If you've ever played the Steven Jackson game Munchkin, you probably know that a character who is a Halfling can get a bonus from the "Limburger and Anchovy Sandwich" card. The card depicts a large sandwich with anchovies poking out the sides and the wavy cartoon lines which are characteristic of strong odors ("wafterons" [1]). So, even knowing that this was probably going to be a bad experience, when I spotted some Limburger at the store, I decided to try it. Limburger was originally developed in Limburg, a region shared by Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands. Only one company in the U.S. produces Limburger cheese, though at one point the state of Wisconsin produced more Limburger than it did Swiss cheese.[2]
My verdict: When I first opened the package, the cheese smelled like body odor.[3] But this scent gradually developed into something more like a juicy cowpie that has been fermenting for three weeks before being broken open, with a subtle hint of stinky feet. Just about all the recipes I looked at recommended eating Limburger on pumpernickel with a thick slice of a sweet onion. Other places suggested including anchovies, a sweet mustard, and/or figs. I tried all three. The onion and the anchovies helped to offset the taste of the cheese, but it was still pretty raunchy. The flavor resembled the smell, but came as an aftertaste. Even worse, though, the smell of the cheese stayed on my hands for a long time. I washed them seven times and used a scented disinfectant twice—to no avail. The next day, after showering, I could still smell it on my hands. And I can still smell it on the table outside my lab that we ate it on. Peeyoo!
Notes:
[1] See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The Lexicon of Comicana.
[2] See http://www.classicwisconsin.com/features/stinks.html.
[3] The bacterium used to culture Limburger cheese, Brevibacterium linens, is one of the bacteria that cause body odor, so this is no surprise. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limburger cheese#Description.
My verdict: When I first opened the package, the cheese smelled like body odor.[3] But this scent gradually developed into something more like a juicy cowpie that has been fermenting for three weeks before being broken open, with a subtle hint of stinky feet. Just about all the recipes I looked at recommended eating Limburger on pumpernickel with a thick slice of a sweet onion. Other places suggested including anchovies, a sweet mustard, and/or figs. I tried all three. The onion and the anchovies helped to offset the taste of the cheese, but it was still pretty raunchy. The flavor resembled the smell, but came as an aftertaste. Even worse, though, the smell of the cheese stayed on my hands for a long time. I washed them seven times and used a scented disinfectant twice—to no avail. The next day, after showering, I could still smell it on my hands. And I can still smell it on the table outside my lab that we ate it on. Peeyoo!
Notes:
[1] See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The Lexicon of Comicana.
[2] See http://www.classicwisconsin.com/features/stinks.html.
[3] The bacterium used to culture Limburger cheese, Brevibacterium linens, is one of the bacteria that cause body odor, so this is no surprise. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limburger cheese#Description.
Gutsy to try a thing like that at work.
ReplyDeleteIf I were at a real place of employment, I wouldn't have dared. But I don't think of the university as real employment, so I didn't have any second thoughts. In fact, several of the professors from my department stopped by and tried some. One of them, who is from South Africa (I think), announced after trying the cheese that he had determined why his Dutch ancestors left Europe: to get away from the smell of Limburger cheese.
ReplyDeleteHello, I am from Europe but currently live in Canada. Limburger cheese is not for everyone, it's a premium specialty cheese that originated long ago in Europe, but if you eat it first time in your later days then you can't appreciate it as much, I personally love the stuff :), for those that like to experiment and never tried this kind of cheeses I recommend melting it into a sandwich or something, gl!
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