 days to two weeks)
Texture:  soft and runny near the rind, almost fluffy/mousse like towards the center
Shape:  Short cylinder—3”x1½”
Weight: 8 ounces
Color:  pale cream to straw-colored
Rind:  Thin and white, wrinkling as it ages.  It can have a thin coat of white mold.
Flavor:  well-rounded, mellow, grassy with a hint of mushroom

The Rest of the Story

One of the most important decisions the cheese makers made regarding La Tur was to pasteurize the milk at the lowest possible temperature allowed by Italian law.  This means that the enzymes present in the milk are not all killed off during the pasteurization process, and it’s the enzymes that contribute to the final flavor profile of the cheese.  While many young, soft cheeses are very mild in flavor, La Tur tends to be pretty complex, definitely something cheese connoisseurs appreciate.

The three milks—cow, goat and sheep—are mixed in equal parts, and the resulting mixed curds are packed into small molds and then allowed to age for ten days.  No one flavor profile dominates.  You can taste the buttery richness from the cow milk, the tang of the goat milk and the mellow nuttiness of the sheep milk.  The three milks complement each other nicely, and this is another reason that La Tur has a relatively complex flavor for a young, soft cheese.

Due to the light mold that grows on the rind of the cheese, it ripens from the outside in.  In a cheese ten days old, the cheese is creamy inside the rind and fluffy towards the center.  As the cheese ages, the outside layer becomes runnier and more pungent while the center becomes creamy.  Eventually, the cheese is runny throughout.  To experience the progression for yourself, buy three small, fresh wheels (they’re cute—they come in pleated doilies that look like cupcake papers).  Enjoy one immediately.  Save one for two or three weeks later, and then eat the last one a few weeks afterwards.

As with most cheese, La Tur is best served at cool room temperature to appreciate the flavor.  You can certainly serve it with a nice un-oaked red from the Piedmont region of Italy, although the tang of the cheese is nicely set off by sweeter dessert wines as well.  Simply spread the cheese on some crusty bread, or if you want to gild the lily, serve with some clover honey, roasted pears or quince jam.

RELATED TOPICS

All About Cheese

Cheese Guide

Conversation with Cheesemonger Jack

Parmigiano-Reggiano Alternatives

I’m sure you have all heard the phrase, “champagne taste on a beer budget.”  The underlying message is that, to get the good stuff, you have to pay big bucks.  This is especially true with some of the world’s top cheeses.

If you are watching your budget, there are a couple of ways to cater to your champagne tastes and still stick to a beer budget.  One way is to find products similar to the big-ticket items you are interested in that may not be as flavorful as the original, but for the cost, a good substitute. Oftentimes, these lesser-known products are quite good, and you can realize substantial savings at the check out line.

For instance, Parmigiano-Reggiano is the gold standard of Parmesan cheese. Everyone has heard the name, and, at $22/pound, this it is certainly a big ticket item.  Only cheeses made in a designated area of Italy, including Parma and Reggio Emilia, can bear the Parmigiano-Reggiano name.

This doesn’t mean that cheese made in the same style is inferior to Parmigiano-Reggiano.  It just means that that cheese was not made in the designated area by the designated consortium of cheese makers.  There are very fine examples of widely available Parmesan hard Italian cheese on the market.

Parmigiano-Reggiano Alternatives

For example, I recently sampled two Parmesan cheeses, one from Argentina and the other from Wisconsin that were much less expensive than Parmigiano Reggiano and were very good. Do they match up with the Italian original? No, but depending what you are using them for and how much you can afford, they are a great alternative.

Regginito is from Argentina and can be tangy to sharp depending on the age. It goes for about $10 per pound at my cheese market and is great for grating and cooking with. I found it delightful just to eat by itself and would serve this on a cheese board at a party. At half the price of imported Parmigiano Reggiano, I’m thinking this is a good buy.

The domestic Parmesan from Wisconsin is called SarVecchio and is comparable to Asiago, an Italian cheese that has a similar flavor to Parmesan. SarVecchio Parmesan is aged at least 20 months and is also great for grating. At about $8 bucks a pound at my market, this is another good alternative.

Grana

Parmigian-Reggiano is considered  a grana type cheese because it is a hard, mature Italian cheese with a granular texture but when I think of Grana, I think of Grana Padano. The main difference between these two cheeses is the diet of the cows that produce the milk that goes into making each cheese. The Grana cheese is also usually younger.

There are other distinctions but many more similarities and I will do a post on each cheese separately one day to spell them out. For now let’s just say the Grana Padano is an excellent substitute for the most well know Parmigiano Reggiano and although not as inexpensive as the Regginito or SarVecchio, it is less expensive than the Reggiano.

When Should I Splurge?

Another way to economize without sacrificing taste is in deciding for yourself what ingredients you consider “splurge-worthy” and which ones are not.  While some people wouldn’t be caught dead using the Parmesan cheese out of the green can, others justify it because they are using other quality ingredients.

I’m not a big fan of Parmesan cheese in a can but I have lots of friends whose kids will only eat cheese from a stick (string cheese) and the Green can. We never had the Green can parmesan in the house so my kids only know Grana cheeses.

Saying that, if you make a risotto using homemade stock and high quality saffron, you might be able to use a bit of green can Parmesan for finishing but I would still prefer one of the lesser expensive Parmesans that I can grate myself.  Remember, all cheeses start to loose some of their flavor after they are grated and sit in your refrigerator.

Now on the other hand, if you are making a dish in which Parmesan is a featured ingredient, such as Caesar Salad with shaved Parmesan, sprinkling on some canned Parm will probably not work for you.  Every cook has to decide what his/her “money ingredients” are.  Which ingredients they are willing to pay a premium on and which they are willing to economize on.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that there are no hard and fast rules here.  While some cooks will gladly pay premium prices for everything from finishing salts to flavored oils to caviar, others may choose to economize in one area or another.

For some people, a couple of shavings of real Parmigiano-Reggiano can elevate spaghetti made with a jarred sauce.  For others, a sprinkle from the green can might enhance a homemade sauce.   Cook for your own and your family’s palate and budget.  With the wealth of ingredients available to us, there is a way to make every meal special, no matter what your budget.

Other ingredients that you should be able to find a lower cost, similar version of include caviar and other roe, wines and sparkling wines, vanilla, saffron and truffles. We can look at them in future posts too.

Related Topics

All About Cheese

Some of My Favorite Cheeses

Conversation with Cheesemonger Jack