Serious Eats
Can You Handle the Stink?
One of the pitfalls of being a curd nerd in New York City is the brutal reality of having to transport your purchases home from your favorite cheese shop via the always crowded, chronically curmudgeonly subway system. Obviously I don't have the luxury of having a cheese shop anywhere near where I live, and since I never leave a cheese shop without at least one real stinker, this is a chronic issue for me. I have cleared out subway cars as if I haven't bathed for weeks. But I like my cheeses as stinky as they come, and I'm not going to let a little social awkwardness deter me from perfection.
What makes stinky cheese so stinky anyway? The stinkiest cheeses are those with washed-rinds, that is, rinds that have been washed throughout the aging process in brine, beer, wine, or some other liquid (oils don't count). This process encourages the growth of Brevibacteria linens, orange-colored microorganisms that also happen to grow on our skin. This is why stinky cheeses are orange, and this is also why they sometimes smell like day-old gym socks.
Thankfully, though, their bark is worse than their bite. Their pungent (understatement of the year?) aroma gives way to a uniquely earthy, mushroomy flavor that is not super strong, but is deeply satisfying in its complex savoriness. I once tasted hints of roasted brussels sprouts in Maroilles, a real stinker from Northern France. And Époisses, a Burgundian cheese that's washed in marc during its aging, sometimes tastes to me of roasted cauliflower.
In addition to the above, here is a list (in no particular order) of some of my favorite washed-rinds that are worth trying if you haven't already. What are your favorites?
- Cowgirl Creamery Red Hawk - California
- Langres - Champagne-Ardenne
- Cato Corner Hooligan - Connecticut
- Munster Fermier - Alsace (not to be confused with American Muenster
- Meadow Creek Dairy Grayson - Virginia
- Durrus - West Cork, Ireland
- Pleasant Ridge Reserve - Wisconsin
- Taleggio - Valtaleggio, near Lombardy
About the author: Jamie Forrest publishes Curdnerds.com from his apartment in Brooklyn, New York, where he lives with his wife, his daughter, and his cheese.