Illustration courtesy of Cheeses of France

No, we're not talking about Eddie, Herman, and Grandpa, we're talking about the sumptuous cow's milk cheese whose beautiful rust-orange rind surrounds a supple, creamy center. But like the family on TV, not all Munsters are the same. In fact, the differences can be so great as to make one variety boring and bland, and another perhaps one of the greatest cheeses on earth.

Alsatian Munster

Munster is a pungent washed-rind cheese with historical ties to the ancient monasteries of the Vosges mountains in the Alsace region of France. It is named after the French village of the same name, but in fact the word shares a common root with the word monastery. Munster grew out of the monastic tradition via the Rule of St. Benedict, which said that "two kinds of cooked food are sufficient at all meals; so that he who perchance cannot eat of one, may make his meal of the other. Let two kinds of cooked food, therefore, be sufficient for all the brethren." It also said, "Let all except the very weak and the sick abstain altogether from eating the flesh of four-footed animals." Given these requirements for a varied, vegetarian diet, it makes sense that the monks would so heavily rely on cheese. Real Alsatian Münster is an exquisite cheese, supple in texture and stinky to say the least, but earthy and rich, even chocolaty. A far cry from it's German and American cousins.

German Münster

Created as an ersatz substitute for the true Alsatian original, German Münster lies somewhere in between the French and the American versions. Like all variations, it has a rust-orange rind, but its paste is firmer than the French, more flavorful than the American. There is also a Danish variation, similar to the German one.

American Muenster

Also known (to me anyway) as Sandwich Muenster, American Muenster is a processed cheese whose rind is sprinkled with paprika to resemble its European cousins (cousin is too strong a word here). Compared to the others above, this cheeses is very mild, soft, and extremely unstinky. It is a great melting cheese however, so a lot of cooks swear by it for grilled cheese sandwiches and burgers.

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.